It’s a battle of the walking wounded tonight as two injury riddled teams get together at Bridgestone Arena. The Ottawa Senators hit town with an injured reserve list of six players, including Bobby Ryan, Matt Duchene and Marian Gaborik to take on the Predators with four players on IR, including Filip Forsberg, Viktor Arvidsson and PK Subban. The fourth one may not be on IR for much longer as Kyle Turris is skating and practicing with the team… no word as I write this if he returns to the lineup tonight and word is starting to come out that Subban, Forsberg and Arvidsson are all skating as well.
The Senators come into to night’s game fresh off a three game home stand that saw them lose to Montreal, beat Pittsburgh in overtime and drop an overtime decision to Boston. The Senators are not without offense, despite the lengthy IR list. Mark Stone is on a PPG+ run so far this season, posting 35 points (15g, 20a) in 31 games and Thomas Chabot has 8 goals and 25 assists… they lead the scoring, but you must also account for players like Mikkel Boedker and Ryan Dzingel. I know, not exactly household names, but they are putting together solid seasons in Canada’s capital.
For Ottawa… it all comes down to goaltending. Craig Anderson has been just OK and backup Mike McKenna has been less than OK. Anderson has a GAA of 3.58 and a save percentage of .906. The Sens are going to need better if they hope to get back into playoff position.
For Nashville, it is also about the netminding… the Predators have been playing .500 hockey ever since this recent spate of injuries hit and a major reason for that record is Pekka Rinne. He is following up on his Vezina winning season with one that may be even better. He stands at a 1.95 GAA and .930 save percentage, both are better than his results from last season.
The other key for the Predators is to simplify. Sometimes an extended injury ride like the one the Preds are on can drive players to try and do too much. Coach Brent Peterson said it best on last night’s SlapShot Radio saying that the team needs to get back to that aggressive forecheck and keep the puck in Ottawa’s defensive end. The breaks will come…
It’s the first of three consecutive at Bridgestone Arena, the last home games before Christmas. Limited tickets remain. Game coverage begins with pregame at 6pm on 102.5 the Game, Fox Sports Tennessee begins their pregame coverage at 6:30pm … game time is 7pm…
See you at the Bridge!
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Last night’s SlapShot Radio…
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Random Notes
- Milwaukee Update –The Admirals have dropped their last three, all on the road and are back in action tonight against Grand Rapids. The injury situation in Nashville is impacting the Ad’s.
- Tonight is the first of two meetings between Ottawa and Nashville, the next one is next week in Ottawa on Country Night at Canadian Tire Center… gee… that original.
- The first 5000 fans through the doors tonight get a free US Hockey Hall of Fame poster as Preds GM David Poile is being inducted. The celebration is tomorrow.
- Boy… that coaching change in Chicago did a LOT of good… the Blackhawks are 3-10-2 since firing Joel Quinneville. They were 6-6-3 prior to the change…
- You might be able to say the same for St. Louis…
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