The feeling of dejavu inside of Bridgestone Arena was palpable; somehow we had seen this before. A weaker opponent, after a win over Detroit, Predators jumping out early, pouring shots on net, dominating play with nothing on the scoreboard to show for it… yup, almost a carbon copy of Monday night. That uneasy feeling would remain until Cody Franson’s game winner with less than three minutes to go in the game. In postgame comments, a lot of the players and coaches referred to Monday night as well. The only change was that the Predators came away with a 5-3 victory in front of a sold out Smashville Saturday Night.
New acquisition Mike Fisher was highly effective in his over 18 minutes of ice time. He was excellent in the face off circle, as Preds radio play-by-play man Tom Callahan in the post game show accurately noted, he was effective both on forehand and backhand draws. The best thing about his game to this observer, is his way of heading to the front of the net whenever he could. He was the screen in front of Peter Budaj on Shea Weber’s first goal and seemed to fit in well with Erat and Kostitsyn. His stat line for his first game as a Pred… 24 shifts, 18:10 in ice time, 2 shots, 1 assist, a +2 and a 75% face off win percentage. Not bad at all.
The team has now put together back-to-back wins for the first time in almost three weeks and they remain fourth in the hyper competitive Western Conference. Next up is the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday night in the second of their four game homestand.
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Random Notes
- Another boisterous crowd at the Bridge last night with another TV Tiimeout ovation. I caught quite a few of the players looking up at the crowd and basking in the cheers. The TV Timeout has rapidly become a tradition in Music City, a symbol of the feeling Pred Nation has for their team.
- Nice to see Adrian Dater in Nashville last night, so that’s what a large market newspaper does, send it’s hockey beat writer on the road with the team on a consistent basis. Dater does a good job on his Denver Post blog… and gives a shout out to Preds On The Glass in today’s version.
- Speaking of Dater… he brings it strong on today’s blog entry, questioning Av’s head coach Joe Sacco’s decision to bench John Michael Liles for the first period… and his long-term future with the team. Check out Adrian at
All Things Av’s.
- Shuffle up and deal… changes in the Western Conference after last night’s play… The Predators stand second in the division and have moved back up to 4th, tied with Phoenix but winning the tie-breaker, leading San Jose and Anaheim by one point. Minnesota is in 8th two points back. Calgary drops to 9th a point out of the playoffs, Los Angeles is 10th, two points back. Chicago is 11th 3 points out, Columbus is six points out, St. Louis eight and Colorado nine points behind the playoff pack
- Impact games tonight for Pred Nation… Boston Visits Detroit in the national game on NBC ay 11:30a, Columbus visits Dallas at 2p, San Jose is in Florida at 4pm and Anaheim visits Edmonton at 7p (all time Central.)
- Islanders / Penguins Update – 14 fighting majors, 21 misconducts and a total of 346 penalty minutes on Friday night. Now… add 23 games of suspension and over $205,000 in fines.
- With the trade deadline 15 days away, more sellers may be identified. Colorado fell nine points back of the pack last night and their chances of making the playoffs are rapidly dropping. They have to be close to the “seller” category. St. Louis will have to make a tough call as well. In the east it is Ottawa and the New York Islanders with Toronto and New Jersey teetering on the edge.
- The tease run the Devils are on is fun, but reality says they cannot do it. To put their chances in perspective, they have to continue the torrid pace they are on to just have a slight chance to make the playoffs, if they go undefeated for the rest of the season, they finish with 100 points. They have to win 80% of their remaining games to finish with 90 points. The margin for error is very slim for Uncle Lou’s boys.
- The Phoenix Coyotes have survived their mid-season swoon and have put together a four game win streak after last night’s shootout win over Chicago. That’s the Blackhawks fourth loss in their last five games.
- The countdown is on… one week to go before the Flames and Habs take it outside in the Heritage Classic
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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, but we are having a bit of fun by getting your input on Gnash introductions, weigh in on Twitter and who knows, we may use your introduction for the best mascot in the NHL at the next Preds game!
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COMING UP ON THE NEXT SLAPSHOT RADIO…
We didn’t have a show this week due to scheduling and broadcast conflicts, but you can get a SlapShot Radio fix at
the SlapShot Radio podcast page.
We are putting the guest list together for next week and will release it soon.
Nashville Predators Blogger •Predators Radio Network • 
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