Nashville Predators

Sunday Shots - A solid two for the home team + Blues/Preds Preview
April 2, 2017, 11:33 AM ET [1 Comments]
Paul McCann
Nashville Predators Blogger • Predators Radio Network • RSS • Archive • CONTACT
SlapShot Radio’s intrepid photographer was out and about last night capturing all the color and fun of a Smashville Saturday Night.

All photos courtesy Denise McCann Photography

The Nashville Predators got back to playing sound hockey yesterday in their methodical 3-0 dismantling of the Minnesota Wild. They were sound in almost every aspect of the game. Pekka Rinne was outstanding in net, the team limited giveaways, was opportunistic in their offense and got a much needed win. It did tantalize the taste buds for a potential Minnesota / Nashville series. Yesterday’s game was an up and down affair and both teams played well, Nashville was just a little bit better… the difference came down to goaltending and a curious timeout call.

It is my belief that curious timeout call was a real difference maker.

Let’s set the stage… late in the second period, two teams were fairly even, although Nashville was taking the play to Minnesota for an extended period. After an icing call, Wild head coach Bruce Boudreau called a timeout. Now we’ve seen that happen a lot, give the unit on the ice a blow after being stuck on the ice for a long shift… but that wasn’t the case here. Time out called, but there was no interaction between the head coach and the team… none. Weird.

The rest was history as Nashville finally cracked Alex Staylock to go up 1-0, then Kevin Fiala executed an excellent steal on the half wall, walked in and beat Staylock just :10 seconds later to put the Preds up 2-0… stunning the Wild. That timeout obviously did not have the desired effect. But again… why call it?

No rest was needed, no momentum to stop and not only that… it took the coaches challenge out of Boudreau’s hands… I simply don’t get it…

Let’s get to the GBU…

The Good - Pekka Rinne gets this one. He was stellar between the pipes, continuing a nice bounceback season that sees him coming into playoff season with less games played and fresher than we have seen Nashville’s workhorse goaltender at this point of the season.

The Bad - Two bad shifts from the Wild led to the Preds win.

The Ugly - I asked before the game yesterday if the Wild’s win over Ottawa was a rebound, or a dead cat bounce… the Wild are in trouble at a bad time of the year.

So… on to today’s business… a pretty big matchup between the Predators and the St. Louis Blues in the Gateway City. So, what’s on the line? Two rather huge points that may decide both teams playoff opponents… any point for Nashville clinches the last Western Conference playoff spot for the Preds.

The teams are tied in points right now, but St. Louis has a game in hand, making this game even more critical for Nashville. A win puts the Preds up two points and back in third… but it doesn’t kill the Blues chances… considering this is the last playoff team either team plays. The Blues finish the season hosting Winnipeg, travelling to Florida and Carolina before finishing at home with Colorado. The Preds finish their home schedule on Tuesday against the Islanders, then hit the road to play Dallas and finish the regular season at Winnipeg.

Today’s game is the first game against a playoff team for St. Louis since a home overtime loss to Calgary and are coming off a shootout loss to Colorado at Pepsi Center. It’s the second game of a back-to-back for Nashville, but they were in St. Louis by 7pm last night so the impact should be fairly limited. A bigger impact may be the fact that this is the Predators fifth game in the last seven days.

Expect a very similar lineup for Nashville today… James Neal and Yannick Weber are both still listed as day-to-day with upper body injuries. The big question is in goal. Coming into this weekend, I expected Juuse Saros to go yesterday against the Wild and there is no word from the team if he is going today. After Rinne’s shutout performance last night, there may be a temptation to go with Pekka again today. Keep an eye on Twitter for that one.

It’s a 3pm faceoff, pregame coverage begins at 2pm on the Predators Radio Network and 2:30pm on Fox Sports Tennessee.

----------------------------------

Random Notes

- Where We Stand – After yesterday’s play, the Nashville Predators have 91 points in 78 games played and remain in the 2nd Wild Card slot, tied in points with St. Louis for 3rd spot in the Central, the Blues have a game in hand on Nashville. The Preds are one point behind Calgary for the first Wild Card slot. Per sportsclubstats.com, the Predators playoff chances are at 99.9%.

- Impact Game(s) Tonight - Any Nashville point clinches the playoffs in today’s game against St. Louis. That game will be complete before Ari @ LAK starts… should Nashville lose in regulation, the Predators can still clinch with any loss from the Kings.

- If the Playoffs Started Today - As the 8 seed in the West, the Predators would play the Chicago Blackhawks in the first round.

- Teams that have clinched playoff spots - No new team qualified last night although Chicago clinched the Central and the West. 12 down, 4 to go… Washington, Chicago, Columbus, Pittsburgh, Minnesota, New York Rangers, Anaheim, San Jose, Edmonton, Montreal, Calgary and St. Louis have punched their tickets.

- Playoff “Tragic Numbers” - In the West… Los Angeles = 1. In the East… Carolina = 4, Tampa Bay = 6, New York Islanders = 4. (Stick tap to Damian Echevarrieta for this data)

- Filip Forsberg is the first player in franchise history to score 30 games in back-to-back seasons.

- Ryan Johansen is two assists away from setting a frachise record for single season assists.

- Eleven games in the NHL today, all times CST – 11:30am – BOS @ CHI. 2pm – NYI @ BUF. 3pm – NSH @ STL. 4pm – CAR @ PIT. 5pm – COL @ MIN, DAL @ TBL, WSH @ CBJ. 6pm – SJS @ VAN. 6:30pm – PHI @ NYR. 8:30pm – ANA @ CGY. 9:30pm – ARI @ LAK.