Not since November 17 have the Preds won on home ice. In front of a sell out crowd of 17,113, they beat the visiting Anaheim Ducks 3-2 on Saturday.

Pekka Rinne turned aside 15 Ducks shots. With the win, he improved to 12-9-4 on the season.

Former Predator Dan Ellis tended the Anaheim nets and made 25 saves in the loss.

In the first period, the Predators thought they had struck first. After a scrum in front, Colin Wilson redirected the puck into the net with his right skate. While there was no distinct kicking motion, the goal was disallowed and the game remained scoreless.

Neither team got on the scoreboard until the second period. In the opening minutes of the frame, Andrew Gordon managed to get by Preds defenseman Roman Josi by a mere half a step. That was all the space he needed as he put a shot past Rinne for the 1-0 lead.

“The guy sort of counter-hit him,” Nashville Head Coach Barry Trotz explained. “The new technique is to hit the guy before you get hit and he got knocked off balance. There’s a lot more deception in this league and he’s going to have to learn that.”

Nashville thought they had tied the game a few minutes later when Mike Fisher jammed away at a loose puck. The puck slid over the line but it was immediately called “no goal” on the ice as the referee had intended to blow the whistle while Ellis had the puck under his glove.

It was the second time in as many periods the officials waved off a Predators goal.

“Our guys were a little bit frustrated but we (still) felt we were going to win that hockey game,” Trotz said.

The Preds did get the equalizer eventually, however. On an odd man rush, Colin Wilson fed the puck cross ice to Nick Spaling who patiently waited for Gordon to take himself out of position. Once he did, Spaling wristed it past Dan Ellis.

Using a power play, Josi tallied his first career NHL goal to give the Preds the 2-1 lead early in the third. Shea Weber collected the puck along the half boards and dished it up to Josi who was standing at the blueline. He wound up and fired a shot that go through bodies and through Ellis.

“I saw a lot of traffic in front of the net so I just shot it,” Josi said. “It’s nice to get a goal. I’m happy about it.”

“Josi’s been good,” Trotz said about the rookie defenseman. “He’s a good first year player. He’s not too cocky or arrogant. I was real happy for him.”

Minutes later, Kevin Klein made a brilliant pass to a breaking Jordin Tootoo. The off-the-boards delivery gave Tootoo the chance to get behind the Anaheim defense. He drove hard to the net and fired the eventual game-winner past Ellis.

The Ducks found the back of the net one more time before it was all said and done but it was the Predators who were the best team on this night. It was their fifth consecutive win (going back to last year’s Western Conference Quarterfinal) against Anaheim.

Trotz explained his team’s secret to success.

“Playing hard, keeping their stars in check and playing disciplined against them.”

The Calgary Flames are next on the docket for the Preds. Puck will drop on Tuesday night at 7:00pm Central inside Bridgestone Arena.

The teams have traded shutouts in their two previous meetings this season.

LEFTOVER THOUGHTS:
* Preds defenseman Jon Blum hadn’t been a healthy scratch in his NHL career before Thursday night’s contest against Columbus. He’s now been scratched twice in a row.
* Anaheim didn’t get their first shot on goal until there was 5:04 left in the first period.
* Brian McGrattan dropped the gloves with George Parros but, in an under card bout, Fisher took on Bobby Ryan as well.
* With his assist tonight, Weber now has 16 points in his last 17 games.
* Tootoo, in his first game back after his suspension, collected two points.
* Fisher is 26-6 in the face-off dot in the last two games.
* Craig Smith was held without a shot on goal for just the third time this year.

MY THREE STARS (as voted on with 6:30 remaining in regulation):
1) Jordin Tootoo (NSH)
2) Dan Ellis (ANA)
3) Roman Josi (NSH)

THE THREE STARS OF THE NIGHT:
1) Jordin Tootoo (NSH)
2) Nick Spaling (NSH)
3) Roman Josi (NSH)

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PHOTO CREDIT: Jeremy K. Gover // section303.com (RICK ROLL!)

Predators and Ducks?

All of a sudden, two teams from non-traditional markets are forming one of the most hated rivalries in sports. Obviously it would take decades upon decades to match the rivalries of the examples above but, let’s face it, those rivalries had to be born sometime. In the case of Nashville and Anaheim, the birth was in game one of the 2011 Western Conference Quarterfinals.

And then it grew from there.

Below is a timeline — supported by video evidence — that explains why the Preds and Ducks hate each other.

April 10, 2011 :: THE WARNING SHOT
In an interesting turn of events, it was actually the Anaheim media that fired the first shot in this rivalry. Orange County Register columnist Jeff Miller wrote a piece “previewing” the first round series and, well…. he called Nashville “Trashville.” We then fired back with the mother of all responses (complete with the Rebecca Black video) and two hockey markets had officially dropped the gloves.

April 13, 2011 :: THE BIRTH
With a 3-0 lead in their pockets headed into the second intermission, the Preds were feeling pretty good. It was their sixth trip to the post season in the last seven years and they had a commanding lead over a team that boasted several offensive threats. One of those offensive threats was Hart Trophy finalist Corey Perry. Perry decided to spear Vezina Trophy finalist Pekka Rinne after the second period horn had blown. For some, this was an obvious attempt to take Nashville’s best player off the ice for the series. For most, it was an absolutely unacceptable way to vent frustration. Why was Perry frustrated? His team was having a hard time with something that had come so easy during the regular season: scoring goals. The Predators fan base grew irate when it was revealed there was no penalty called. At that point, the rivalry was born.

April 15, 2011 :: THE STOMP
The Preds led the best-of-seven series 1-0. They’re down by one in a game that, if they win, will give them a 2-0 series advantage headed back into their home building. There’s less than 4:00 remaining in regulation. Predators defenseman Jon Blum has the puck tied up behind his own net but, in an effort to work it free, Anaheim sniper Bobby Ryan turns his skate into a weapon and  stomps on Blum’s foot. No penalty was called on this play either, further enraging PredNation. They would get some reprieve, however, as Ryan was suspended for two games but, nevertheless, the hatred for the Ducks grew.

April 15, 2011 :: THE BUTT-END
Lost in the commotion of “The Stomp” was Ducks defenseman Sheldon Brookbank butt-ending Martin Erat earlier in the contest. Deep in the Anaheim zone, Brookbank positioned himself to win a battle along the boards but, in doing so, put the butt-end of his stick into Erat’s face, forcing four teeth to pop out. Nashville Head Coach Barry Trotz called it “a hockey play” and, while it might have been an accident, it just added to the growing rivalry. I mean, have you seen Erat smile since the incident? It’s not good.

April 17, 2011 :: THE FIGHT
Ryan Getzlaf follows Preds center Mike Fisher to the boards. Not expecting a solid shoulder check, Getzlaf’s 6’4″, 220 pound frame goes flying and he’s not happy about being embarrassed. So, being the classy player that he is, Getzlaf gives Fisher a shot in the rib cage (where there’s no padding, by the way) on his way up the ice. Now, obviously, you don’t want to see your star players fighting, but the cheap shot by Getzlaf had to be defended. And, considering Sergei Kostitsyn and Patric Hornqvist were on the ice with him at the time, Fisher did the right thing and stood up for himself.

April 18, 2011 :: THE ACCUSATION
This rivalry wasn’t contained just to the ice, you know. Anaheim Ducks General Manager Bob Murray helped fuel it off the ice when he told Eric Stephens of the Orange County Register that “We’ve got to start diving because it’s working (for them). They’re getting power plays because of the diving. I can go through the list of players. You already know who they are. You’ve seen them. It’s ridiculous.” Unlike Murray, Trotz was too smart to get involved in a war of words. His response? “I’m not going to say anything about that.” Ducks Head Coach Randy Carlyle knew it wasn’t smart to give the Preds any more bulletin board material but still managed to back up his boss, saying “I’ll just say the video doesn’t lie.”

April 20, 2011 :: THE HIT
Jarkko Ruutu has long been a player known as “dirty.”  Let’s see… he’s had THIS clip on Martin St. Louis, he’s had THIS incident where he bit Andrew Peters and then, of course, he had THIS ridiculously late and dangerous hit on Petr Schastlivy during international competition. So, during game three of the first round, Ruutu found yet another opponent to hit. This hit, coming in open ice, caused Erat to miss the rest of the series. Thankfully, the Preds advanced and Erat would take the ice again. Ruutu, by the way, was suspended one game for the incident.

