Jordin Tootoo Radio Show on 11/26/2011: Special Guest Craig Smith!

So we’ve been getting a ton of questions about the Jordin Tootoo Radio Show and other events happening with the Predators. Welp, we don’t have the direct schedule for all of the Tootoo shows (there is probably a set one on one of the many other Preds blogs), but we’ll be sure to let you know via a post or Twitter when those dates are.

• The latest one is tomorrow night, Wednesday, December 14th, from 7 to 8PM at Blackstone Restaurant and Brewery on West End. Be sure to get there at least 30 minutes early to find a good seat and don’t forget to bring your camera and things to get autographed! Tootoo’s special guest will be the one and only Brian McGrattan! You definitely don’t want to miss your chance to meet Big Ern! Also, although we don’t know when the next Tootoo Radio Show is, we are almost certain this will be the last one of the year so check it out!
• Also going on around the Predators world is a meet and greet at Dollar General in Nashville (2403 Lebanon Pike Road) tomorrow between 4:30 and 5:30PM! Your two Predators for the night are Nick Spaling and Sergei Kostitsyn! Same with the Tootoo Show, don’t forget your cameras and items to be signed!

So there you go, folks! Two ways to meet four of your favorite Predators tomorrow! And for those wondering about the ‘Tootoo on 2’ segment, you can catch that every Sunday night at 10:30PM on News Channel 2 WKRN. If you miss it, you can also check the WKRN website for the video!

Predators salute fans after their win against Anaheim on Saturday night.

The Predators finally broke the home losing streak Saturday night as the home team welcomed the ever-so-lovely Anaheim Ducks Saturday night to the Bridgestone Arena. After losing the last four home games, the Predators, still high from their win in Columbus two nights before, knew losing to (of all teams) the Ducks at home was not going to happen.

As we all know, the Ducks aren’t exactly Nashville’s favorite team and sadly, this is there last trip to our great city for the rest of the regular season. In fact, we won’t be seeing our good friends from Disneyland until March 18th. So for the Predators to seal their third win of the season against the Ducks has hopefully left the team on a good note to face the Flames, who venture here from Canada tomorrow.

KEY POINTS:

• Jonathon Blum was the healthy scratch for the night, with Blake Geoffrion still hanging out with an injury.
• Jordin Tootoo made his debut against the Ducks after his controversial 2-Game suspension after colliding with Buffalo’s goalie, Ryan Miller a week before. It was clear he and the fans were ready for his return, for they gave him a standing ovation on the announcement of his name.
• The Predators maintained control of the game throughout the first period, blocking the Ducks from getting but one shot on the goal for the first fifteen minutes. That’s the team we like to see!
• Brian McGrattan and George Parros continued their dislike for one another, putting up the dukes at 2:36 into the 1st Period. Both men got some good swings in, but eventually, the refs pulled the two apart and the two skated off to the penalty box. Here’s the video:
  
• Colin Wilson looked to score the first goal of the night for the Predators, but was deemed by Toronto that Wilson made a “distinct kicking motion” with his foot, thus no goal (You cannot kick a puck in the goal – not soccer here). Of course, watching the review video, it’s clear he did not kick it, but it did deflect off his foot, which was at an angle, therefore officials claim he kicked it. The Ducks would then strike first with 38 seconds left in the first to take the lead.
• Mike Fisher shot the puck passed Dan Ellis to score the first goal for the Predators, but alas, like Colin’s, Mike’s was waved off due to the ref supposedly blowing the whistle before the puck hit the back of the net.
• Also during the first, Francis Bouillon gets tripped by Andrew Gordon, which sends Frankie slamming into the boards. Gordon was sent to the box for tripping and Bouillon teetered back to the bench, but did not go to the locker room.
• Predators favorite Duck Dan Ellis was starting goalie for the night, spiking those on Twitter to post nice, charming tweets with the hashtag #DanEllisProblems. If you are unaware of the Predators issue with Mr. Ellis, well it’s a long story, but to put it short, he used to be our goalie (starter over Peks) but he just wasn’t happy with his paycheck. Preds said adios, made Peks the starter, and Ellis whined and complained about how bad Nashville was. Don’t pull a Dan Hamhuis, Mr. Dan Ellis; Nashville doesn’t play nice for nasty former players. Needless to say, Ellis had to put up a hard fight against the Predators, and surprisingly, he did make some pretty key saves. Not nearly enough, though… sorry. #DanEllisProblems
• Nick Spaling tied the Predators with the Ducks at one at 12:03 in the 2nd, with a nice pass from Colin Wilson. Jordin Tootoo also assisted in that goal.
• The second period saw no goals, but Roman Josi would send the Predators up by one when he got his first NHL career goal at 2:33 on the Nashville PP with assistance from Captain Shea Weber and Martin Erat.
• Mike Fisher did something extra rare Saturday night as he and Bobby Ryan dropped gloves and started throwing punches. Fisher isn’t a player with a hot temper, so for him to drop the gloves is pretty rare. In fact, the most fights Fisher has ever had in a regular season is four, which was back in the 2002-2003 season. Otherwise, Fisher faced between one and two fights since the 2003-2004 season. Okay, so we exaggerate when we say he and Ryan threw punches because, if you watch the video, Bobby Ryan hits the ice before Fisher can really do anything. Carrie seemed to enjoy it, though!
  
