The Predators victory last night left them in good position to capture home ice advantage if they can win their final two games against division rivals Columbus and St. Louis.
It will not be an easy task to beat Columbus in the home finale on Friday. The Predators have beaten the Jackets 16 straight times at the Bridgestone Arena and Columbus would love to end the streak at a time when it hurts the most.
Likewise, going into St. Louis against the Blues will not be an easy task. The two teams are bitter rivals and this is basically the Blues "postseason" game.
Phoenix and Los Angeles are the Predators two primary opponents in the chase for fourth place. Both are a point behind and have a game in hand. Phoenix plays at Los Angeles tonight so one of the two will jump the Preds in tonight's action. A three point game would be the worst scenario.
After that, neither team has an easy task. The Kings have a home and away with Anaheim, while the Coyotes have the same set up with the red-hot San Jose Sharks.
On paper, the Predators are in good shape if they can win the two games that they should. Barry Trotz was asked about what the Preds would do over the next couple of days.
"We got to work on some things and correct some things so that will be paramount. Anybody who is nicked up right now obviously we are going to let them heal a little bit. Then we'll go after those two games. Whatever happens, we'll either be in or we won't."
The Predators will start their preparations today at 11 a.m. when they practice at the Bridgestone Arena.
Predators-Thrashers Round-Up...
Here is our game story from last night with postgame video.
Josh Cooper had his game story, notes column, and postgame ponderings.
Jim Diamond points out that the Predators finally escaped the dreaded three goal lead with a win.
David Boclair has his story at The City Paper with a focus on strong goaltending.
From the blog world reports come from Ryan Porth, Amanda DiPaolo, Mark Willoughby, Chris Burton, Jeremy Gover, Predatorial, Fang Finger Fever, Fang Faction, and Hockey Night in Nashville.
Dirk Hoag found an interesting mistaken identity from the game on NHL Overtime.
For the Thrasher side of the game, check out The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Blueland Blog, the Ice Man, Bird Watchers Anonymous, Thrashing the Blues, As the Birds Thrash, Thrasher Backer, and Blueland Chronicle.
Audio from the Predators comes from Mike Fisher, Sergei Kostitsyn, and Jordin Tootoo. From Atlanta, we hear from Coach Craig Ramsay, Nik Antropov, and Mark Stuart.
Programming Note...
Today at Noon Central, Ryan Porth of RLD Hockey Radio has lined up Nick Cotsonika of Yahoo Sports as this weeks special guest. We will cover a wide range of topics. If you have questions for Nick email or Tweet either of us and we will try to work them in. Join us here for the live show or listen on podcast once it is completed.
In Pred Nation...
Jerred Smithson will be on NHL Live today at 12:20 Central.
Dirk Hoag crunches the numbers on how valuable faceoff success would be to a Predator's playoff run.
Jeremy from Section 303 makes the case for Barry Trotz to receive a nomination for the jack Adams Award.
After putting Pekka Rinne in the top three for the Vezina, they come back placing Shea Weber in a slot as the Norris finalist. All this Preds love from Canada is hard to believe.
Rebecca Dobrinski has a book review of a children's book about Jordin Tootoo.
The Milwaukee Admirals need a point in tonight's game with Grand Rapids to secure a Western Division crown.
Preds prospect Mark Santorelli is now on Twitter at @Santo1188. He has protected Tweets which seems to defeat the purpose.
Around the NHL...
This moring's water cooler conversation will include Raffi Tores's shot to the head of Jordan Eberle.
After a huge win over Boston on Monday, it was revealed that the Ranger's Ryan Callahan suffered a broken ankle and will miss the remainder of the season and playoffs. This is a severe blow to the Rangers chances to go deep in the post-season.
RLD Hockey has what I assume is the last version of The Stretch Run. Ryan also has the latest Jack Adams outlook in what is a wide open race.
Last year's Stanley Cup finalist goaltender Michael Leighton is on re-entry waivers.
Pat Hickey lashes out at Garth Snow over the Chris Botta ban by the Islanders. A side not given before comes from Dennis Bernstein at the end of this Fourth Period post.
The road to a new arena in Edmonton appears to be a bumpy road as Daryl Katz is acting in a bizarre manner on the proposed ticket tax financing.
From the man who brought us 100 Ranger Greats comes the top ten Ranger prospects.
So after Mark Cuban put out his post on the media that rankled a bunch of folks, he Tweeted this @mcuban: Its so easy to dogfood the media. Someone who actually read my blog and thought it through ! Congrats ! Here is the article he links that says it's all about money. I guess Cuban could have mentioned that in his original post as opposed to making comments about different types of media.
Odds and Ends...
Being a famous unwed teen pays $262,000 so it appears from Bristol Palin's tax records.
Space X announced a new generation of heavy lift rockets that will send objects into space at a price previously thought to be impossible.
More Later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOntheGlass
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