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On my regular weekly appearance on the Thom Abraham Show last night, the Big Dog asked me about the Predators goaltending situation. I said that it had been awhile since a goaltender had stole a win for the team and that they needed strong goaltending if they were going to make the playoffs. They got that kind of goaltending last night from Dan Ellis as he stopped 37 shots in the Predators 2-1 win over the New York Rangers last night at MSG.
The key was Ellis’ strong third period, stopping all 18 Ranger shots, quite a few from point blank range, rescuing a team that was clearly losing its legs in the second half of a back-to-back. He was rightly awarded first star of the game and one of nhl.com’s three stars of the night.
The back story from last night’s game had to be the play of Colin Wilson. He saw a ten minute increase in ice time over Tuesday’s loss on the Island, scoring the game winner, showing an ability to finish nicely. With the injury to Jerred Smithson and Marcel Goc being sent back to Nashville, Wilson should stay with the team until the Olympic break. I expect him to get sent back to Milwaukee for the Olympics, but he does have an opportunity to cement a place in the lineup for the March stretch run over the next two games.
The Preds leave Times Square for Newark later today, wonder if they are loading up the sled dogs for the trip to the Rock…
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Thursday Notes
- Washington’s win streak is toast, thanks to Montreal’s 6-5 OT win last night.
- Phoenix completed a season sweep of the Minnesota Wild last night. First time the Coyotes have done that to Minny. This Coyote team ain't going away folks.
- Don’t look now, but Anaheim is in the mix. Their win over Edmonton last night put them tied with Detroit with 67 points.
- The NHL announced that there will be three NHL Premier series to open next season. Carolina/Minnesota in Helsinki, Columbus/San Jose in Stockholm, and Boston/Phoenix in Prague. The teams will play two games each between Oct. 7 – 10.
- Predators Standings Update – The team stands all alone at 2nd in the Central Division, 7th in the Western Conference with a 4 point lead over Detroit, Anaheim has tied Detroit in points, but has played one more game than the Red Wings. The Predators lead the 8th place Flames by two points with a game in hand.
- Impact Games Tonight - Dallas @ Calgary, Edmonton @ Los Angeles… the biggest game of the evening is San Jose visiting the Joe to play the Wings, you can watch that one on NHL Network.
Wed 2/17 - It’s the HockeyBuzz Radio Olympic Hockey Preview Show, Pete and I will be talking Olympic hockey with guests from across the continent including Keith Jones from Versus.
Wed 2/24 - We’ll be talking Medal Round in the Olympics and get you ready for the NHL’s stretch run.
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You are invited to follow me on Twitter. Search for PredPAPaul… Not only will I be updating when I get news or updates… I’ll also be updating during Pred home games in season with information and explanations from the PA box.
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