I wrote earlier this week that this week was one of the more difficult weeks on the Preds 2018/19 schedule. A week that featured a defending conference champion and two teams with two of the hottest lines in hockey. After last night’s 1-0 win over Boston… the Preds won all three. They all featured outstanding goaltending, excellent defense and timely scoring resulting in a week that now has the Predators record at 11-3-0 as the team heads out for two weeks on the road.
The Boston Bruins came in with one of the best lines in hockey, unfortunately, they had to play 16 minutes without a key member of that line, almost the entire second period… all because of the silly shenanigans of Brad Marchand.
Marchand doesn’t seem to get it. He is simply too good to hurt his team the way he did last night. On a play deep in the Preds offensive zone, Marchand and Colton Sissons engaged, a stick came up, Sissons sold it and Marchand’s penchant for disruption got in the way. Marchand collapsed onto the ice, mocking Sisson’s reaction… then got up and acted it out again… and again… then he ignored the warning given to him by referee Dean Morton, and did it one more time. That turned a single 2 minute high-sticking penalty into a double minor… one more act out from Marchand added a 10 minute misconduct. Marchand’s selfish actions cost his team… again. You do wonder when the Bruins will get tired of his selfishness.
The Predators already had a 1-0 lead at this point on the strength of a sweet Roman Josi goal. The captains power move would be all the offense the Preds would need… that goal and a simply spectacular performance from Pekka Rinne.
Oh yeah… Pekka Rinne celebrated his birthday by signing a two year contract extension earlier in the day and posted a shutout. That’s the second time Rinne has done that, he did it on 2011 when he signed his last contract. Which means that Predators GM David Poile has this goaltending duo signed for the next two seasons at a total cap hit of $6.5 million. The man is earning his reputation as a wizard.
The new Rinne contract, for all intents and purposes, ensures that the big Finn will be a Predator for life and honestly… it wouldn’t surprise me if his number is the first one raised to the rafters of Bridgestone Arena.
The team has the day off today, they will head out to Colorado on Tuesday for a Wednesday game with another of the hottest lines in the league.
---------------------------------
Random Notes
- Hockey Fights Cancer Night is always a special night and last night was no exception. Thanks to all who contributed.
- We did have a special tribute to Mark Ford last night… Mark was a key part of the game ops team.
- The upcoming road trip features stops in Colorado, Dallas, Anaheim, San Jose and Arizona.
- Roman Josi’s goal was the 300th point of his NHL Career.
-----------------------------------
-------------------------------------
SlapShot Radio’s 11th season is on! As the longest running hockey show in the region, SSR feeds hockey fans what they crave… intelligent, fun, entertaining talk about their favorite sport and we do it from the opening of training camp all the way through UFA day. We are on every Wednesday night on the Predators flagship station, 102.5 the Game. Our next show is Wednesday night as part of an extended pregame for Wednesday’s game.
We have been delivering great hockey talk to the most energetic and engaged fans in radio and advertising with us drives results at a reasonable price. Just ask our sponsors… including day one sponsor
Drs. Jane Bacon and Aileen Kruger at Hermitage Family and Cosmetic Dentistry … make your appointment at (615) 872-7762 and Patrick J. Brown’s Farmer Insurance Agency in Mt. Juliet… I switched to them a few years back and their service has been incredible! Give Pat and his team a call at 615-288-2086.
Advertisers… reach out to me in order to access our activated listener base though great early season advertising deals available for our eleventh season. You can send me a message on the SlapShot Radio Facebook page or by messaging me right here on HockeyBuzz.
You can also keep up with all the goings on with SlapShot Radio by following the show on Twitter @SlapShotRadio1 … Also... make sure to "like" SlapShot Radio on Facebook... here's the
link.
If you are outside of the listening area, listen live online at
The Game website or check out the podcast about two hours after the show at
on SoundCloud.
-------------------------------------
KINDLE USERS: Please subscribe to Predators Buzz, a one-stop feed for all things Predators-related on HockeyBuzz. Your subscription includes a free 14-day trial and is just 99 cents per month thereafter. For more information,
click here.
Nashville Predators Blogger •Predators Radio Network • 
Join the Discussion:
»