The Predators head deeper into Western Canada tonight with a showdown against the Calgary Flames for another game against a team they are chasing down for a playoff spot. The Predators are hoping that the news continues to be good as Ryan Ellis continues his way back from his injury in the Winter Classic, the Flames are hoping that their captain and anchor of their blueline, Mark Giordano is not as injured as first feared when he went down against the Sharks Tuesday night.
The defending Norris Trophy winner underwent an MRI yesterday and more news is expected this morning on his status for tonight’s tilt. Losing Giordano would really hurt the Flames and may change their trade deadline plans if he is out for an extended period.
For Nashville, they need to build on their Tuesday night performance in Winnipeg, a 2-1 overtime win that saw them overcome an early deficit and play the kind of game you need to be playing on the road. They got stellar goaltending from Juuse Saros and kept tilting the ice in their favor as the game went on.
It’s another matchup of teams that changed coaches and aren’t quite in their expected positions, in Calgary’s case, the Flames haven’t lost more than two in a row since Geoff Ward took over behind the bench... and of course... they have currently lost two straight.
So, who starts in net? Your guess is about as good as mine. Flames netminder David Rittich is 1-2 in his last three starts and UAH alum Cam Talbot has been solid… and a participant in a goalie fight on Saturday night. For Nashville… Saros was outstanding on Tuesday night and Pekka Rinne is coming off his best performance since October, a performance that was wasted in Saturday’s loss to Vegas.
It should be a good one, two desperate teams fighting for playoff positioning. Game time is 8pm central with pregame starting at 7pm on 102.5 the Game and 7:30pm on Fox Sports Tennessee. Game coverage follows. It’s not a super late start tonight, so temper your caffeine intake accordingly.
Enjoy the game!
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Where They Stand – a daily look at where the Predators are in the playoff race.
As play opens on 2/6/2020, the Nashville Predators have fallen to the 5 spot in the Central and the 10 spot in the Western Conference, one point behind Chicago, three points behind tonight’s opponent Calgary and four points behind Arizona They have two games in hand over the Hawks and Flames and three games in hand over the Coyotes. The Preds trail Colorado by seven points for third in the Central
Impact games tonight – VGK @ FLA, COL @ OTT, WPG @ STL, NASH @ CGY, CAR @ ARI.
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Random Notes – Presented by
- Jonesin’ for live hockey? The SECHC Tournament will be held this weekend at Ford Ice Center in Bellevue. Eight schools are participating in the three day event that drops the puck tomorrow at noon.
- The participating schools are Arkansas, Auburn, South Carolina, Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia and the two newest additions to the conference, Georgia Tech and Florida Atlantic.
- The SECHC Championship game will be Sunday at 2pm.
- The Predators had a scheduled off day yesterday.
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- Tonight’s games – 6pm – DET @ BUF, NJD @ PHI, ANA @ MTL, PIT @ TBL, VGK @ FLA, LAK @ NYI. 6:30pm – COL @ OTT. 7pm – WPG @ STL, VAN @ MIN. 8pm – NSH @ CGY, CAR @ ARI. 8:30pm – SJS @ EDM.
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SlapShot Radio is back for our 12th season as Zack, Brent and I are on Monday night’s this season. The best hour of hockey talk on the longest running hockey show in the southeast … 7pm Mondays on 102.5 the Game.
Our sponsor list continues to grow. Not only are we welcoming back
Drs. Jane Bacon and Aileen Kruger at Hermitage Family and Cosmetic Dentistry … make your appointment at (615) 872-7762 and our good friend Carter Church, Your Murfreesboro real estate expert with Weichert – The Andrews Group. And our newest sponsors…
Cool Springs Wines and Spirits! The largest spirit store in all of middle Tennessee! And La-Z-Boy Nashville! Three locations, locally owned and operated, check out La-Z-Boy in Murfreesboro, Hendersonville and Cool Springs!
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