April 22, 2011 :: THE SURPRISE FINISH
The series is tied 2-2. The Ducks have home ice advantage and are playing the critical game five in their own building. They’re up 3-2 with less than 1:00 left. Nashville has never been up 3-2 in a series, let alone had a chance to advance in the playoffs on their home ice. Enter Shea Weber. The Predators’ captain winds up and blows a puck past Emery to tie the game with only 0:36 left. Enter the fourth line. Nick Spaling gets a puck up to Jordin Tootoo who feeds a perfect pass from behind the Ducks net to a streaking Jerred Smithson who scores the first ever playoff overtime winner in franchise history. In short, Anaheim was less than 1:00 from a commanding lead in the series. Instead, the Preds pulled out a victory and stunned the Ducks in front of their own fans.

April 24, 2011 :: THE TEE TIME
Despite Anaheim scoring first and despite Anaheim tying the game late in the second period, the Preds ended the Ducks’ season with a 4-2 victory. Nashville had never ended a team’s season before and Anaheim went down in the history books as the first. The Ducks were heavily favored in the series as well, having tons of offensive talent in Getzlaf, Ryan, Perry and Selanne. Considering the Predators had scored the least amount of goals among Western Conference playoff teams, it looked as if it was the worst possible match-up for Nashville. Could Nashville muster enough offense to outscore a potent offensive team, and then do it four times in the same series? To put it in perspective, some Preds fans were even asking to play the Detroit Red Wings. Nevertheless, the hockey gods smiled on the Preds and the Ducks’ summer started.

October 29, 2011 :: THE HIT II
Mike Fisher, who missed all of training camp and the pre-season recovering from shoulder surgery, was playing in just his third game of the year. Ducks blueliner Francis Beauchemin leveled Fisher while he received a pass from Erat in the neutral zone. While Beauchemin was slapped with a double minor, some thought it was a relatively clean hit. Others thought it was dirty and called for a suspension. The league decided not to suspend the Anaheim defenseman, however, further fueling an outcry from PredNation. Fisher would miss the next game with an injury he sustained on the play.

October 30, 2011 :: THE ACCUSATION II
Getzlaf, obviously frustrated that his team couldn’t beat the Predators, chose to vent through the media as opposed to taking care of things on the ice. The Ducks captain told Eric Stephens “I’m tired of watching Jordin Tootoo out there, a guy who runs around and hits and does everything else but the first little slash, he’s laying on the ice and he’s out the next shift. It’s embarrassing and I’m sick of it. If they want to change the game and they want things to be better and they want more respect on the ice, get guys like that off the ice then. I’m sick of it.” Getzlaf was referring to the play below in which his teammate (our friend Corey Perry) once again used his stick as a weapon, slashing Tootoo. Did Tootoo dress it up a little? Maybe. But using your stick as a weapon is never okay and, if you’re going to give a smart player the opportunity to call attention to it, you darn right he’s going to.

November 9, 2011 :: THE FOURTH STRAIGHT
The mighty Ducks had lost eight of their last nine coming into the night and left having lost nine of their last 10. But, to add insult to injury, they had now lost four straight (going back to last year’s playoff series) to the Predators, a team they are superior to on paper. This couldn’t possibly sit well with Getzlaf who, once again, couldn’t back up his accusations by actually playing well. Getzlaf finished the contest with no points and only one shot on goal. Heck, even Selanne (the Predator killer himself) finished pointless and with a minus-3 rating. You have to wonder if Nashville is in their heads.

Will these two teams add another chapter to their rivalry tonight in Nashville? You better be there to find out.

—

UPDATE: Through a little research, it just so happens that this was NOT Corey Perry’s first time cheap shotting a goaltender. Check out THIS cross-check on former San Jose Sharks goalie Evgeni Nabokov. Later in the video, we see him take a swing at another former Sharks goalie, Brian Boucher, while he’s down.

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PHOTO CREDIT: Sarah Fuqua // Flickr (used with permission)

One down, one to go.

In front of 17,113 at Bridgestone Arena, the Predators used two goals from Sergei Kostitsyn and one each from Nick Spaling, Jordin Tootoo and David Legwand in the 5-4 victory over Anaheim. The win vaults the Preds into 5th place in the West.

Pekka Rinne made 34 saves while his counterpart Jonas Hiller registered just six on the other end of the ice before being pulled in favor of former Predator Dan Ellis. Ellis finished with 17 saves on 19 Nashville shots.

Hiller was playing in his first game since February 13 after recovering from vertigo.

After three first period tallies, Nashville almost gave the game away late. Anaheim scored two power play goals in the final 11:00 of regulation to make it interesting at 5-3. Then, after several failed attempts to get Kostitsyn his hat trick while the net was empty, the Ducks made things real interesting with a goal with just 0:27 left.

“Obviously everyone was trying to get Sergei the hat trick,” Head Coach Barry Trotz said. “Not the time of year and not the team you want do that against. That’s what really frustrated me. We’ve got to manage the game.”

But before all that happened, the Predators wasted no time getting on the board. Early in the first — and I mean “just over 2:00 into the game” early — Patric Hornqvist noticed Hiller was off the post. In an attempt to bank it off of him, Hornqvist fired the puck toward the net. The black biscuit threaded the needle between Hiller and the near pipe and fell right in Kostitsyn’s lap. “SK74″ tapped in the first goal of the night and his 18th of the season.

Just moments later, Spaling carried over the blueline and wristed a laser by Hiller to make it 2-0, Nashville.

The Predators weren’t done, however. They chased Hiller from the Anaheim net after a second goal by Kostitsyn made it 3-0, home team.

After Ellis entered the Ducks net, Anaheim answered with a goal of their own. Bobby Ryan, inside the face-off circle, spun off a defender and made a gorgeous, no-look pass to Corey Perry‘s tape. All the Hart Trophy candidate had to do was tap it over the line.

After the score became 3-1, Nashville, it became The Pekka Rinne Show. The Kempele, Finland native had to make 15 saves in the first period alone, many of which you’ll see on NHL On the Fly tonight. Group those with save he had to make when Andreas Lilja burst out of the penalty box on a breakaway to keep the score at 3-1 and you’ve got yourself a bonafide Vezina Trophy highlight demo package for voters.

“He won us the hockey game in the last 10:00 of the first period,” Trotz said.

But the Predators weren’t done. In the waining moments of the middle frame, Tootoo wanted to go toe-to-toe with Lilja at center ice. Lilja declined and the Predators faithful thank him for doing so. Tootoo accepted Lilja’s response and skated into the Anaheim zone where Shane O’Brien found him with a pass. Tootoo then tallied his first goal since December 15.

In the final period, Legwand scored his 15th goal of the season when he and Joel Ward broke in shorthanded. Legwand used Ward, who was breaking to the net backwards, as a screen. He fired a shot through the traffic and tallied his first shorthanded goal of the year and ninth of his career.

Teemu Selanne volleyed right back just seconds later, roofing his 24th goal of the year over Rinne’s glove shoulder. He then scored his 25th while the Ducks were on a 5-on-3 power play while Spaling and O’Brien sat in the box, each for hooking.

Perry tacked on the fourth Anaheim goal when his routine dump in was kicked in by Ryan Suter. Suter was trying to safely play the puck behind the Preds net but, instead, it deflected in to pull the game within one.

The three un-answered goals in the final 11:00 of the game reminded many of the Game 5 collapse against Chicago last year and the 4-1 lead that ended in a 5-4 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs this past November.

“We can’t let a team off the hook,” Trotz said. “A good example: we had Chicago on the hook last year in the playoffs and we let them off the hook. They went onto win the Stanley Cup. We’ve gotta learn from that. When the hell are we going to learn from it? How many times do you have to get hit over the head to go ‘that hurts?’.

“I mean, please. You can only touch the stove so many times before you get burned.”

Nashville will now focus on the Stars. Dallas, who is in direct competition with the Predators for a playoff spot in the West, comes to town on Saturday.

Puck drops at 7:05pm Central. 

