The Nashville Predators begin their last back-to-back of the season in Pittsburgh as they take on the Pittsburgh Penguins with both teams fighting for playoff positioning. Pittsburgh has gotten points in eight of their last ten games and have won three straight, Nashville has gotten points in seven of their last ten and won four of their last six games. The race in the Central has tightened incredibly as Winnipeg lost last night… there is only six points between the first wild card slot and the Central Division lead.
Nashville has a chance to win the division… but they must run the table to have a solid chance to do that. If the Predators do that, they now have a 70% chance to win the division. These chances will fluctuate as the last eight days of the season develop, but their division chances are much better now.
That makes tonight’s tilt against the Pens a critical one.
Pittsburgh comes into tonight’s game battling with the SURPRISING New York Islanders for home ice advantage in round one. It’s been an up-and-down year for the mighty Penguins as they look to get back to the top of the heap in the NHL. The team is starting to get players back as the mid-season injury spike they saw is beginning to show signs of recovery.
Olli Matta has missed 20 games but he has been cleared for contact, has been practicing with the team and looks to be a game-time decision tonight. Evgeni Malkin is skating but is still not ready to return yet according to reports from Pittsburgh.
No clue on who will be starting tonight in Pittsburgh, I am sure we will see Juuse Saros start one of these and Pekka Rinne starting the other of this final back-to-back of the season. The team continues to prep for playoff hockey and this weekend will be a solid test.
Can the Preds run the table and potentially take the division? Yup? We will find out if they can take the first step tonight… game time is 6pm. Pregame starts at 5pm on 102.5 the Game and 5:30 on Fox Sports Tennessee.
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The
Where We Stand section
Nashville is in second place in the Central Division, two points behind the Winnipeg Jets, both teams have five games remaining. The Preds lead St. Louis by two points, the Blues have a game in hand on Nashville
Nashville has clinched their playoff spot and currently holds the 4 seed in the Western Conference playoff race. As things stand today, Nashville would host a first round series against the St. Louis Blues and according to SportsClubStats.com, the Predators chances of playing St. Louis in the first round stands at 63.3%. Next in line is the Dallas Stars at 18.2% and Winnipeg at 17.4%.
Impact Games Tonight – None – Nashville is off until Friday night when they travel to Pittsburgh. Winnipeg plays the New York Islanders on Thursday, St. Louis plays the New York Rangers on Friday
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