Nashville Predators

"I didn't know the Predators were this good!" Said many Islander fans who watched Monday afternoon's 3-1 Islanders loss to Nashville. Maybe no one realized that they are so talented because they only play the Islanders once a year. And that is definitely something a realignment can change, but that is a discussion for another time.

If you read my pregame report for this game, you will know that 1 out of the 3 things that I suggested happened. The one being that the Islanders started Kevin Poulin. Poulin had been stellar in Bridgeport, being named AHL Player of the Week stopping 98 of his last 100 shots faced prior to Monday's game.

After a loss to the Stars on the 23rd, the Preds went into the break with an extra loss on their record but nothing more. Then suddenly on the morning of the 26th with the predators set to host the Wings terrible news hit Pred nation. The captain and arguably best defenseman in the NHL would be sitting out the game with an undisclosed injury. After review of the game in Dallas, fans found what may have caused the now made known concussion. Fistric of the Stars hit Weber in the corner in the dying minutes of the game, while there was no suspension on the play; it seemed to have been an elbow that caused the injury.

In Weber’s absence, highly regarded pr...

So far the series is split between Detroit and Nashville. 

The Red Wings dominated against the Predators in November with 4-1 victory at home, but Nashville managed to comeback against Detroit just two weeks ago on home ice with a 4-3 win. And there is much more than the series riding on this game.

Right now the Wings are third in their division, with very little room for error both ahead and behind them. Even closer is the race to stay in the Western Conference's top eight. The Wings are currently sixth in the conference, with the Preds sitting at eighth. 

The Red Wings are lacking in road victories as of late, dropping five of the last seven attemp...

In the past three games, the Washington Capitals have mustered just three total goals. In that same three-game span, the NHL's leading goal scorer Steven Stamkos has managed four tallies. 

Yikes. 

The Caps' hunt for offense won't get any easier when they welcome the Nashville Predators to town tonight. The Predators allow just 2.59 goals per game, which ranks in the top half of the NHL in that department. 

They also boast one of the league's very best between the pipes in last year's Vezina Runner-up Pekka Rinne. But the Caps catch a break as it will be backup Anders LIndback in net for the Preds tonight as Rinne will get the night off ...