LEFTOVER THOUGHTS:
* Mike Fisher, Nashville’s big “deadline signing,” can’t buy a goal. He’s been on fire the last couple weeks, appearing to be so close to getting one. In tonight’s contest, he had what seemed like an empty net to shoot at when Ellis’s pad came out of nowhere and took the goal away. Fisher hasn’t scored since February 17.
* How Rinne was not voted one of the Three Stars is beyond comprehension.
* Dallas, the Predators next opponent, was the last opponent of the Ducks.
* Selanne finished with a game-high nine shots on goal.
* Shea Weber and Legwand led all Preds skaters with four shots on goal.
* Thanks to the four goals allowed, Rinne is now third in the Williams Jennings Trophy race. Only Vancouver (168) and Boston (171) goaltenders have allowed less goals than the Preds (173). The Preds came into the night in second place.
* Ducks defenseman Luca Sbisa finished a minus-4.
* Kostitsyn now has seven points in his last five games.
* With a win over Dallas on Saturday, Nashville would have 92. If things fall right this weekend, the Predators would be in 4th and only three points back of Central Division leading Detroit.

MY THREE STARS (as voted on with 5:21 remaining in regulation):
1) Pekka Rinne (NSH)
2) Sergei Kostitsyn (NSH)
3) Patric Hornqvist (NSH)

THE THREE STARS OF THE GAME:
1) Sergei Kostitsyn (NSH)
2) Nick Spaling (NSH)
3) Corey Perry (ANA)

—

PHOTO CREDIT: Jeremy K. Gover // section303.com

The team is named after a Disney movie. Not just any Disney movie – a Disney movie starring Emilio Estevez.

Naming a team after a vehicle for Charlie Sheen’s less successful brother? Duh…losing.

And while we’re on The Mighty Ducks. Have you ever noticed that the “Flying V” comes in offside every time? Every damn time. See here: he’s already crossed the blue line before the shot of him getting the puck. That means he’s a good foot or two offside when he gets the puck. There’s blood on your hands, Gordon Bombay.

Also, can we mention how insanely and totally illegal this play is?

Your team was named after a bunch of cheaters. A bunch of cheaters coached by a drunk.

Anaheim fans?

Most other teams who win the Cup have fans that come from far and wide to remind you that they won the Stanley Cup and you did not.

Never once have a heard an Anaheim fan do this. Probably because I’ve never actually seen an Anaheim fan in the wild. In fact, I’ve never seen an Anaheim fan on the Internet. I know hockey fans are allowed to travel outside the state of California - I see Sharks fans in Nashville and I see Kings fans in Nashville. However, never once have I laid my eyes on a Ducks fan. I’m sure they exist though, because I’ve seen them on television.

They’re the kind of classy folk that do this when offered a free hockey stick by one of their players. That’s right – what better way to celebrate your victory and the visit by one of your players than to beat the living crap out of each other? These people are the ones in the high dollar seats. You can only imagine what kind of anarchic chaos occurs in the nether-regions of the Honda Center.

So either Anaheim fans don’t travel or they are so unobnoxious that you never notice them when they do. Since the latter is a lot less fun, I’m going to go with the first assumption – that Anaheim fans beat the crap out of each other so thoroughly at their own home games that they are either too hurt or too incarcerated to travel.

Specialists and Experts

Dan Ellis is too easy of a target. The former Predators goalie left Twitter in a blaze of…something…at the end of last season. He informed the world that he deserves his high salary because he is a specialist. He also informed the world that Paris Hilton is a specialist. Also, despite having such a high salary that he deserves, he does not make enough money and he worries about it. Also, he dislikes fans disagreeing with him and thinks that players on other teams are classless. Dan has lots of problems: Pekka Rinne, Escrow, GAA, the Eastern Conference, Jonas Hiller, Dwayne Roloson, Starbucks running out of Tibetan Yak milk, having to pay travel expenses for his butler twice in the last year…so we don’t feel like we should pick on a man with the problems that Dan has. So Dan, we’re going to let you off the hook… we won’t mention that you blatantly attacked fans on Twitter. We won’t mention that the only thing you specialized in during your last season in Nashville was sitting on the bench, watching Pekka play and saying, “Oh absolutely,” a lot. We won’t mention the idiocy of complaining about your finances to people who could take decades to make what you make in one year. We won’t mention any of that Dan, because we’re not classless…and we know how you hate people who are classless.

As for Andy Sutton…yes. Yes, I am an expert. Yes, I’m telling you.

Seriously…

You named your team after movies that featured the dude from Dawson’s Creek. Come on.

For the second time in almost as many weeks, the former Predator goalie stirred up controversy on Twitter with a string of less than eloquent tweets in which he complained about the potential of 24 percent of his salary being put into escrow.

Needless to say, his Twitter followers didn’t buy it. After Ellis sent off a series of tweets on Monday night stating that, “If you lost 18% of your income would you be happy? I can honestly say that I am more stressed about money now (than) when I was in college. I can’t explain it and I never thought it would be the case but it is true. (Money) in no way makes (you) more happy or makes life much easier. If you don’t make a lot of money, I don’t expect (you) to understand in the same way I could never understand what it is like to risk my life (d)aily as a fire fighter or police officer…especially not a soldier. There (are) pros and cons to every profession. (You are) kidding yourself (if you) think money makes things any easier,” Twitter blew up with posts of outrage in response.

While Ellis’ message was essentially, “Money doesn’t buy happiness,” a lot was lost in translation due to the fact that his little diatribe was written in 5 separate tweets. In particular, many Twitter users (I say “Twitter users” because the response appeared to ripple outside of hockey circles) latched onto the part where he said, “I can honestly say that I am more stressed about money now than when I was in college.” Several pointed out that he gets paid to stop a piece of rubber for a living (and others pointed out that as of last season, he was paid over a million dollars to basically have better seats at Predators games than anyone else).

After the first rash of reactions came his way, Ellis claimed that he was just waiting for the right moment to “stir the pot” and then told people not to take him seriously…which makes zero sense given the context. Instead of taking the high road at this point and realizing that Twitter isn’t exactly the best place to voice your opinions on labor disputes – especially if you aren’t able to articulate it well enough to make it sound as if you are not complaining about money – Ellis decided to go on the offensive…and this part is where the trouble started. Ellis threw out the always crowd-pleasing, “no one is holding a gun to your head,” followed by a post lamenting that he would only post about “boring things“…and proceeded to list the main themes of his Twitter feed when he’s not being Mr. Controversypants. Then, to show that he has absolutely no idea how this social media thing works, he claims that Twitter is just a place where you say stuff. Yes, Dan, that’s correct, but you’re forgetting about the part where people read it. Finally, when you thought it was dead, Ellis popped back up on Tuesday morning telling fans to “seek therapy” and to insult Puck Daddy editor Greg Wyshynski for writing a story on Ellis’ latest Twitter foray.

The major problem wasn’t so much in what Ellis said (if it’s actually what he believes), but in how he responded to the criticism. To paraphrase Mike Birbiglia, what he should have said was nothing. What he did say, however, was that if you don’t agree with him, he’s going to insult you and let his 10,000 Twitter followers know that he thinks that you’re an idiot.

If the Tampa Bay Lightning had anything remotely resembling a public relations department, this never would have happened. Ellis already managed to rile up sports fans on Twitter a few weeks ago when he claimed that he deserved the millions he earned because – like a brain surgeon – he is a specialist. While that statement in and of itself might be a winnable argument, he started down the bad road with his next tweet, calling other professions “dime a dozen“. However, what really, really doomed him was when someone asked about people like Paris Hilton, and Ellis claimed that she was a specialist because she “expands her audience“…whatever that means. Then he went on the offensive, asking our own Codey Holland if a 5 year old wrote his tweets, while finally claiming the next day that he was just stirring the pot for fun.

Once Puck Daddy actually posted a story mentioning the original minicontroversy, alarms should have been ringing in the Tampa Bay front office. Every single person in their media and public relations department should have set up Ellis’ tweets as mobile alerts and someone should have called him about what one can and cannot post on the Internet when they are a public figure. Instead, nothing happened. Ellis was allowed to keep on tweeting, never even offering so much as a token semi-apology.

Instead of quashing it like a bug when the first little inkling of disagreement came along, the Tampa Bay front office appeared to say nothing. When Ellis started going on the offensive, the Tampa Bay front office should have said something. When Ellis told his fans to seek therapy, the Tampa Bay front office should have called his house, his wife’s house, his cell phone and every Starbucks in the tri-state area to get him to delete that tweet immediately. Instead, it’s still there.

