You knew it couldn’t last forever.
The Nashville Predators finally snapped out of their six game swoon with a highly satisfying win in St. Louis Saturday night… satisfying, but also painful as Viktor Arvidsson was injured on a filthy cross-check from Robert Bertuzzo. Arvidsson is out for at least four weeks… Betuzzo was suspended for four games… yeah, that’s fair.
So these two teams go at it again tonight in Smashville, getting the holiday week off to a rousing start, but that six game losing streak did some serious damage. The team dropped to 5th in the division and three points out of a playoff spot. Having multiple games in hand over all of the teams they are chasing is advantage, but one they need to take advantage of.
Daniel Carr has been called up to take Arvidsson’s spot. Carr has been lighting it up in Milwaukee and hopes to bring that offensive spark to Music City. Kyle Turris remains in Coach Laviolette’s doghouse, reports from today’s day of game skate indicate he will be a scratch again. Most of Smashville is trying to figure out what is going on there… why is Turris being scratched?
Everything out there is wild speculation… but the longer this goes on, the more that speculation will grow. Everyone seems to have an opinion out there… mine? Well… I can’t say that I understand the move… I also am not an NHL head coach.
Carr will slot into the Duchene / Granlund line… a line that has been causing some chaos in the last few games. Calle Jarnkrok will be with Ryan Johansen and Filip Forsberg. It appears that Matt Irwin will also draw in on the third d-pairing.
The start will be key tonight… the Preds rode a three goal first period to their 4-2 win Saturday night. Four different Preds tickeled the twine as Filip Forsberg, Mattias Ekholm, and Colton Sissons scored and Calle Jarnkrok iced it with an empty netter. Juuse Saros posted 24 saves in the win. That kind of start will be critical for Nashville.
Should be a really good one tonight in Smashville… the blood is boiling and I expect some interesting extracurricular activity. Game time is 7pm. Coverage on 102.5 the Game and Fox Sports Tennessee.
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Random Notes – Presented by
- Daniel Carr has been fire for the Admirals so far… posting 21 points (11g, 10a) in 16 games.
- Vegas is in town on Thanksgiving Eve… another one that the Preds are chasing for a playoff spot.
- Plenty of opinions on the penalty for the Bertuzzo hit… If you were looking through Blues-colored glasses the hit was no big deal. For those in gold… it was tantamount to murder. The truth obviously is somewhere in between… four games seems a little light, but given we knew it wouldn’t go higher without an in-person hearing, the complaints are too little too late.
- St. Louis would trade a third rate defenseman for Arvidsson any day of the week. I still think that if you cause injury like that, your suspension should match how long the player is out. Nashville fans still remember that Bertuzzo was the author of the hit that took Kevin Fiala out of the playoffs back on 2017.
- No one is talking about Binnington’s hit on Arvidsson… sorry, but that was cheap as well.
- Arvidsson will miss at least 12 games… that’s if he gets back in four weeks.
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