SlapShot Radio’s photographer was out and about during yesterday’s matinee, capturing the action at Bridgestone Arena for our regular Sunday feature… here are your Sunday Shots…
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| From Predators vs Jets March 1, 2014 |
Two words describe why the Nashville Predators didn’t take two points from the Winnipeg Jets last night, and neither one of them were Pekka Rinne. It was a different goaltender that was the difference maker, Jets netminder Ondrej Pavelec. Pavelec’s 39 save performance was named second star of the night on NHL.com and frankly… I think he was shortchanged.
Pavelec was simply brilliant, stoning chance after chance, shot after shot, and the Predators were not afraid to shoot the puck, attempting 88 shots, getting 40 of them through on goal. The hell of games like this for Predator fans is that you cannot fault the team effort, you can’t blame the loss on injuries, you can’t blame the loss on the goaltending for Nashville… this game was simply stolen by a hot Pavelec. Plain and simple…
You can certainly say that Paul Maurice has made a difference for the Jets, since he replaced Claude Noel, the Jets have gone 11-3-1 and have injected themselves squarely into the Western Conference playoff race.
Here are the highlights…
The Predators are off today, they resume practice tomorrow morning at 10:30 for a closed session at Bridgestone Arena, prior to their Tuesday night tilt against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Speculation was running rampant last night that it could be the return of Pekka Rinne, but nothing official has been released.
This loss to the Jets will test the resiliency of this team. How they bounce back will tell a lot if they are buyers or sellers come Wednesday.
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Random Notes
- Rich Clune’s played in his 100th NHL game last night… he’s a good guy that has overcome a lot.
- Pekka Rinne is scheduled to start tonight in Milwaukee as the Admirals take on the Rochester Americans at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Faceoff is 3pm.
- With Wednesday’s trade deadline drawing closer… there are very few clear sellers. In the East, it’s Buffalo, Florida and the Islanders. In the West it is Edmonton and Calgary. The “on the fence… group consists of Nashville in the West and Carolina and Ottawa in the East. The rest are way too close to the Wild Card or better to be considered anything else but buyers. Price of poker is going up with so few sellers.
- It’s almost as much fun to watch hockey in the snow as it is to watch football. A good show from Soldier Field last night, but that show cost the host team. Chicago lost Marian Hossa to an Upper Body Injury after he took a pretty hard hit late in the first period. With Hossa’s concussion history, there is cause for concern, despite the post-game comments calling it “not a long-term injury.…
- Problems in Vancouver again? Roberto Luongo is none too happy about riding the pine for today’s Heritage Classic. I don’t know what it is, but this franchise just can’t seem to stop the drama. Let alone live up to its potential.
- Drama in Buffalo as Pat LaFontaine resigned yesterday and is returning to the NHL front office. Plenty of questions abound and as Garth stated in his column, “Something doesn’t smell right here.…
- Eight games today – 11:30am start – Flyers @ Capitals. 2pm starts – Sharks @ Devils, Panthers @ Islanders. 3pm start – Senators @ Canucks (Heritage Classic) 6pm start – Bruins @ Rangers. 7pm starts – Lightning @ Avalanche. Blues @ Coyotes, Hurricanes @ Ducks.
- Who to root for/against tonight – Root for St. Louis and Vancouver… both in regulation.
- Playoff Point Tracker – Need - 36 out of 46… Got – 2 out of 4… Playoff Chances – 1.8% (down 1.6%)
- OT: Nice to see Allen Iverson’s number retired in Philly… a well deserved honor for a little guy that played with so much heart.
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