• Jordin Tootoo revived himself from his 2-Game suspension and scored the game winning goal for the Predators at 5:25 in the 3rd, with assistance from (of all the players) Kevin Klein and Jerred Smithson. Yes, you read that correctly and we here at Lady Preds do not hate either one of those guys, but other fans sure have a vendetta against them so it was good to see Klein and Smithson contribute in a positive way!
• Anaheim would score at 13:24, but the Predators held them off for the remaining minutes and sealed their first home win since November 17th against the Maple Leafs.
• The Predators well in both shots and lack of penalties Saturday night, out shooting the Ducks 28 to 17 and only finding themselves in the box four times compared to the Ducks who went six times. Here are the Predators who sat out in the box:

1.  Brian McGrattan – 2:36 1st Period – Fighting (major)
2. Shea Weber – 16:26 1st Period – Interference
3. Mike Fisher – 2:44 3rd Period – Fighting (major)
4. Shea Weber – 6:28 3rd Period – Hooking

Jordin Tootoo definitely made his presence known Saturday, not only assisting the first goal, but scoring the game-winning goal. We are glad that his suspension is over and that it was only two games (one of which the Preds lost). With this game, the Predators are now on a home stretch, welcoming the Calgary Flames to Nashville tomorrow. We leave you with a photo of a very happy Jordin Tootoo, celebrating with the fans after Nashville’s awesome win against the Ducks.

What a happy Jordin Tootoo!

GO PREDS.

BREAKING: As of today (Monday, December 12th), Jonathon Blum, who was a healthy scratch for Saturday’s game, has now been sent down to Milwaukee. It is due to the fact Roman Josi has seemed to have found his groove in the NHL so Blum will be replaced (for the time being) with Roman Josi.

Shea Weber takes no prisoners. Ryan Suter says, "Ewwwwyyy."

What started out as a terrible, horrible, simply atrocious game for the Predators, ended in absolute insanity as the Predators tied the game with less than 13 seconds left in regulation and then scored in OT to win the game over Columbus. If you watched throughout any point in the game, you definitely had the same thoughts everyone else did; Hooray, another loss for the Predators. We don’t like to be proven wrong, but when it comes to sports and our team winning, we are happy to be wrong in this situation! Though the Blue Jackets did get a point in this, we still came out with the win (and the Predators definitely needed a win). Like we stated before, this should have ended as one of Nashville’s most disgusting games, but within 96 seconds, the Predators woke up and remembered, hey! We’re playing a hockey game!

Nasty as the entire game was, we will accept any win as victory. Last time the Predators met with Columbus was on November 19th, when the Blue Jackets stole the win in OT 4-3 in Nashville. Could this be a form of retaliation from the Preds? Some sort of revenge? We’d like to say that, but the first 58 minutes of regulation looked like a Bumble Bee soccer team. But hey, a win’s a win and we needed it! Here are the few high lights from tonight’s game:

KEY POINTS

• Jon Blum and Chris Mueller took the scratches tonight and Blake Geoffrion is still mending, even though he’s been out way longer than Barry Trotz predicted. He did not make the trip to Columbus, but we hope his injury isn’t more serious than once thought.
• Speaking of injury, Francis Bouillon returned to the ice tonight after a groin injury benched him for a few games. However, Derek Dorsett wasn’t too happy with Frankie and the two ended up putting up the dukes towards the end of the first. Frankie got a few good punches in, but Dorsett took the fight. Both ended up the box with majors for fighting. Here’s the video:

• Columbus took the lead at 12:42 with a goal from Jeff Carter and ended the first with the Predators in the hole. Columbus would score again in the 2nd, but Mike Fisher was quick to put the Predators on the board at 13:10 with assistance from Sergei Kostitsyn and Francis Bouillon.
• Columbus sent the game up by 2 on the Preds early into the third, and, with the rest of what the game looked liked, lead many fans to change the channel or just give up. The Predators, however, were not even close to giving up.
• At 18:24, Patric Hornqvist slipped the puck passed Curtis Sanford to put the Predators down by one. It was clear Horny was a little bewildered by the goal, partially because he was blind-sided by a check from Nikita Nikitin, which the refs never batted an eye at. Obviously they saw it, for one ref had to jump out of the way. Yet another ridiculous move by the refs. Don’t expect to hear anything from Shanahan, either. Anyways, Horny was assisted by Shea Weber and Ryan Suter.
• When it seemed like the Preds would lose their third straight game 3-2, Sergei Kostitsyn tied the game with 12.4 seconds left in regulation on the Predators’ PP. Fans were not only shocked by the tie, they were equally as shocked by the fact it was SK74 who scored. Sergei was assisted by Martin Erat and Ryan Suter, sending the game into OT.
• At 1:45, Colin Wilson scored the winning OT goal to seal the win for the Predators; their first win since playing the Canucks. Wilson was assisted by the one and only Martin Erat.
• The Predators were only out shot by the Blue Jackets 22 to 24, but the majority of those shots were taken during the 3rd. We all know shooting is an issue with the Predators, but about 96% of the time, it helps tremendously. There were also only two penalties for both teams, with only one being an actual PP. The Blue Jackets failed to score on their given PP, but the Predators used theirs successfully. Here is the one guy who ended up in the box for the Preds:

1. Francis Bouillon – 16:04 1st Period – Fighting (5 minutes)
2. Francis Bouillon – 15:52 3rd Period – Hooking

Again, nasty game; awesome win. One of the many reasons we love hockey, of course. Hopefully, the Predators will keep the high from this win and destroy the Ducks on Saturday at home. The Predators head home either tonight or tomorrow and prepare themselves to welcome the Ducks back to Nashville Saturday at 7PM CST. We look forward to a good duck roast two days from now.

Oh, and to leave you with some SMH (Smack My Head) commentary, here’s what ESPN had to say about the Predators win against the Blue Jackets…

Colin Wilson does what? For who?

Oh, ESPN! You’re the major sports network in the U.S. (oh heck, the whole darn world!) How on Earth do you always seem to screw up with the Predators, let alone practically all of hockey that does not involve Sidney Crosby or Alexander Ovechkin? Not sure if the headline gaff is still on their site, but here’s the link to where our good friend Justin Bradford saw this jewel.

GO PREDS.

Peks has been having a few off days lately, but we still love him.

The Predators faced yet another loss at home last night as they welcome fellow Western Conference (while it still exists) team the Phoenix Coyotes to Nashville. This is the third loss out of the last five games for the Preds and the eighth loss at the Bridgestone Arena. This was also the first game of two that Jordin Tootoo has missed on his suspension after “making eye contact” with Buffalo’s goalie Ryan Miller and colliding with him. Did this have any effect on the Preds last night? We’d like say that’s the issue, but unfortunately, ummm…
Here’s the highlights from last night’s game:

KEY POINTS:

•  Sergei Kostitsyn returned to the ice last night after sustaining a minor injury and, in a good note, took a few shots on goal during the game. Has the old SK74 returned? One game isn’t enough to determine that, but we sure hope he is on his way back.
• Phoenix proved they came to Nashville to play by scoring their first goal of the night just nine seconds into the game. Poor Peks thought he had blocked the shot under his elbow, but unfortunately, the “Peks Reflex” was a little off on that one.
• The Predators managed to finally tie the game 1-1 at 19:48 in the first with goal from Jack Hillen. The goal was first awarded to Mike Fisher, but was credited to Hillen after being reviewed. Hillen was assisted by Craig Smith and Martin Erat.
• The Coyotes took the lead once again at 1:40 in the third, but Shea Weber kept the Predators alive with a nice goal at 12:53 on a Power Play. He was assisted by Ryan Suter and Patric Hornqvist.
• Phoenix would shut the Predators down at 18:15 with a 4-on-4 goal from Keith Yandle, giving the Predators yet another loss at home.
• Yandle’s 4-on-4 goal was caused by an incident between Sergei Kostitsyn and Phoenix’s Adrian Aucoin. Aucoin cornered SK74 and tossed his gloves off before Kostitsyn could, pummeling him until the refs could intervene. Aucoin attacked Sergei before he could drop his gloves, so technically Aucoin should have at least gotten a major for his actions, but instead, refs put both boys in the box, calling Adrian on Roughing and Sergei on Slashing. Slashing?! Really? Yet another ridiculous call on the Predators.
• The Coyotes didn’t out shoot the Preds by much (only 32-35), but three more shots were just enough to seal the win in Nashville. The Predators were given four power play chances, but managed to only score on one. Despite this, the Predators have gotten better with scoring on the PP. Here are the two offenders of the box for the Preds:

1. David Legwand – 6:58 2nd Period – Hooking
2. Sergei Kostitsyn – 16:41 3rd Period – “Slashing“

Besides the SK74 “slashing” incident, last night’s game was unnaturally quiet for the Bridgestone. It could be for the recent home losses, but Preds fans know better than that! Losses come and go and as fans, we have to expect the them as much as we expect the wins.

The Predators take off to Columbus to face the Blue Jackets tomorrow at 6PM CST.
GO PREDS.

Photo from AP/Joe Howell of Jordin Tootoo colliding with Buffalo's Ryan Miller.

Last night, the NHL decided to suspend Jordin Tootoo two games after his controversial collision with Buffalo’s goalie Ryan Miller Saturday night in Nashville. Although the decision was made last night, news was not released until a little after noon today.

NHL Vice President Brendan Shanahan claims Tootoo made  “eye contact” with Miller, thus making him an intended target. Eh, not so much, sir. It’s obvious to us we don’t think this is fair, but it could have been worse. Although we wanted to keep positive and believe the NHL would see the obvious incident, we knew Toots would get some kind of suspension. You can watch the video from V.P. Shanahan here.

The last time Tootoo ran into major trouble with the NHL was back in 2007 when threw a controversial punch at Dallas’s Stephane Robidas, which landed him a 5-game suspension. 2007 was four years ago and Toots has taken some extraordinary strides to better himself and his whole persona on and off the ice.

With this, Tootoo will still hold an Active spot on the roster so the Predators are going to feel a bit tight during the next two games. In order to free up room, the Preds would have to put someone injured on the IR, but with only a two game suspension, it might not be worth it (unless say, Francis Bouillon needs to go on the IR).

In case you missed the video the first time, here is the controversial hit on Miller on Saturday night:

The Predators take on the Phoenix Coyotes tonight at 7PM without Toots and will take off to Columbus on Thursday night. Although we aren’t happy about the suspension, like we said earlier, it could have been worse. Thankfully, only two games should not effect us too much, but you never can tell with the Preds.

GO PREDS.

Here are your four new conferences and the team placements.

The NHL has officially announced that the league will no longer be between the Eastern and Western Conferences. Instead, there are now four individual conferences, which was decided upon today by the Board of Governors. However, this may have been officially announced by the NHL, but it still isn’t official, so to say. Huh? It still has to pass with the NHLPA, but it’s pretty certain it will (we just can’t proclaim it set in stone until they agree).

What does this mean?

• Well, instead of just sticking to mainly playing rivals in the same conference, it is now setup to where every team will face each other at least twice a year. This means the Predators will face opponents such as Boston and Toronto on a regular basis.
• There will still be sixteen teams in the playoffs, but the first two rounds will be against conference members. Example, if the Predators make it to the playoffs, they will face anyone else in Conference: B who made it into the playoffs also for two rounds. Yes, that means no more playing the Ducks or Canucks until after the second round in the playoffs.
• Within the eight team conferences (Conference A and Conference B), teams will play five to six times on a rotating basis.
• Within the seven team conferences (Conference C and Conference D), teams will play six times, splitting home and away down the middle by three (three away games, three home games).

This all stemmed due to the Atlanta Thrashers moving to Winnipeg to become the Jets, thus throwing off the alignment of the league. Instead of decided who should move to the Eastern Conference (The Jets would have clearly been the Western choice), the Board of Governors simply assigned four new conferences. Here are the new conferences:

Conference A

Conference A consists of: Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames, Anaheim Ducks, San Jose Sharks, Phoenix Coyotes, L.A. Kings, and the Colorado Avalanche.

