Pekka Rinne

Somebody had a case of the Mondays.

The New York Islanders, at least, will have a quick turnaround after one of their worst performance’s of the season. After a dismal 3-1 loss to the Nashville Predators, the
Islanders travel to the nation’s capital to play the red hot Washington Capitals.

Washington, winners of seven straight at the Verizon Center, come into the contest off a 2-1 home victory over the Carolina Hurricanes. They haven’t trailed in a game at home since December 13th. In 22 games since Bruce Boudreau was replaced by Dale Hunter, the Capitals have gone 12-9-1 playing themselves into a 1st place tie with the Florida Panthers in the Southeast Division.

The Islanders play host to the Nashville Predators this afternoon and it is always nice to see a team from the West at the old barn. 

Although coach Capuano has not confirmed who his starting goaltender will be, I have got to assume Kevin Poulin will be between the pipes. Nabokov has played in 11 straight games and obtained his 300th career victory on Saturday vs. Buffalo. There is no reason not to start Poulin. The only action he's seen as of late is during the pregame warm up. 

Just three points separated the Dallas Stars and Nashville Predators going into their game last night played at the Bridgestone Arena in Tennessee. The Stars were looking to bounce back after they lost were  beaten by the Red Wings 5-4 on Wednesday night in an absolute thriller at the American Airlines Center. Nashville welcomed back their captain Shea Weber into the line-up after missing four games with concussion.

With a few changes made to their lines, the Stars started the game well and took a one goal lead in the first after a great bit of skill from Mike Ribeiro, who danced by several defenders before slotting it past Pekka Rinne with four minutes gone in the first. The P...

Earlier this season, the Wings easily defeated the Predators on home ice. Tonight, the two teams meet for their second of six scheduled regular season games, this time in Nashville.

The momentum is on both sides tonight as the Wings and Predators are both looking for a fourth consecutive win. So far this season, Nashville has faired better at home than on the road, so even with them currently being ranked fourth in the division (Wings are second), the home advantage may prove to be useful.

If Nashville plans on stopping Detroit however, it is going to require making Pavel Datsyuk a non-factor. The Wings center has 19 points (7 goals, 12 assists) in his last 12 games. 8 of thos...