And the Pred Nation choir said… “Amen!”
On the strength of six goals from five different goal scorers, last night’s 6-1 victory over Anaheim was kinda sweet. Especially when you consider that Anaheim came in giving up about 1.6 goals per game… they left with that stat ballooning to 2.20… yeah… that was sweet.
Nashville snapped a modest two game winless streak and again showed the trend that they play down… or in last night’s case, up to their opponent. Last night the Predators started strong, finished strong and played one of their most complete games of the season. But let’s not get to far over our skis here…
This team still has some defensive work to do, Pekka Rinne was on his head last night and without his stellar performance we may be talking about a very different result. Rinne lived up to his nickname as the Eraser, because he covered for a multitude of defensive lapses. Rinne stopped breakaways, penalty shots and traffic… ok… maybe not traffic… but he did stop everything else.
The captain got the scoring started early as Roman Josi posted his 4th of the season on the 5 on 3 advantage less that 5 minutes in to the game, then Colton Sisson picked up an errant pass as he exited the penalty box, broke down the right side and went top cheddar on Ducks goalie John Gibson to put the Preds up 2-0 going into the room for the first intermission.
Anaheim had to feel like they were still in the game, they were playing well with the exception of two mistakes that ended up in the net… but Rocco Grimaldi scored 35 seconds into the second and Mattias Ekholm potted a shortie to give the crowd Frostys and effectively end Anaheim’s hopes.
Even Ryan Getzlaff’s goal early in the third was answered less than a minute later by Viktor Arvidsson (who potted two on the night, including the final goal giving the Preds a highly satisfying 6-1 win.
The Preds finish the three game home stand tomorrow night as the suddenly resurgent MInnestoa Wild come to town. Game time is 7pm at Bridgestone Arena.
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Random Notes – Presented by
- The Preds are 1-1-1 since Filip Forsberg went down with his lower body injury.
- Kyle Turris is on a four game point streak, Ryan Ellis has a five game point streak.
- Good attitude from the locker room last night as many players pointed to improvements that the team could make.
- Minnesota shutout Edmonton last night for their second consecutive win. Alex Staylock and Devan Dubnyk combined for the shutout, Dubnyk left the game in the second period.
- Winnipeg’s loss to LA last night dropped them 4th in the division… but out of the wild card… the pacific division owns five playoff spots as today dawns… perhaps we underestimated the Pacific in preseason predictions.
- The three bottom teams in the West are Dallas, Chicago and Minnesota… the Stars and Wild have won their last two.
- The grumblings and rumblings are growing louder in Toronto after losing to Boston last night, the knives are out for Mike Babcock in the Toronto media.
- Tonight’s NHL schedule – 6:30pm – DET @ OTT. 7pm – PIT @ TBL – NBCSN.
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SlapShot Radio is back for our 12th season as Zack, Brent and I will be moving the show to Monday night’s this year. The best hour of hockey talk on the longest running hockey show in the southeast will begin the season at 8pm and will settle into our normal 7pm slot after Thanksgiving… Monday’s 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 Mufreesboro 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 Mufreesboro, Hendersonville and Cool Springs!
The new season promises to be the best yet!
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