Conference B

Conference B consists of: Columbus Blue Jackets, St. Louis Blues, Detroit Red Wings, Nashville Predators, Dallas Stars, Winnipeg Jets, Chicago Blackhawks, and the Minnesota Wild.

Conference C

Conference C consists of: Florida Panthers, Montreal Canadiens, Tampa Bay Lightning, Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators, Buffalo Sabres, and the Boston Bruins.

Conference D

Conference D consists of: Philadelphia Flyers, New York Rangers, Washington Capitals, New York Islanders, New Jersey Devils, Carolina Hurricane, and the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Was it necessary for us to break it down like that with the pictures? Absolutely, because it never hurts to be clear as a bell when it comes to this kind of nonsense!
So there you go: the brand new, spanking NHL conferences. Will this change help the Predators or hurt them in the long run? Welp, we shall find out soon enough!

GO PREDS.

Craig Smith warming up during practice before the game.

After a crucial and much needed win Thursday night against Vancouver, the Predators headed home to welcome the Eastern Conference Buffalo Sabres. Maybe the high from shutting down the Canucks wore off, for the Predators, although quite dominate throughout the game, just couldn’t quite get enough pucks past goalie Ryan Miller in order to seal the game for at home. Although the Sabres are in the Eastern Conference, the Predators could not afford to see another loss so quickly, especially at home. Here are the highlights of Saturday’s game:

KEY POINTS:

• Anders Lindback took top spot as starting goalie Saturday over Pekka Rinne, blocking 11 of 14 shots taken by the Sabres.
• Sergei Kostitsyn was on the injury list again, with Chris Mueller being called up from Milwaukee as a replacement. Coach Trotz was interviewed by The Tennessean’s Josh Cooper concerning SK74’s injury and he was quoted as saying, “Don’t know and don’t care right now. I just care about tonight.” Uh oh, Sergei… looks like Trotzy’s starting to get annoyed by your lack of performance lately. Again, we’re hoping SK74 takes this time to collect his thoughts. Brian McGrattan was the only scratch for the night.
• The Sabres took the lead first at 10:00 in the first with a goal from Luke Adam. About seven and a half minutes later at 17:27, Zack Kassian added another goal for the Sabres, putting the Predators down by two all the way into the third period.
• Although neither the Preds nor the Sabres scored during the second period, it wasn’t exactly the quietest period. In fact, it has caused quite an amount of controversy. Jordin Tootoo slammed into goalie Ryan Miller, causing a dog pile brawl on the ice, which included everyone except poor Lindback. The issue with this is the fact this was Miller’s first game back from a concussion and it was clear he thought Toots crashed into him on purpose. On review of the video, it looks as if he is pushed into the goal, but there’s no telling. However, it is clear Tootoo did not mean to do it on purpose. From the video, you can tell it is Buffalo’s announcers since they are quite angry by the scene. For Buffalo fans reading this, Tootoo is not the same vicious player as he used to be. After taking time away from the league to seek rehab, he has taken into consideration his actions from his past and he is looking to better himself. To us, he was never a bad person to begin with, but we are proud of the person he is and who he is becoming. He is a huge community leader, buying $3,000 worth of toys for the Salvation Army. He’s not a bad guy, people and he did not take Ryan Miller out purposefully because he is vindictive. Heck, we don’t even play Buffalo enough to get a vendetta on them! Say what you will, but we back Toots; not because he’s a player on our team, but because he is just not the terrible, asshole everyone makes him out to be. Here’s the video and a photo of the incident:

Well hey there, Ryan! Just wanted to wish you a nice welcome back from your concussion!

• Furthermore, Jordin Tootoo is facing a disciplinary hearing today (Monday afternoon) via phone and is expected to be suspended for the incident, which is, in all seriousness, ridiculous. Tootoo’s collision was completely unintentional and even Miller has admitted that he did not think Tootoo meant to do it on purpose. However, a possible suspension is due to one reason and one reason only: It’s Jordin Tootoo. Had this same thing occurred between say, Martin Erat and Ryan Miller, suspension would not have even been brought up. But because Tootoo has a history of playing rough, the NHL thinks, although he has clearly changed from his past ways, that Tootoo probably did it on purpose, with or without proven evidence that he did not. Take the Mike Fisher/Francois Beauchemin hit: Like Miller, this was Fisher’s first game back from the IR (not for concussion, but for shoulder surgery) and Beauchemin sent Fisher flying, hitting him directly in the shoulder. Was Beauchemin suspended? No. Did Beauchemin even face a disciplinary hearing? Nope. It truly is a matter of the fact it’s Jordin Tootoo. Call us conspiracy theorists and whatnot, but we all know it’s true. Here’s the video of Anaheim’s Beauchemin’s hit on Mike Fisher:

• Craig Smith got the first goal of the night for the Predators at 4:54 in the third with assistance by David Legwand and Colin Wilson. However, the Sabres slipped another passed Lindback, sending the score 3-1.
• David Legwand gave the crowd some hope by scoring the Predators last goal of the night at 18:25. He was assisted by Roman Josi and Jon Blum, but unfortunately, time ran out before the Predators could tie it up.
• The Predators out shot the Sabres 34 to 14, but Ryan Miller was on his game and the Predators just couldn’t quite get enough passed him. The Sabres also spent more time in the penalty box, giving the Predators plenty of PP time, but they just couldn’t get the scoring groove in time. Here are your Preds that spent some time in the penalty box:

1. Mike Fisher – 12:51 1st Period – Tripping
2. Jerred Smithson – 5:34 2nd Period – Hooking
3. Jordin Tootoo – 15:54 2nd Period – Charging (5 minutes)
4. Jordin Tootoo – 15:54 2nd Period – Game Misconduct (10 minutes)
5. Patric Hornqvist – 11:19 3rd Period – Slashing

The Predators continue at home Tuesday night against the Phoenix Coyotes at 7PM. We will update you on any news of the Jordin Tootoo possibly suspension hearing.

GO PREDS.

Mike Fisher took Vancouver by storm tonight. Pent-up aggression, perhaps?

If you missed this game well, you may have just missed the game of the year (if not the century) for the Predators. This game rattled every possible emotion the human body has and then some we didn’t even know we had. Throughout this game, the Predators were up 3-1, down 3-5, tied it 5-5, then won 6-5! With this many ups and downs, you can imagine how many Predators fans will be going to the doctor tomorrow to get their blood pressure checked. All four goalies (both Vancouver’s and Nashville’s) got ice time. For all of this to have happened within regulation is absolutely nuts. Our fingers are still a little giddy from the adrenaline, so this may be updated later with facts and stats we passed while in our state of euphoria. Here’s the highlights from tonight’s win in Vancouver:

KEY POINTS:

• Sergei Kostitsyn was benched tonight, along with Blake Geoffrion and Francis Bouillon. SK74 sat out with an upper-body injury he suffered from during Tuesday’s game against Calgary. It was for the best that Kostitsyn sat out, injury or not. It seems SK74 has been suffering from what we’d like to call the “Kostitsyn Syndrome” where he basically just bails at the last second and avoids shooting all together. What’s up with that, Serge? Giving Kostitsyn a little “me” time will hopefully get his mind straight and get his thoughts collected before returning to the ice.
• Say so long to Teemu Laakso, for he has been placed on waivers. After suffering an injury that placed him on the IR, the Predators felt it necessary to part ways with the young defenseman. If you look at Yahoo! Sports, it’ll tell you Teemu has been injured since December 31st… 1969. Yea, you read that correctly. He was actually injured back on November 8th against the LA Kings. But hey, 2011/1969… pretty close, right? We thank you for the laugh, Yahoo! Sports and we know it was just a glitch error, but we still laugh.

Yea, considering Laakso was born in 1987... not plausible.