Finally, Ellis offered a bit of an apology, admitting that he underestimated the power of Twitter, but it points to a larger problem. It shows that the Tampa Bay Lightning have absolutely zero control over what their players say in a public forum. Should the league take notice, it could not only mean sanctions for Ellis, but it could mean that players are forbidden (or severely limited) from using social media without having prior approval, which would be a huge step backwards for a league that many think takes a few too many of those already.

Josh Cooper, new Predators beat writer for The Tennessean, stops by to introduce himself and give us some perspective of covering SEC football, the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, and Nashville Predators hockey.

On Twitter, you can find out more about NHL Slapshot at @NHL_Slapshot, and you can follow Josh at @joshuacooper.

Giveaway info:  Post a comment, with the story of your first hockey game.  We’ll pick a winner at random from the stories posted, and notify the winner.

Notes about the Giveaway:
-Entries MUST be submitted via a comment on this page by Monday, 9/6 at 3:03pm CDT.
-Contest open to residents of the United States (Sorry Canadian friends).
- HINT: Get a bonus entry into the drawing when you review our podcast on iTunes!
-Winner wil be notified via email (use a legit email!) and we’ll work out delivery options from there.

CREDITS:
Music: Seven Nation Army (The White Stripes), Salute Your Solution (The Raconteurs), Time To Get Ill (Beastie Boys), Paul Revere (Beastie Boys), I Rep That West (Ice Cube)

Staff: Kent Harris (voice over)

October 16, 2010 – Preds vs. Washington Capitals
Casual fans won’t have to wait long to pack Bridgestone Arena this season as the best player in the National Hockey League (and maybe of this generation) will be in town. Alexander Ovechkin will bring his dynamic play and infectious personality into Nashville on this Saturday in mid-October. Just the third home game of the season and the fourth game overall, the Preds will get an early measuring stick as they face off against the Eastern Conference’s best. Ovechkin and company will have their creative tanks full as the season will barely be under way but the goalie situation in Washington should be shaky as they see if Semyon Varlamov is, in fact, able to be their go-to goalie this year.

October 21, 2010 – Preds vs. Pittsburgh Penguins
It’s no secret the Predators draw bigger crowds once football season is over. It’s just the curse of having an ice hockey team in football country. So, it’s great to see one of the faces of the league in town on a weeknight. Sidney Crosby and his Pittsburgh Penguins will waddle into Nashville on a Thursday night and almost certainly give Bridgestone Arena its third sell out of the season (assuming opening night and the Caps game are also sold out). If that’s the case, the Preds will have 17,112 in three of their first five games of the season. Nobody in Music City is going to complain about that. As far as the game goes, this might be the last year the Pens are considered an elite club. According to capgeek.com Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal, Chris Kunitz and Matt Cooke are the only forwards locked up past July 1, 2011. Not a good sign as four of those five players make over $3.5 million a year. Doesn’t leave much room to sign talented supporting cast members. Either way, it should be quite a treat to have the Pens in Nashville for the first time in a while and it should be considered a gift from the National Hockey League that the game is on a week day.

October 24, 2010 – Preds at Tampa Bay Lightning
Fan favorite Dan Ellis moved on this summer. He moved onto the Montreal Canadians via trade but then signed with the Lightning (a/k/a the Fighting Stevie Y’s) once the free agency period came. Tampa Bay is arguably the best destination for Ellis as he has a legitimate shot at being the starter, which is what he wanted all along. Well, on this Sunday night, the Predators players will get to see their old teammate wearing his new sweater for the first time. It’s just too bad Predators fans won’t be able to see him in person until at least next year. Ellis and Pekka Rinne will be on the opposite ends of the same sheet of ice for the first time in their careers. Considering both guys should be extra-motivated to show-up the other, this game should be a lot of fun to watch.

November 13, 2010 – Preds vs. Chicago Blackhawks
The first time Predators fans will boo the 2010 Stanley Cup Champions (and the team that knocked them out of the playoffs) will be on Saturday night, November 13. It should be a packed house as many a Preds fan will want to let out the frustration that’s been festering since April 26. Will Martin Erat make ammends for his selfish mistake that cost his team a 3-2 series lead? Will Joel Ward make ammends for his poor defensive positioning on Marian Hossa‘s overtime game-winning goal in Game 5? Will the Nashville power play make ammends and bury goals on every opportunity? Even if all that happens, it won’t go back in time and fix the first round series but it’ll at least give the fans an excuse to vent.

December 6, 2010 – Preds at Atlanta Thrashers
The closest geographical rival to the Nashville Predators is the Thrashers and this is the first of their two game series this season. Former Predator Rich Peverley, who never really got a fair shake in Music City, has scored 90 points in 121 games since being picked picked up on waivers by Atlanta. Those 90 points, by the way, are the most by any Thrashers player not named Ilya Kovalchuk over that same span. And, speaking of former Preds, Chris Mason will be minding the nets in his new home of Hotlanta as well. Even though the game is on a Monday night, the hope is that Pred Nation will make the trek to Georgia and make it a virtual home game, like it did last season. Tickets are easy to find (on craigslist especially) and they typically go pretty cheap. Or, if you’re not comfortable doing that, you can always – and we do mean always – walk up to the box office and buy tickets before the game. It’s a three and a half hour drive from Nashville. And, with Atlanta being on Eastern time, it’s an hour ahead so it’s realistic to make the trip there and back without having to stay in a hotel. So, Pred Nation, ask for the day off work now and let’s do this.

January 15 and 16, 2011 – Preds and Chicago Blackhawks
The first home-and-home series of the season for Nashville is with division rival Chicago on this weekend. The two teams will jockey for Central Division positioning Saturday in Music City and then Sunday in the Windy City. This has the potential to be an eight-point swing as, if one team wins both games, they’ll not only have captured four points but they’ll have taken away four points from the losing team. With Chicago projected to challenge for first place in the Central once again this season and with Nashville projected to challenge for second place, bookmark this weekend as a two-game series that could turn the tides of the entire division.

January 26, 2011 – Preds at Vancouver Canucks
The first time Shea Weber will be able to unload a thundering body check on former Pred Dan Hamhuis will be on this Wednesday night in beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia. Don’t be surprised if the two blueliners treat it as a warm-hearted reunion however as the fans inside Rogers Arena won’t care in the slightest that Hamhuis came from the Nashville organziation. Don’t put it past Weber to blast Hamhuis on this night, but rest assured an extra effort won’t be made to do so. Either way, you’ll want to take a nap on Wednesday afternoon so you can stay up for this late tilt as face-off is at 9:00pm Central.

February 7, 2011 – Preds vs. Edmonton Oilers
Ryan Jones’ homecoming. He played just a game and a half after being claimed off waivers by Edmonton before going down with a knee injury. He eventually returned for the final six games of the year and looks to be a top nine forward for the Oilers this season. It’ll be nice to see Jonsey with a permenant roster spot somewhere and it’ll be nice to see him in Nashville once again.

February 17, 2011 – Preds vs. Vancouver Canucks
Now here’s the game all the Hamhuis-haters want to see. His first visit to Nashville since signing with Vancouver back on July 1, 2010. Truth be told, Hamhuis wasn’t nearly as bad as Predators fans accused him of being. Well, okay, he was when paired with Kevin Klein. But, in all honesty, Hamhuis is a solid defenseman and provided quite a few great moments while wearing a Preds sweater. He may shine in Vancouver but he also may be exactly the same player we remember: a solid blueliner who’s overrated by the rest of the league because they don’t watch him on an every day basis. Canucks fans will slowly but surely learn this fact and Predators fans will be on the edge of their seats, anxiously awaiting someone like Weber or Jordin Tootoo to put him through the boards at any given opportunity. Think Bridgestone Arena is loud normally? Just wait until that happens.

Dan Hamhuis, who started the month of June in Nashville, has been a member of the Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins and Vancouver Canucks over the past couple of weeks. Hammer finally signed with the Canucks today in a six year deal worth $4.5 million per year. In other words, Shea Weber and Ryan Suter money. (Which leads to the question, what will the Predators have to pay Weber to keep him next summer? But, that’s another topic for another day.) Of all the defensemen that were signed on July 1, only Sergei Gonchar got more money per year than Hamhuis. The 36-year old Russian will get $5.5 million a season.

