Time for a quick “Sponsor Spotlight” – We are welcoming back Burgert Republic to the SlapShot Radio advertiser family. Definitely a great place for an awesome burger! And my personal favorite, the Philly Egg Rolls. They now have two locations… the original BR in Lenox Village and now they are in The Gulch! A perfect place for your pregame meal. Check out their menu and get directions at the Burger Republic website. Defend Quality! Burger Republic.

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A 5-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks should be the lead story today. A couple of power play goals, Colin Wilson’s four point night, a killer instinct revealed. All things that should be leading the coverage of a Tuesday night at Bridgestone Arena. But the story instead is about Pekka Rinne… and not in the way that Pred Nation has been talking about him.

A third period tangle as Vancouver’s Chris Higgins was driving the net and Anton Volchenkov’s play on the puck sent all three players careening into the back boards… and Pekka Rinne appeared to take the brunt of the play. I can’t remember a time I have heard Smashville so quiet as everyone held their breath… hoping… praying… begging for their All-Star goaltender to be OK. It felt like it took forever for Rinne to get to his feet and once he did, hope swept through the rink as he attempted to stretch out and stay in the game.

But that was not to be as caution appropriately ruled the day, Rinne skated off and handed the reins to backup Carter Hutton, who understandably fought the puck for the first few minutes, but did his job, slamming the door shut with 10 saves on 10 shots, including four critical saves in the first few minutes of relief.

It was heartening to see the rest of the team step up in a big way to relieve the pressure from their backup goaltender. Vancouver did all they could to take advantage of the situation and continued a pretty impressive push that they had been putting on since the second period… but Filip Forsberg’s goal at 13:32 broke the momentum and gave the Predators the breathing room they needed and opened up the flood gates for two more goals that sent Pred Nation home with free coffee and a free Frosty!

But coffee and ice cream won’t relieve the worry that a lot of Pred fans are feeling this morning. After the game, the team announced Rinne’s status as day-to-day with a lower-body injury. While Nashville is off today and we know there won’t be any information coming out of 501 Broadway until tomorrow’s open practice at Ford Ice Center… that won’t stop fans from looking for any indicator, any information at all that may shed light on the situation.

For now, all Pred Nation can do is hope… and wait.

And here are the highlights from the game, courtesy nhl.com;


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Random Notes

- Filip Forsberg snapped his goal-less streak with a back-breaker goal in the third last night, sparking a three goal outburst to seal the deal for the Preds.

- An interesting note from today’s Vancouver Province… the Predators have sold out more home games than the Canucks this season.

- Gotta give full marks to Carter Hutton for coming in cold and preserving the win.

- Nashville remains on top of the NHL standings with 62 points… one point ahead of the New York Islanders (no your eyes aren’t playing tricks on you) and two points up on Anaheim, with a game in hand on each team.

- Yes… with last night’s 3-0 win at Madison Square Garden, the New York Islanders took over sole possession of first place in the Eastern Conference. Now… if back on October 1st I told you that the conference leaders on January 14th would be the Islanders and Predators…

- The situation in Minnesota is going from bad to worse. The Penguins sent them to their 6th straight loss, destroying the Wild 7-2. The Wild locker room took a long time to open up after that shellacking.

- More potential bad news as Wild defenseman Ryan Suter has a hearing with the NHL’s Department of Player Safety for his elbow on Steve Downie last night… frustration is building in St. Paul.

- Buffalo did a nice job on the Dominc Hasek jersey retirement last night… a well-deserved honor for the Dominator.

-Four games on the NHL schedule tonight – Habs @ Jackets; Flyers @ Caps, Leafs @ Ducks and Devils @ Kings.

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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! You can also keep up with all the goings on with SlapShot Radio by following the show on Twitter @SlapShotRadio1

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SlapShot Radio is back every Wednesday at 7pm on 102.5 the Game and the SlapShot Radio Network…. Our Winter Premier is Wednesday night, 1/21… Our premier, day one sponsor is Dr. Jane Bacon at Hermitage Family and Cosmetic Dentistry … make your appointment at 615-872-7762.

We are also welcoming back The Wine Shoppe at Green Hills and Burger Republic to the SSR fold!

Want to be part of the SlapShot Radio family? We have effective and affordable advertising packages for every budget. Be part of the excitement of Nashville hockey… Advertisers… reach out to me to access our activated listener base via email at paul(@)slapshotradio(dot)com

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