It’s Hockey Night in Smashville as the Nashville Predators take on the New York Rangers. In an odd schedule quirk, this is the fourth consecutive game against an Original Six team with the Preds taking the first three of this stretch. After a difficult start, the Rangers seem to be coming into their own and playing the kind of hockey that has been expected of them. The Predators have finished a difficult part of their season schedule, playing ten games in ten different buildings and coming into the American Thanksgiving holiday week well positioned to make a move in the Central Division standings.
One of the storylines for tonight’s game involves Rangers goaltender Cam Talbot. Talbot patrolled the net at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, even carrying the team to the NCAA tournament on the heels of a magical run that saw the Chargers take the last CHA Tournament Championship and the automatic bid that came with it. Talbot was the MVP of that tournament and his performance drew the attention of many NHL scouts, including the Rangers. Talbot has been solid for the Blueshirts, posting a 4-1 record with a 1.58 GAA and a .943 save percentage.
The story in net doesn’t stop there, Preds goaltender Marek Mazanec now has three consecutive wins and has improved his record to 3-2-0 with a 2.37 GAA and a save percentage of .926. Mazanec has imporved with every outing and is looking more comfortable between the pipes with every passing period of work.
The Preds come into tonight’s game on a bit of a roll. As is this team’s custom, they get well in the most unlikely scenarios. Beating the Blackhawks, Red Wings and Maple Leafs qualifies. The Predators find themselves tied for 5th in the Central, eight points behind Minnesota and Colorado, nine points behind St. Louis and ten behind Chicago. The Wild card cutoff is 32 points as we speak right now so the Preds have some work to do.
The offense seems to have woken up, Matt Cullen, Craig Smith and Colin Wilson all are coming off strong games and one more time, solid defense (especially penalty killing) has fired the offense. An underreported stat is the improvement in the Predators power play as it has moved into the top ten in the league at 7th overall, converting at a 21.6% clip.
The injury situation for tonight… New York lists Taylor Pyatt on IR as of this writing and the Predators list Pekka Rinne. Eric Nystrom and Filip Forsberg are considered day-to-day.
Game time is 7pm, coverage on Fox Sports Tennessee with the Voice of the Predators Pete Weber and three tome Stanley Cup winner Terry Crisp. Willy Daunic has the call on 102.5 the Game and the Predators Radio Network.
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Random Notes
- On a personal note, I haven't been blogging much over the past week due to my family and I moving into a new residence... thanks for your patience!
- Craig Smith has been heating up over the last three games posting three goals and 3 assists.
- David Legwand is taking full advantage of his contract year, posting 11 points in his last 10 games and 18 for the season so far. I have a blog in the works regarding Legwand, looking at whether or not to re-sign the original Pred. Stay tuned for that one…
- Including tonight’s game, six of of the next nine games are against Eastern Conference teams, three of them at home.
- Busy times at Bridgestone Arena… beginning with last night’s sold out Tribute to George Jones concert, there are nine events in nine nights at Bridgestone Arena, including five Pred games and concerts from Rob Zombie, Paramore and Kanye West.
- Wild overtime in Anaheim last night, well worth staying up for.
- To give you an idea on how weak the Eastern Conference is so far… not a single team in the east would be in playoff position if they played in the west. Boston and Pittsburgh are leading the east with 30 points. The 5th through 8th place teams in the West have 32 points.
- Twelve games tonight, all start times central – Noon start – Hurricans @ Bruins. 2pm start – Wild @ Jets. 6pm starts – Capitals @ Maple Leafs, Penguins @ Canadiens, Senators @ Red WIngs, Islanders @ Flyers. 7pm starts – Stars @ Blues, Rangers @ Predators, Ducks @ Coyotes. 9pm start – Blackhawks @ Canucks. 9:30pm starts – Avalanche @ Kings, Devils @ Sharks.
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