•  David Legwand struck first on a power play at 5:44 in the first, with assists from both Colin Wilson and Craig Smith. This is Leggy’s sixth goal of the season and we expect more that aren’t just empty-netters.
• Mike Fisher took no time after Leggy’s goal and sent the Preds up 2-0 over the Canucks with a backhand shot at 8:16 in the first with assists from Martin Erat and Shea Weber.
• Vancouver’s Cody Hodgson snuck one passed Pekka, putting the Canucks on the board. However, Shea Weber released his signature slap shot, sending the Predators up 3-1. Weber scored at 19:50 in the first on the PP, with assists from Colin Wilson and Craig Smith again. This is Weber’s 5th goal of the season and he and the boys chased goalie Cory Schneider out of the net, bringing the much loved Roberto Luongo into the second period.
• The 2nd period started out a little more than rough for the Preds, with Vancouver scoring four-straight goals, sending Pekka running for the bench. With goals from the likes of Alex Burrows, Daniel Sedin, Aaron Volpatti, and Jannik Hansen, this sent the Canucks up 5-3 over the Predators.
• Once Anders Lindback hit the net, things started turning around for the Preds, with goals from Jordin Tootoo at 16:09 (assisted by Matt Halischuk and Nick Spaling) and Colin Wilson at 17:30 on the PP (assisted by David Legwand and Craig Smith). At the end of the second, the Predators managed to tie the game up 5-5.
• For the majority of the third period, the Canucks pressured the you-know-what out of Lindback and the Nashville zone, almost seeming as if they were on a permanent power play. But at 18:44, Mike Fisher sealed the game winning goal with help from Martin Erat and Ryan Suter. The Predators scooted passed the Canucks, 6-5.
• The Canucks attempted 81 (read that again) shots, but only 37 counted whereas the Predators only had 20 shots at goal. As we all know, you can shoot all day at the goal, but it’s the one’s that make it into the goal that count in the long run.
• The Predators found themselves in the one place they should never go when facing the Canucks: the penalty box. The Canucks have the leading average of goals on power plays, so taking careless penalties could have hurt the Preds way more than it did tonight. Here are your offenders:

1. Craig Smith – 3:34 1st Period – Hooking
2. Shea Weber – 8:41 1st Period – Holding (Cody Hodgson scored)
3. Martin Erat – 14:45 1st Period – Hi-Sticking
4. Jerred Smithson – 2:47 2nd Period – Slashing (Daniel Sedin scored)

• Along with the penalties, the Green Men of Vancouver were very excited to see Nashville again and brought a little surprise to torture the guys in the box with. Sadly for the Green Men, the naked cutout of Ryan Kesler did not effect us too badly, but it may have scarred us for life.

Shea Weber is not amused by naked Kesler...

Like we said earlier, this was the most exciting, thrilling game thus far of the season and the Predators, although physically tired towards the end, stuck it out and fought back against the Vancouver Canucks. This could be a huge turnaround for the Preds, who are now 12-9-4 in the season. This is team we like -no love- to see play out on both the road and at home.

The Predators are headed back home to take on the Eastern Conference Buffalo Sabres Saturday night at the Bridgestone Arena. The puck drops shortly after 7PM CT and sadly, you can’t get this one on TV (::cough:: 102.5 THE GAME ::cough::).

WHAT A WIN. GO PREDS.

Photo credit: Jeff Gross/Getty Images North America and Yahoo! Search

Did the Predators and the Flames have a trade off tonight? As you recall, in the first meeting with Calgary, the Predators shut them out 2-0. This time, Calgary shutout the Preds 1-0. What gives? There is no playing fair in hockey, boys! This should be a fairly short wrap up of tonight’s game, but let’s discuss the Predators’ offense… or lack there of. Now, blame can’t be put all on the Predators, for the Flames weren’t exactly exploding on the ice, either. In fact, let’s be honest, that may have been the most boring game this season. There were a few interesting moments, however (there were?) and let’s take a look at them, shall we?

KEY NOTES:

• Highlighting the Flames first, Derek Smith scored his first career NHL goal tonight, slipping the puck past Rinne to score the only goal of the night. We congratulate him on his first goal, but why did it have to be on us?
• For the Predators, the biggest highlight of the night was Jordin Tootoo’s nose bleed during the first intermission’s interview with Terry Crisp (yes, we are dead serious). Toots suffered a nice hi-stick to the face from Blake Comeau, which lead to said photo here:

Got a little something on your face there, buddy...

•  Calgary faced a few injuries tonight, with Mark Giordano leaving the ice for the remainder of the game and Chris Butler deflected a puck off his face, sending him to the locker room (he later returned). Sergei Kostitsyn was the only possible injury tonight for the Preds, after getting hit near the Nashville bench. He headed straight for the locker room, but returned shortly after.
• The Predators called up Kyle Wilson from Milwaukee for tonight’s game, but put him down as a healthy scratch, giving Brian McGrattan ice time. Blake Geoffrion, Francis Bouillon, and Teemu Laakso are all down for the count, still fighting off injuries from previous games.
• The Flames barely out shot the Predators tonight, 29-26 but the Flames did see more penalty kills than the Preds in the end, 3-2. Here’s who ended up the box for Nashville:

1. Martin Erat – 2nd Period 9:10 – Boarding
2. Craig Smith – 3rd Period 10:36 – Tripping

The Predators really could have used this win to help them regain their footing in rankings, but nothing can be done now except trudge on to Vancouver and wipe out the Canucks. The Predators take a day off and take on Vancouver this Thursday at 9PM CT. Although we lost, here’s a little video of Jordin Tootoo’s bloody nose. Maybe it will brighten your day until Thursday, when the Predators hopefully destroy the Canucks.

