The Predators continue their desert odyssey in Arizona tonight as they will face off against the Coyotes at Gila River Arena in Glendale. The Predators are off to a 4-2 start and are showing an offensive firepower that has been rarely seen in Pred colors over their 21 year history. They got scoring from all four lines in Tuesday night’s win over Vegas, confounding the Golden Knights with wave after wave of attacks that ultimately, Vegas just couldn’t handle.
Tonight, the Predators take on Arizona in a place where they have had some success (even though it doesn’t feel that way) gaining points in nine of their last 13 road games against the Desert Dogs. Arizona is off to a solid start to their season, going 2-2-1 in their first five games including a win over Winnipeg at MTS Center on Tuesday and a win over Vegas. This is not a team to overlook.
The Coyotes have added some offensive firepower with the trade that brought Phil Kessel to the desert. They are fairly solid, if unspectacular, up and down their lineup. Nick Schmaltz and Conor Garland lead their early season scoring with 3 goals each and Darcy Kuemper has gotten the lion’s share of the starts, going 2-2, posting a .906 Save % and a very good 1.52 GAA, only giving up six goals in those four starts. Their blueline is good with a mix of youth and experience that appears to be working.
The concern in Pred Nation revolves around Filip Forsberg, who left the Vegas game with about 9 minutes to go in it and sat out of yesterday’s optional practice. Given the incredibly hot start Forsberg is off to, it would really suck if he were to miss time and would cost him the chance to break the franchise record for scoring streak to start a season. I will be watching Twitter this morning for the day of game skate to see if Forsberg is on the ice… kinda makes you thankful that Daniel Carr cleared waivers and remains with the team. I wonder if he gets a shot at some top six minutes to prove he belongs in the NHL.
Game time is 9pm CDT… brew up the coffee, sleep is overrated anyway. Coverage on Fox Sports Tennessee with Willy Daunic and Chris Mason and on the flagship of the Predators Radio Network, 102.5 the Game with the Voice of the Predators, Pete Weber on the call and Hal Gill on color. The Predators will return to Music City post game to prep for Saturday’s home game against the Florida Panthers.
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Random Notes – Presented by
- No word out of Milwaukee if there is any call up going to happen. That could be a good sign for the Forsberg situation… or it could be reading too much into an absence of information.
- Adam Vingan’s mailbag on The Athletic poses some interesting questions on Kyle Turris. Especially given the Forsberg situation right now… does he get bumped up to the top six on wing?
- Yikes… the Dallas Stars lost again last night, dropping their record to 1-6-1… the only thing saving the Stars from last place in the conference is the 1-5-0 Minnesota Wild.
- There is word that Dustin Byfuglien could be on his way back to the Winnipeg Jets. They need him… badly.
- The soap opera that is the New Jersey Devils took a very weird turn yesterday as first ever Preds captain Tom Fitzgerald was named an assistant coach for the team. That in itself is not weird, but the fact that he is also the assistant GM of the team does change the look of this move. This situation bears watching.
- The Edmonton Oilers bounced back in a big way last night, chasing Carter Hart from the Philly net and laying the smackdown on the Flyers 6-3.
- The lone undefeated team in the NHL went down in OT on a weird play… Colorado lost to Pittsburgh last night for their first loss of the season.
- Tonight’s NHL schedule – 6pm – TBL @ BOS, MIN @ MTL, NYR @ NJD. 7pm – VAN @ STL, NYI @ WPG. 8pm – DET @ CGY. 9pm – NSH @ ARI, OTT @ VGK. 9:30pm – BUF @ LAK.
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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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