Game 82.
I can remember when that meant the end of hockey for the season, the end of seeing your hockey family and the beginning of a long, hot, hockeyless summer. But, that isn’t the case any more in Smashville. For the 12th time in the last 15 seasons, the Nashville Predators will contest for Lord Stanley’s Cup.
Tonight’s last game of the regular season has quite a bit on the line. The 7th 100 point season in franchise history, the Central Division title and home ice in at least the first two rounds of the playoffs… and who is standing in the way?
The Chicago Blackhawks.
The team that was sent spiraling down into the nether regions of the Western Conference since the Predators swept them out of the playoffs two springs ago. Let’s face it gang… the Hawks haven’t been the same team since that beat down, so what better way for them to exact a measure of revenge then to spoil another banner being raised to the rafters of Bridgestone Arena?
Chicago is trying to finish the season strong, they have points in their last five games and are coming into Nashville after a 6-1 beatdown of Dallas last night at the United Center. That win had a cost as Hawks netminder Corey Crawford suffered a groin injury and will not go tonight meaning that Cam Ward will likely get the nod between the pipes.
Based on today’s morning skate, Nashville will look to ice the same lineup from Thursday night’s come-from-behind win over Vancouver. I would not be surprised to see Pekka Rinne in net. The team will be looking to continue their ramp up for the playoffs and will look to start strong and finish off by achieving a preseason goal... a division title.
Game time is 7pm at Bridgestone Arena… we will have LOTS of giveaways and the annual “Shirts Off Their Back” promo post game… see you at the Bridge
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The
Where We Stand section
The last day of the regular season dawns with the Preds are all alone at the top of the Central Division. They lead both 2nd place Winnipeg and 3rd place St. Louis by one point.
Nashville has clinched their playoff spot and currently holds the 2 seed in the Western Conference playoff race. Here is the way the Western Conference playoffs would look if they started today, the team with home ice advantage is listed first…
1P Calgary vs WC2 Colorado
1C Nashville vs. WC1 Dallas
2C Winnipeg vs. 3C St. Louis
2P San Jose vs 3P Vegas (This series is already locked in as the teams have clinched these slots)
So… what do the scenario’s look like? Without getting into the craziness… here are the base ones.
Nashville captures the division if the following happens…
• Any type of Nashville win tonight
Or
• A Nashville loss combined with regulation losses from Winnipeg and St. Louis.
Or
• A Nashville overtime loss combined with overtime losses from St. Louis and Winnipeg
Nashville finishes second in the division if…
• Nashville loses to Chicago, Winnipeg loses in regulation and St. Louis wins
Or
• Nashville loses to Chicago, St. Louis loses in regulation and Winnipeg wins
Nashville finishes third in the division if…
• Nashville loses to Chicago and both Winnipeg and St. Louis win in any fashion.
Got it???
There are many other permutations of this, but those are the most likely.
Who’s In – Who’s Close
East – Tampa Bay, Washington, Boston, the New York Islanders, Toronto, Pittsburgh and Carolina have previously clinched and Columbus rounds out the field as they punched their ticket last night.
West – Calgary, Winnipeg, Nashville, San Jose, Vegas, St. Louis, Dallas and Colorado are in.
The playoff field is complete.
Impact Games Tonight
3pm – VAN @ STL – At least Nashville will know what they need to do come game time. A St. Louis win gives them temporary possession of the division lead and puts the pressure on the Preds to get a win. If St. Louis loses this game in regulation, Nashville will clinch home ice advantage in at least the first round.
7pm – MIN @ DAL – The Stars dropped their chance at third in the division last night as they lost 6-1 in Chicago. Dallas needs two points in any fashion to clinch the first wild card slot and a matchup against the Central Division champ… whoever that may be.
9pm – WPG @ ARI – The start time for this game really makes it difficult for the Jets coaching staff to post a lineup. They won’t know what their position is by puck drop so If they rest their stars in prep for the playoffs, the coaching staff opens themselves up for criticism. But by the end of the first period, the Jets will know what they need to do… or know that the division is out of their grasp.
9:30pm – COL @ SJS – This one is for positioning… if Colorado wins and Dallas loses, then the Avalanche slide into the first wild card slot and avoids the travel to Calgary.
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Random Notes
- Milwaukee Update –Make it even straight for the Ad’s, they posted a 4-3 win over Chicago to propel them into a tie for 3rd in the AHL’s Central Division. They play Iowa tonight at Panther Arena.
- Signing – The Predators announced the signing of forward Lukas Craggs to a two-year, two-way entry level deal. An undrafted free agent, Craggs just completed play with Bowling Green and helped the Falcons reach their first NCAA Tournament since 1990.
- Another signing – The Predators also announced the signing of defenseman Brandon Fortunato to the same deal as Craggs. Another undrafted college prospect, Fortunato played for Boston University before transferring to Quinnipiac after his sophomore season.
- Looking ahead – If then Preds have home ice in round one, I can only assume they would get going on Wednesday night as there is a concert scheduled at Bridgestone Arena on Thursday night… unless they delay the start until Friday…
- Playoff schedule – The playoff schedule will be announced on the NHL Network, tomorrow morning at 9am.
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