Nashville Predators

Starting the last ten with a win
March 24, 2017, 8:49 AM ET [3 Comments]
Paul McCann
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Stop me if you’ve heard this one before… a tight first period, followed by a couple of goals in the second and an insurance marker in the third results in a 3-1 Nashville win. Yup… been there, saw that, again last night in Smashville as the Predators won a big one, without their captain. Mike Fisher is day-to-day with a lower body injury but the Preds played next man up and got solid games from Calle Jarnkrok and Ryan Ellis again combined with another outstanding performance from Pekka Rinne.

It was not a pretty game, that is for sure, but it was the kind of grind it out, lock it down hockey that a team needs to play in the post season and Nashville is showing signs of playing that kind of hockey. Calgary did an outstanding job of locking down the JOFA line, keying on Arvidsson and Forsberg and daring Nashville to beat them with other lines.

OK… paging Mr. Jarnkrok, Mr. Ellis and Mr. Sissons. Nashville got balanced scoring from two different lines and the blueline to post a huge two points to maintain their tie with the St. Louis Blues, who are making the most of their cupcake schedule as they beat another non-playoff team, posting a 4-1 win over Vancouver.

Oh… and did I say another outstanding performance from Pekka Rinne? The Eraser was in full effect last night as Nashville defensive structure was not as strong as previous games. Rinne covered almost every mistake the Preds made defensively last night and … to be honest … stole one for the home team. Although he had a little first period help from the post as Calgary worked a lot of iron, hitting the post three times in the first period alone.

Let’s get to the Good, the Bad and the Ugly from last night…

The Good - Pekka Rinne fits this category, along with the Predators penalty kill… the PK took care of five opportunities last night in a one sided parade to the penalty box.

The Bad - Discipline – Taking five penalties in the first two periods caused a bit of frustration for Nashville… but they did rectify it in the third period, locking things down and getting the win.

The Ugly - The officiating was pretty ugly last night…

Nashville closes out this home stand with a Saturday night showdown with the San Jose Sharks. There will be a pregame ceremony honoring Pekka Rinne’s 500th game played. Extremely limited tickets remain for this 7pm matchup.

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Random Notes

- Where We Stand – After yesterday’s play, the Nashville Predators have 85 points in 73 games played and continue to hold the last Wild Card berth in the West. They are tied in points for 3rd in the Central with St. Louis, but the Blues hold the tie breaker (ROW). Nashville trails the first wild card slot holder Calgary by a single point and hold a game-in-hand over the Flames. They lead Los Angeles by eight points in the wild card race. Per sportsclubstats.com, the Predators playoff chances are at 98%.

- Impact Game(s) Tonight - WPG @ ANA – Kinda, sorta, maybe impacts the Preds race, an Anaheim win pulls them into a tie with the San Jose Sharks in points.

- If the Playoffs Started Today - As the 8 seed, the Predators would play the Chicago Blackhawks in the first round. Chicago now leads the Western Conference and Central Division by eight points after their win and Minnesota’s loss last night.

- Teams that have clinched playoff spots - No new clinches… Four down, 12 to go… Washington, Chicago, Columbus and Pittsburgh have punched their tickets.

- Playoff “Tragic Numbers” - In the West… Dallas = 2, Winnipeg = 5, Los Angeles = 10. In the East… Carolina = 15, Tampa Bay = 15, New York Islanders = 18. (Stick tap to Damian Echecarrieta for this data) With their loss to St. Louis, Vancouver was officially eliminated last night.

- Colton Sissons was strong last night, not only getting the game winner, but just being, as Peter Laviolette put it in the postgame presser… “noticeable.” His line with Colin Wilson and Craig Smith, was dangerous all night long.

- The Predators set a season ow last night for shots on goal, only generating 17… only three in the second period… where two of them hit the back of the net… score one for efficiency.

- Vernon Fiddler returned to the lineup last night after missing a couple of games. Mike Fisher is classified as “day-to-day” with a lower body injury.

- A patented Sidney Crosby slash shattered a finger on Senators defenseman Marc Methot left hand. There was no call on the play (imagine my surprise…)

- Four games in the NHL tonight, all times CST – 6pm – NYI @ PIT. 6:30pm – TBL @ DET. 7:30pm – SJS @ DAL. 9pm – WPG @ ANA.