GO PREDS.

Anders takes center stage tonight in Edmonton. How did he fair?

Did the Oilers expect to win their third game against the Predators? Obviously, either they assumed the win or the Predators became the team we expect to see as they squeeze past the Oilers 2-1. After a questionable first period, the Predators defense kicked in and hit the ice with force. Though the second period was a bit fishy (we’ll discuss what happened in a few), the Predators did not let that affect their concentration overall. The Oilers snapped the Predators out of a four-straight losing streak tonight, preparing the Preds to continue the win in Calgary tomorrow night. Making hockey as great as it is, the third period had us balancing on the edge of our seats, biting our nails down to the quick. With this win, does that mean the Predators are finally digging themselves out of their rut? We’ll find out tomorrow in Calgary. Until then, here are the highlights from tonight’s rendezvous in Edmonton:

KEY POINTS

• Anders Lindbäck got his second start in goal this season tonight and proved that he’s been learning while hiding behind Peks as backup. Edmonton was only able to get 18 shots at the goal and Anders blocked all but one. Pekka is scheduled to return to the ice tomorrow night in Calgary, but after Anders extraordinary performance tonight, will Peks get another night to rest?
• Edmonton’s only goal was placed by Jordan Eberle in the first period, sending them high and mighty into the second. It was actually a very well-executed play by both Eberle and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, but it was only good enough to hold the Predators into the second.
• The second period may have been the oddest, most bizarre 20 minutes in hockey we’ve ever seen. How so? Well, Tootoo was called for diving, Edmonton’s Ryan Jones got a major for elbowing Blake Geoffrion, Sergei Kostitsyn used that PP well and picked up an interference, giving Edmonton the PP, and there was just way too many terrible calls made all together. Oh yea, and the refs called Roman Josi for tripping (terrible call), which put three of our guys (Tootoo, Kostitsyn, Josi) in the penalty box at one time. Here’s the video of Jordin Tootoo “diving”. Ehh, we’re all little biased about this, but he is our player. He may have flung himself back a little more than he should have, but we’ll let you be the judge. Toots took a penalty for this maneuver in the process:

• As stated before, Blake Geoffrion was nastily checked by Ryan Jones, who was enviably called for elbowing and spent 5 minutes in the penalty box for his nice little tap. Geoffrion, however, was visibly hurt after the contact and was taking to the locker room. He did not return to the game and was deemed as suffering an upper-body injury. Nothing serious has been released yet and we pray for a speedy recovery for Blake. You can catch the video of Jones hammering Geoffrion here.
• The Captain himself put the Predators on the board tonight during the second with a clean wrist shot to the net. Shea nailed this goal at 11:34 with one second left on the PP. Weber was assisted by Ryan Suter and, truth be told, goalie Anders Lindbäck.
• Speaking of the Swedish Bigfoot, Lindbäck took a puck in the kneecap while blocking a shot and was rattled for a moment or two. Luckily, Anders quickly shook the pain off and continued his domination in Edmonton; though that knee is probably throbbing right about now!

• Nick Spaling gave the Predators the lead at 12:21 in the third with a little help from both Jordin Tootoo and Craig Smith. Although the Oilers put the pressure on him, Anders never faltered (nor did the defense) giving the Predators the much deserved win they needed.
• In a nice turnaround, the Predators out shot the Oilers 31 to 18. However, they did managed to find themselves sitting out on a few more penalties than Edmonton did, 5 to 3. Here are the offenders:

1. Shea Weber – 1st Period 8:49 – Roughing
2. Jordin Tootoo – 2nd Period 6:35 – Diving
3. Sergei Kostitsyn – 2nd Period 6:55 – Interference
4. Roman Josi – 2nd Period 8:31 – Tripping
5. Jordin Tootoo – 2nd Period 18:51 – Hi-Sticking

Tonight we saw a team we hope (and expect) to see in future games. The Predators came to steak claim on Edmonton after the last two losses against them this season and were ready to listen to ‘All Night Long’ in the locker room once more. The Predators continue the road trip tomorrow in Calgary, hoping to cling to the high they experienced tonight. The game starts again at 8:30PM. GO PREDS.