Pred Nation’s favorite back-up Dan Ellis found the best possible new home for his career. The Twitterer inked a two year deal with the Tampa Bay Lightning where he’ll reportedly compete for the starting job with Mike Smith. But really, Ellis should be the starter going into camp as Smith hasn’t exactly been stellar, posting a sub-par .900 save percentage and a pretty weak 3.09 goals against average last season.

It’ll be just like old times in the Tampa Bay crease. Smith and Ellis were teammates on the Iowa Stars back in 2005-06 and both were originally drafted by the Dallas Stars organization. Ellis was a second rounder in 2000 while Smith was a fifth rounder a year later.

Even former Predator goaltender Chris Mason was part of the free agent frenzy as he signed with the Atlanta Thrashers on Thursday. Atlanta is a good fit for Mason as he’ll be relied on to either split time with goalie-in-waiting Ondrej Pavelec or start the season as their starter until Pavelec is ready to take over.

Nashville did announce the signings of Swedish winger Jonas Andersson and defensive prospect Teemu Laakso but there’s still no word on Patric Hornqvist or Cody Franson putting pen to paper. Andersson’s contract is a one-way deal while Laakso’s allows him to be sent to the AHL affiliate Milwaukee Admirals.

The move comes less than 48 hours until the NHL’s free agency market opens at noon on July 1.

Sergei, the younger of the two Kostitsyn brothers, is a 23-year old who split time between the Canadiens and their AHL affiliate the Hamilton Bulldogs last year. In his 47 NHL games last season, he tallied seven goals and 18 total points. With Hamilton, however, he produced at nearly a point-per-game clip amassing 13 points in 16 games.

Kostitsyn has never spent an entire season in the National Hockey League but shows some promise. Based on his three part-time seasons in Montreal, he projects to a 30-35-point guy at the NHL level, he’s a proven point-per-game producer at the AHL level, he led Belarus in scoring at the last Winter Olympics (five points in four games) and, in junior, he racked up 209 points in just 122 games, including a season where he bagged an amazing 131 points in only 59 contests.

Now, granted, those are OHL numbers but still, given a full time role with a legitimate shot at decent ice time, the ability is obviously there.

But here’s the thing: all three players involved are free agents come Thursday.

According to capgeek.com, Kostitsyn’s cap hit was $816,667 last year with Montreal. Considering he’s a part-timer, the Preds would likely offer him around the same.

On the other side of the coin, Ellis specifically wasn’t coming back to Nashville because he wanted a shot at being a starter elsewhere. Obviously, with Carey Price in the mix in Montreal, it doesn’t look like that’ll be the case if he signs with the Habs. Look for Ellis to still test the free agent market.

As for as Boyd, he never really panned out in Music City. He put in solid minutes and was certainly more consistent than the alternative of Cal O’Reilly, but O’Reilly has a lot more offensive upside and now, it appears, will have a legitimate shot at staying in the lineup next year. Boyd chipped in five points in his 18 game audition with the Predators but, other than penalty killing, didn’t make a big enough impression to warrant a full-time roster spot next year. And, of course, Nashville is loaded at the center position with David Legwand, Colin Wilson, Marcel Goc, Jerred Smithson, O’Reilly, Nick Spaling and even Mike Santorelli if you want to dig into the Milwaukee Admirals lineup.

At the end of the day, this was a numbers game with Boyd. Would he have been nice to keep around? Sure. Even at the price the Preds probably could’ve got him for but there are other centermen in waiting who deserve a shot.

Kostitsyn is an interesting pick up for Nashville, however. He’s got a reputation as a head case. Montreal Canadiens blogger Topham of Lions in Winter doesn’t necessarily agree however. Back on September 28, 2009, he blamed the Habs themselves for Kostitsyn’s attitude and suggested that he’s not the only one to blame, he’s just the easiest.

If the Predators sign him, we hope Topham is right.

The Detroit Red Wings put their best foot forward on Friday night and dominated the Nashville Predators from the outset, winning 5-2. With the win, the Wings gained a big two points in their pursuit of seventh place Nashville in the Western Conference standings. The Preds are now only three points ahead as opposed to seven points, which they would’ve been with a road win tonight.

Detroit started the game with four unanswered goals. The Predators’ JP Dumont finally put Nashville on the board in the second period after a nice give-and-go with Steve Sullivan in the offensive zone.

Back-up goaltender Dan Ellis got the start in this second of back-to-back nights for the Preds. He didn’t get much help from his team in front of him on this night. Kevin Klein coughed up the puck to Pavel Datsyuk while coming around his own net, leading to the first Detroit goal. Francis Bouillon left his man in front of the net while on the penalty kill and Tomas Holmstrom made no mistake by banging it home for their second score. Then, after Darren Helm scored on just a great individual effort for the third Wings goal, Ryan Suter neglected to clear the puck after Helm broke in shorthanded. Helm corralled the rebound left by Ellis and put the home team up 4-0.

The Preds kept their hopes alive by making it 4-2 on Joel Ward’s rocket from the face-off circle early in the third period. But it was too little, too late as Nashville couldn’t get anything going on their power plays. They went 0-for-4 on the man advantage tonight with a mere two shots. Two shots on four power plays against any team, let alone Detroit, is absolutely unacceptable and the coaching staff should do whatever they can to send the message that that cannot happen again.

The Preds lost All-Star defenseman Shea Weber for the game after he was hit in the corner by Holmstrom during the first period.

Look for rookie defenseman Cody Franson to be recalled if Weber isn’t ready for action Sunday afternoon. While he’s obviously no Weber, Franson does have 16 points so far this year.

Nashville will look to get the two points back when Vancouver comes to Music City this weekend. Not only is the game a rare Sunday contest, but the start time is a special one as well, 2:00pm.

GAME NOTES:
* Martin Erat led all Nashville skaters with four shots on goal.
* Captain Jason Arnott, who owned the face-off circle last night, got destroyed tonight. He finished the game 5-of-18 in the dot.
* The Preds, as a whole, were manhandled in the face-off circle tonight as they only won 29% of their draws.
* Rookie Colin Wilson had a team-low minus-3 rating tonight.

