The Central Division leading Nashville Predators are back home tonight for the second of two games against the Carolina Hurricanes this season. The Preds dropped a 2-1 decision to the Canes back on 12/2 at PNC Arena. The Predators have been dominant at home, sporting a 14-2-1 record that includes 12 one-goal decisions and four shootout victories. The team is approaching the official halfway point of the season, game 41 is this Saturday at Minnesota.
This game has the makings of a “trap… game, weak Eastern Conference foe with two divisional games coming up on Thursday and Saturday, in this observer’s mind the Preds need to use this game to prove a thing or two.
The first thing? Is the power play really fixed? It seems to be fine on the road, however home continues to be an issue as the Predators are still converting in single digits inside the friendly confines… granted, it’s a deep hole to dig out of.
The second thing? Not to be indelicate here but… When your skate is on your opponent’s neck, step down! Since the Christmas holiday period, the Predators have gone 3-1-1… no worries there… but in three of those five games, the Predators gave up a late lead, in two of these games, the Preds gave up a three goal and a four goal lead. I will grant that the opposition had a big part of that, after all Chicago, LA and Anaheim are no slouches… but the fact is a little disquieting.
The positive to take away is that the Predators are still taking points from these games and show a remarkable resiliency in all of them with a penchant for successfully recovering from a gut punch… look no further than the LA game for that. It is a double edged sword to be sure, and the team has plenty of time to adjust. Something that Head Coach Peter Laviolette seems to be very good at.
It could be the coach’s greatest asset. He has shown an uncanny ability to fix the right thing at the right time while resisting the urge to try and fix everything at once. He does this while continuing to be right in the thick of the divisional race.
Carolina comes into tonight looking to build on a modest two game win streak as they come off an overtime win over the Boston Bruins. Their road record is not good… 4-15-2 so far. They will go as far as Cam Ward takes them in net. If Ward is on his game, they have a solid chance to steal points on the road.
Game time is 7pm, tickets are available at the Bridgestone Arena box office. Coverage on 102.5 the Game and Fox Sports Tennessee gets going with pregame at 6:30.
And here is your preview from nhl.com;
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Random Notes
- With his next point, Filip Forsberg will break the rookie scoring record for the franchise, eclipsing a certain Prodigal Pred.
- You had to know that something bad was going to happen Sunday night when the FS Tennessee broadcast noted that Carter Hutton hadn’t given up a third period goal this season… about a minute before he gave up the game-tying goal... in the third period.
- Interesting poll on NBCSports.com’s PHT… they pose the question… “Are the Predators legit Stanley Cup contenders?… They make good cases for both Yes and No… the poll results as of this writing has 77% saying yes… Yikes!
- Fascinating discussion going on surrounding the Minnesota Wild and their less than stellar season so far. Goaltending hasn’t been there… that is for sure, but the free agent signings haven’t seemed to work either. The situation bears watching as change could be imminent.
- Congratulations to Team Canada on winning WJC gold last night. You had to love the “Poutine is better that Putin… signs at the game… way too funny.
- Sportnet’s Elliotte Friedman is theorizing that Boston’s Milan Lucic may be on the market… or at least there are teams asking about him.
- Ten games on the NHL schedule tonight – Sabres @ Devils, Senators @ Flyers, Lightning @ Canadiens, Hurricanes @ Predators, Sharks @ Wild, Avalanche @ Blackhawks, Blue Jackets @ Stars, Blues @ Coyotes, Red Wings @ Oilers, Islanders @ Canucks.
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