• The Dan Hamhuis Question – He’s in the last year of his contract. The team is definitely making a harder playoff push than last year and Hammer is clearly the weak link on defense. While not ancient, at 28, he is the oldest D-man on the team that cannot be dissolved into chicken broth. In addition, he’s been with the system longer than any of the other D-men. He should have this figured out by now, but with Suter and Weber progressing to arguably the best defensive pairing in the league, Hammer’s errors have become glaring. It’s pretty clear that the Preds will not offer him another contract, as this is the third year in a row that his name has come up in trade rumors. This time, however, with his contract lingering, it’s pretty clear they are more serious about getting something for him. Just don’t get too excited about it. As with last year when Koistinen was on the trading block, part of executing a trade requires a team wanting what you are offering. It’s not XBOX 360 here…the trade has to be fair to both sides for the other team to take it…which is why Hammer isn’t getting traded for Zach Parise, Martin Brodeur, 2 first rounders and a block of tickets in the Prudential Center. Hammer is going to go to a team that needs a 2nd-3rd pair defenseman. We’re going to either get someone old, a role player in a contract year or a draft pick for him.
• The Dan Ellis Question – Forget what Eklund keeps posting. David Poile would either be blatantly insane or clearly pushing for his release if he traded Ellis to the Red Wings while we’re in a playoff run. Especially when he’s the hot goalie. Yeah, Pekka was just re-signed to a two year contract and yes, this most likely means that Ellis will be pulling goaltending duty for someone else next year. However, unlike Hammer, Ellis is quite possibly the most valuable player on the team right now. Pekka was signed for the future, but there’s still right now to worry about. Statistically, Ellis has been the better goalie this year. There is absolutely no legitimate reason to trade him…especially to a division rival. It will have to take a very, very good offer to get rid of our hot goalie in the midst of a playoff push.
• Will Horn Dog Break the Franchise Goals Mark? – Back in September, who saw Patric Hornqvist having 23 goals at the 3/4 mark of the season? Put your hand down, Patric’s Mom. The franchise record of 33 (set by Captain Arnott last year) is well within reach.Who saw Horn Dog making an assault on the franchise record books and becoming a fan favorite (seriously…listen to the cheers he gets during player intros)? At this point in the year, he has scored a goal every 2.61 games. In order to break Arnott’s record, he would need to score every other game. However, he had not registered a goal in the 5 games prior to the break.
• Which Tootoo will finish the year? – Granted, Toots missed half of the season after his foot got Webered, but it’s clear that the 2009-10 version of Toots has abandoned the pest persona. He has 20 PIMs this year…and only 10 of those were from his only two fights of the season…both against the Panthers…and one of those fights he was clearly instigated into. He’s on pace to surpass 20 points for the first time in his career (and would have been near 40 had he played the whole season). As the playoff push wears on, will he continue to earn his new paycheck? Or will he go back to “what he knows”?
• Everyone else had to play in the Olympics, too – I’ve heard people lamenting the extra games that Suter, Weber, Hornqvist, Erat, Goc and Sulzer had to play during the Olympics and how it would hurt us down the stretch. Apparently, some people are forgetting that the best players on all of the other teams also had to play in the Olympics. If it hurts our guys, it hurts their guys, too. One might expect Suter and Weber to be a little spent coming back onto the Bridgestone Arena ice, but at the same time, they could come back entirely re-energized due to the medals around their necks.
• Detroit – That’s right. Watch Detroit. 19 points out of the division lead. And we’re ahead of them. If the season ended today, Detroit would not make the playoffs for the first time since Patric Hornqvist was 3, the North Stars were in Minnesota and Chris Chelios was a “wily veteran” and not a “crochety old dude” (1989-90).  It the 11 years we’ve been here, I’ve learned pretty quickly to never underestimate the Red Wings. Don’t be surprised to see that 19 point gap between Chicago and Detroit close significantly…and more importantly, don’t be surprised to see an epic Preds/Wings stretch run.
• Did you know Horn Dog was a New Year’s baby? - Alright, this has absolutely nothing to do with something you need to watch, but when making the above reference to his age, I discovered his birthday was January 1, 1987. Oddly, he shares a birthday with Gilbert “Somebody Creme” Brule and Devin Setoguchi. It was also the day that the future capital of Nunavut changed it’s name from Frobisher Bay to Iqaluit…but I digress…
• Will the national media continue their newfound love affair with Shea Weber? – We all knew Shea had the hardest shot this side of Zdeno Chara, but a large portion of the major hockey media seemed to have forgotten last year’s hardest shot competition. Against Germany, Shea reminded them by literally ripping one through the net…and all of a sudden, they wouldn’t shut up about Shea for the remainder of the tournament. Just wait til the day he shoots it through the net and the glass. It was a noticeable turn from the all-Crosby-all-the-time coverage that NBC is known for…and it was clear that the play of Shea and Suter reminded NBC (and the world) that, yes, Nashville has a hockey team. It was made even clearer when Eddie Olcyzk was naming cities in the US that were having viewing parties for the game and mentioned the Nashville viewing party second.
• There’s a second round in the playoffs? – Okay, this is putting the cart waaaaaaaay ahead of the horse…but should we actually make the playoffs, it’d be nice for Nashville fans to discover that yes, David Legwand, there is a second round to the playoffs.

The Nashville Predators and Pekka Rinne have come to terms on a contract extension that locks up the netminder for two more years. The deal is for $2.8 million next season and then $4 million in 2011-12, obviously weighted so, when Nashville sheds themselves of Jason Arnott ($4.5 million/year) and Steve Sullivan‘s ($3.75 million/year) contracts, they can pay Rinne the bulk of his raise.

Coincidentally, it’s a good deal for Rinne as well. He gets a well deserved bump in salary after his spectacular performance last season and, he doesn’t have to commit long term to Nashville, only having signed for two years.

Both Rinne and Dan Ellis were set to become free agents on July 1, forcing fans in Nashville to wonder which goalie the organization would keep and which one they’d let go. Or, worse case scenario, even leaving open the possibility that neither would don a Predators sweater next season.

Thankfully, fans no longer have to wonder.

Rinne, 27, was snubbed by his home country of Finland when he was left off the 2010 Olympic roster in favor of Tampa Bay Lightning veteran Antero Niittymaki. Rinne told the Nashville media that we was going to use this as motivation for the rest of the season. Since the snub, Rinne has gone 5-5-2 with one shutout and an .896 save percentage. Not exactly stellar numbers but, as the coaching staff would agree, the defense in front of him was abysmal during most of those games.

Now that he carries the torch for the Preds, he needs to reproduce his stretch run from last season. Rinne was 7-2-3 in the month of March last year with one shutout and a stout .911 save percentage. Also, two of those three overtime losses had very little offensive support. Nashville only scored 1 and 2 goals, respectively.

This isn’t just about securing their goaltender of the future though. There’s a little  more to it.

Nashville's Dan Ellis provides goaltending depth for the Predators but might shine elsewhere.

The secondary question is what becomes of Ellis? Is this the first step in a trade for the 29-year old, like it was a few weeks ago when the Anaheim Ducks inked Jonas Hiller to an extension and then, a day later, parted ways with Jean-Sebastien Giguere? Or are the Preds willing to let Ellis become a free agent without getting anything in return, basically accepting the fact that they need two fully-capeable goaltenders down the stretch and/or for the post season?

Whatever the case, you have to hand it Predators General Manager David Poile. The guy is in Vancouver, serving as Assistant General Manager for Team USA and yet he’s still working feverishly just before the NHL’s trade deadline on things other than potential trades. Not to mention the fact that, by signing Rinne now, it’s one less thing he has to worry about this summer when free agency approaches as fast an oncoming train.

Goaltenders in the Predators system include 2006 5th round pick Mark Dekanich (currently playing for the Milwaukee Admirals), 2008 1st round pick Chet Pickard (Milwaukee Admirals) and 2007 2nd round pick Jeremy Smith (Cincinnati Cyclones). Consensus is that none of the three guys are ready for the NHL just yet, even as a back-up, making the scenario of keeping Ellis for the stretch run much more likely.

So, is $6.5 million over the next two seasons too much? Too little? Is a two-year deal too much? Too little? Does this signing spell the end of the Music City USA road for Ellis?

Only time will answer all of those questions.

Translation: Rookie center Colin Wilson and AHL veteran defenseman Nolan Yonkman have been recalled from the Predators minor league affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals.

Wilson makes sense. Marcel Goc is out and Wilson can fill the void there. Not to mention he’s been a tear lately at the AHL level, prompting Preds fans to ask for his recall by the gross. Yonkman, however, is a completely different story and one that should raise some questions. Namely about Predators defenseman Dan Hamhuis.

The Predators official statement says that defenseman Cody Franson has been put on injured reserve but they’re already functioning with six blueliners in Shea Weber, Ryan Suter, Hamhuis, Kevin Klein, Francis Bouillon and Alexander Sulzer. Yonkman makes seven healthy defensemen on the NHL roster around a time where trades need to be made before the final playoff push.

The future of the Nashville blueline rests on the shoulders of Jonathon Blum, Teemu Laakso and Ryan Ellis, so one would natually assume that one of those three would be recalled. Blum may have 25 points for the Admirals so far this season but he still needs to get bigger and faster. Laakso, who actually spent seven games with the Preds last season, has only played in 18 games this year for Milwaukee and is nowhere close to ready for prime time NHL minutes. Ellis is still with his junior team, the Windsor Spitfires, and isn’t available for call-up until their season is over.

Milwaukee Admirals captain Nolan Yonkman while playing for the Washington Capitals back in 2006.

Enter Yonkman.

He has three NHL seasons under his belt—- let me rephrase: he has 50 NHL games under his belt. He’s played most of his professional career at the AHL level where he’s logged 384 games, including being the Admirals team captain. If this was a band-aid move, the Preds would be more likely to call up a guy like Blum or even Robert Dietrich, both of whom have a more offensive upside than Yonkman. But that’s not the case. Nashville is going for experience with this transaction, which leads to the only logical conclusion: a trade has been made or is really close.

Enter Hamhuis.

The 27-year old defensemen already has 458 NHL games on his resume and is considered to be a top 2 blueliner on most teams around the league. Of course, he’s also about to become a UFA on July 1 and, therefore, has become the focus of trade gossip over the past few weeks. When at his best, Hamhuis provides a stable, veteran, physical presence in his own end. Yonkman is the best defenseman in the Nashville system that fits that mold.

A mold Nashville would only need to fill were Hamhuis to be out of their lineup for any reason.

The official Nashville Predators twitter account mentioned that Hamhuis’ wife is about to deliver a child and, because the team is on the road during questionable weather conditions, Yonkman has been called up as a precaution. While that’s a logical scenario, one would still wonder why Blum or Dietrich wasn’t recalled instead. Especially if it’s “just a precaution” and they don’t expect to the recalled defenseman to actually play.

The trade deadline of March 3 is fast approaching but, as we’ve seen over the past two weeks, teams are motivated to get deals done before the Olympic Roster Freeze takes effect on February 12. General Manager David Poile knows that the Preds need scoring. He also knows Hamhuis won’t be back next season and thus is forced to deal him in order to get something in return.

If and when Yonkman plays in a game, it will be the first time he’s worn a Predators sweater in an NHL game.

Of course, he also has a two-game point scoring streak on the line as well. (He had three assists in his last two NHL games that took place back in April of 2006).

Well, okay… maybe “welcomed” isn’t exactly the word they’d choose.

The former Shark netted his first of the season against his former club at a time when it was greatly needed. San Jose had scored the go-ahead goal early in the second period and Nashville appeared to be in trouble. The offense was sloppy, their pass-it-through-the-box set-up failed three – count ‘em THREE – times on the same man advantage and the Sharks offense was just flat out buzzing. But, with a single shot, Goc evened the game back out.

The Predators fell to the Sharks on Tuesday night, 4-3, falling to 1-2-0 on the current road trip. But this wasn’t the typical-Predators loss we’re used to seeing as of late. There was plenty of action, back and fourth play and it was an all around good game.

One team would score, the other would answer. Then one would score, and the other would answer. That was the story all night long for these two teams. Basically only stopping when time wouldn’t allow for the cycle to continue.

Unfortunately for Nashville, the clock struck midnight with a minute remaining when San Jose defenseman Dan Boyle scored what ended up being the game-winning goal. Nashville goaltender Dan Ellis, who had allowed a soft goal just five minutes before, hugged the post and went down to stop the routine shot but, somehow, the puck trickled its way over the goal line to put the Sharks ahead once and for all.

A true heart breaker as Nashville really hung with one of the league’s best teams for 59 minutes. A bad outing by Ellis was the difference maker as the final two Sharks goals were of the “weak” variety. On the third San Jose tally, Ellis could be seen anticipating the pass and the shot went over his stick-side shoulder. And the fourth and final goal? Well… we talked about that.

In a game where they should’ve at least gotten one point, they got nothing  and now have to focus on the St. Louis Blues as they head back to the Central Time Zone on Thursday night. Puck drops at 7:05pm and can be seen in HD on FS-Tennessee. 

GAME NOTES:
* Rookie Mike Santorelli scored his second goal of the season on Tuesday night, banging home… or maybe deflecting home… or… um… something home – Martin Erat‘s shot off the boards.
* All-Star defenseman Shea Weber returned to action in San Jose. He had missed two games (the first two on the west coast road trip) with a foot injury.
* San Jose Sharks goaltender Thomas Greiss started against the Predators, only his second start this season.
* After failing to register a single shot on goal on their first power play, the Preds fired three shots (all good chances) on their second man advantage.
* Andreas Thuresson appeared to dish out a pretty dirty knee-on-knee hit on Ortmeyer with just over nine minutes left in the game. Play continued and no penalty was issued.
* It took Nashville over 53 minutes to take their first penalty. Unfortunately it came immediately after the Sharks tied the game at three in the third period, officially giving San Jose the momentum coming down the stretch.
* In the state of California, the Preds are 1-2-0 this season.
* These same teams will face-off again next Tuesday night, this time in Nashville.

So, instead of putting up a blog of our own (like some bloggers have), we prefer to direct you straight to the people who were physically in the building for the event.

* John Glennon’s post-game blog.

* Rachel’s post-game blog.

Those are the only two Predators media members whose words you need to read regarding the game in Los Angeles from Saturday afternoon.

Apparently, a perfect formula for a 6-6-1 record.

Who knew?

In a true illustration of Jekyll and Hyde, the 2009-10 Predators have played up to their potential on certain nights, and then just flat-out phoned it in on others. But that’s exactly why it’s so frustrating as a fan who watches this team game-in and game-out. We know what they’re capable of, so why don’t they play like that every night? A 3-1 loss when they’ve fired off 40 shots and their goalie has stood on his head is a lot easier to swallow than the same 3-1 loss when only 13 shots were generated and they spent the entire 60 minutes chasing the other team around the rink like it was a pee wee game.

For those of us who watch this team every single night, it’s no secret that they’re better than the national media gives them credit for. Shea Weber (a/k/a “The Beast”) is not only second on the team in points (9) but is also tied for the league lead in goals by a defenseman (5). JP Dumont leads the team in points (11) despite missing four games with concussion-like symptoms and is even the leagues highest scorer for players with less than 10 games played. Pekka Rinne, last year’s should-have-been Calder Trophy winner, has battled back from his 0-3-0 start to finish the month at 4-3-0. In addition, if you take away the 6-1 and 6-0 losses, Rinne would be second in the league with a .934 save percentage.

That’s not even mentioning the fact that sophomore Patric Hornqvist, who failed miserably as a top line winger last season, looks like a totally different player this season, posting three goals (two of them game-winners) and five assists.

Or Jerred Smithson who, out of seemingly nowhere, is tied for the lead among Nashville forwards in goals (3), one of them being a gorgeous short handed tally that proved to be the game-winner against Minnesota.

Looking back on a .500 month is easy to do when your team won four of it’s last five to get to .500, as opposed to the other way around. But, just two weeks ago, the Predators were playing some of the worst hockey in the franchise’s 12 year history. Not only were the losses lopsided, but the score was indicative of the way they were playing. No one was hustling, defensemen were out of position, forwards weren’t back checking and only a handful of players were busting their tails on every shift.

Kevin Klein, who was the heir apparent to Greg deVries as the #4 d-man, was on the ice for all six opponent’s goals between October 15 and half of the second period of October 21 (3 games).

Giving new meaning the term “inept power play,” the Predators went 0-for-32 during a stretch that started on opening night and ended October 22 against Ottawa. And yes, inside that cavern of incompotence was a span of seven games without a single man-advantage tally (23 chances).

Martin Erat, the $4.5 million man, has just one point so far, is a minus-9 and is on pace for a HUGE eight point season (which, by the way, breaks down to $562,500/point). Oh, and that one point he has? It was a goal that actually went off a defenseman in front of the net so, really, he’s earned zero points this season. And, almost as if to prove they don’t need him or his monstrous salary, Nashville is 2-0-0 without Erat in the lineup.

The six game slide from October 10-21 caused a lot of Predators fans to call for Head Coach Barry Trotz’s head (including this guy) but, per usual, the organization stuck by their coach to see if the team could weather the storm. Trotz, with a career record of 370-348-60-55 through the month of October, is the only head coach the Nashville franchise has ever had and looks to have survived another scare, rumored mainly because of his long time friendship with Predators General Manager David Poile. But, in a season where the Preds are rumored to be actively looking for a big name acquisition to help boost ticket sales (Phil Kessel, Alexander Frolov), one has to wonder just how short Trotz’s leash is.

If the 3-1 Chicago loss on October 15 had’ve been a 6-1 loss, making it the third consecutive game the Preds would’ve allowed six goals, would that have been enough? If the Ottawa game on October 22, where Nashville squandered a 3-0 lead in the 3rd period only to eek out a 6-5 win in overtime, had’ve indeed been a loss, would that have been enough? Or what about the 6-0 loss at Dallas on October 14? If that game had been at home, would that have been enough?

All the “what if’s” are silenced for now, with the team winning four of it’s last five and, even in some of the recent losses, seemingly having righted the ship.

The bottom line is, there are plenty of good things to rally around and, of course, there’s plenty of areas in need of improvement. But there’s one thing, above all else, that fans want and that’s consistency. We know this team can be a playoff calibur team. We see flashes of brilliance and chemistry often enough to know that. It’s the times they come out uninspired, uncommitted or unwilling to shoot the puck that get the fan base up in arms.

If you get beat by a better team, fine, but you’d better go down swinging.

Or shooting in this case.

The bad news? They’re 2-6-1 in their last nine.

And they’re tied for the fewest goals scored in the league.

And they’re 13th in the 15 team Western Conference.

And….

Well… you get the idea.

The Preds notched two goals in the first period, jumping out to a 2-0 lead. JP Dumont scored his third of the season and then Shea Weber netted a power play tally just 3:00 later to take the quick lead. But then, in what seemed to be deja vu from the Ottawa game, the Minnesota Wild came roaring back.

After allowing three goals in 1:47 of the 2nd period, starting goaltender Dan Ellis was pulled in favor of Pekka Rinne. Ellis pitched one period of shutout hockey (seven saves) but then gave up three goals on the first three shots he faced in the 2nd period, prompting his removal from the Nashville net. Rinne only faced a single shot during his part of the 2nd and then blanked the Wild in the 3rd, turning away 11 more.

This is not a trend that Nashville needs to continue: the goaltenders splitting game time. This is the third time in a mere 11 games that Nashville has elected to pull their starter, putting the Preds on pace to replace their starting goalie 22 times this season.

There are teams who don’t replace their starter 22 times in a decade.

Nashville is not a goal scoring team like Pittsburgh, Chicago or Washington so they cannot afford to have goaltending woes. Whether the reason for pulling their starter is based on poor performance or is an attempt to motivate the team, it can’t happen because they don’t have the offense to support it. They have two starting-caliber goalies and both of them need to start playing like it.

Just two years ago, Ellis unseated incumbent Chris Mason and posted a 23-10-4 record en route to leading Nashville to their 4th consecutive playoff appearance. He went on to post an elite-level .938 save-percentage against the eventual Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings, giving them their strongest test on their road to the Finals.

Then, just last year, Rinne unseated Ellis as the starter and made a serious run at the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year, putting together seven shutouts and five win streaks of three wins or more on the way to a 29-15-4 record.

Not bad for a rookie netminder backstopping one of the leagues most offensively inept clubs (207 goals, ranked 24th).

Coming into this season, Head Coach Barry Trotz said that neither goalie was the clear-choice number 1 and that both would fight for the right to be named the starter. This approach seems to have back-fired, however, as Rinne has lost confidence and Ellis has been forced to wonder if he will, in fact, be trade bait this season. Neither being a fresh state of mind for one of the most mentally and emotionally taxing positions in sports.

Just another reason why the coaching staff needs to be examined a little closer. Because, even while winning, this teams’ needs are glaringly obvious.

GAME NOTES:
* Dan Hamhuis, in his first game back from injury, was on the ice for two of the Minnesota goals but also fired three shots on goal and finished with an even rating. (Hamhuis has yet to finish a game with a positive plus/minus rating.)
* With Weber’s tally in the first period, the Preds have scored three power play goals in the past three games, improving to a 10.3% success rate (still last in the league).
* Recently recalled rookie Mike Santorelli scored his first NHL goal on Wednesday. The puck went off his toe and into the net.
* With the win, Rinne became the first Predators netminder this season to come off the bench and earn a victory.
* Steve Sullivan, who had been held off the scoresheet since October 8, collected two points Wednesday night, assisting on the first two Predators goals. He’s registered all four of his points in Nashville wins.
* Former Preds Marek Zidlicky and Greg Zanon combined for one assist and a minus-2 rating. Zanon was only credited with one blocked shot.
* Nashville is right back at it tonight. They skate at home against the Chicago Blackhawks.

In front of his friends and family in his hometown, the Nashville Predators rookie slammed the puck over the goal line for his first ever tally as a professional. It was the go-ahead goal at the time but, unfortunately, it didnt hold up as the Predators lost their sixth game of the season (and sixth in a row) by the score of 3-2 to the Boston Bruins.

Since Saturday, the Predators have looked like a completely different team than they did in the three games before. And not just because of the close final scores either. Sure both games finished with the final score of 3-2 in favor of their opponents, but the overall intensity and resiliency has been present, unlike the previous three contests.

And they haven’t been without some adversity too. Not only did they have to regain confidence after being blasted 6-1, 6-0 and 3-1 in consecutive games, but Barry Trotzs club found themselves without some key players since the road trip began. Defenseman Dan Hamhuis has been out since Saturday with a concussion and, on Wednesday night, they skated without captain Jason Arnott who’s dealing with an upper-body injury.

Arnott is slated to be out for at least the entire road trip.

But the young guys picked up the slack. Patric Hornqvist extended his team lead in points (7) by registering an assist, rookie Wilson scored his first goal, recent call-up Cody Franson earned his first NHL point and Cal OReilly created some good chances while skating on the top line with veterans Steve Sullivan and JP Dumont.

Wilson’s goal wasn’t the only first for the Preds as Jerred Smithson became the first forward not playing on the top line (sans Martin Erat’s own goal against Chicago of course) to score for Nashville. Recent free agent signee Dave Scatchard, who hasn’t played in an NHL game since January 27, 2007, donned a Predators sweater for the first time on Wednesday. And, in a personal triumph, defenseman Kevin Klein was not on the ice for a goal against his team for the first time since last Wednesday.

The Predators wont get a day off between games as they’ll skate against the Senators in Ottawa tomorrow night.

Puck drops at 6:30pm Central. The game will be seen on FSN-TN.

GAME NOTES:
* Tough guy Wade Belak got less than 2:00 of ice time in what was his 500th career NHL game.
* David Legwand played his best game of the young season so far. He was all over the ice, earned an assist on the first Preds goal and even dove in front of a Zdeno Chara slapper to register a blocked shot. The only area he seemed to struggle in was the face-off dot, clicking at only 33%.
* Nashville was able to avoid the penalty box for the first 42 minutes of action, but then took two infractions back-to-back. Boston, however, couldn’t convert on the power play either time.
* Sullivan finished the game with a minus-2 rating despite showing good chemistry with his line mates and leading his team in shots (4).
* Dan Ellis, in probably his most average outing of the season, allowed three goals on 27 shots.

All was not lost, however. Nashville finally showed the resiliency that Head Coach Barry Trotz has been preaching from the start of their slump by battling back to force overtime – and then a shootout – only to lose 3-2.

But, to battle back, a team must fall behind first. And that’s exactly what happened.

Despite getting two straight breakaways while killing off the Wade Belak penalty, it was Washington who scored first during the Predators’ second penalty kill. Continuing his pace for 50-in-50, Alexander Ovechkin netted his first of two goals while Jerred Smithson was sitting in the penalty box.

Ovechkin scored again with less than two minutes left in the opening period and Pred fans everywhere whispered “Here we go again.”

With just over five miutes left in the second stanza, however, the long awaited breakthrough happened. Patric Hornqvist carried into the offensive zone and dropped a pass for the trailing Shea Weber who blasted one past Caps goalie Semyon Varlamov for his first of the season. Then, just a few minutes later, a break goes the Preds’ way as opposed to the other way around, as it has been all week.

JP Dumont fired a harmless shot on net from the corner. With Cal O’Reilly distracting Varlamov’s attention at the near post, the puck slid across the length of the end line, bounced off the goalie’s skate and in.

Going into the third period, the Predators had accomplished three major obstacles they hadn’t accomplished in the last four games: They had overcome more than a one-goal deficit, they had scored more than a single goal and they had a tie score going into the third period. Then, once the third period was over, they had accomplished something else: they earned a point in the standings.

With that precious point, the Preds earned some much-needed confidence and carried it into the extra session, forcing a shootout in which neither Steve Sullivan, David Legwand or Martin Erat could convert. Ovechkin scored on Washington’s second attempt, proving the difference maker once it was all over.

So, at least early on in the season, there’s a formula developing: Nashville Predators + shootout - Mike Santorelli = loss.

The good news for Nashville is that, if you hadn’t seen or known about the previous three games, you wouldn’t know anything had been wrong with them. They played a solid game overall, matching one of the league’s best teams blow-for-blow and Dan Ellis turned in another outstanding performance. They even got goals from two players that had yet to tally a score, which they were in desperate need of.

All good signs looking ahead to a really tough road trip.

If you substitute Dan Ellis for Pekka Rinne and subtract a Predators goal, you had exactly the same game Wednesday night as you had Monday night.

So, if you need a recap of Wednesday’s game, go read that blog since it’s the same thing.