After a tumultuous run where the Predators went 2-6-0, they appear to have regained a bit of their swagger with wins over Columbus and Anaheim and they hope to continue their modest two game win streak tonight against Calgary at the Bridgestone Arena (7 p.m. FS-TN).
This will be the Flames first trip to Nashville this season after the teams split two games in Calgary earlier this year. On October 22, Pekka Rinne won his first game ever over Calgary with a 2-0 shutout. Miikka Kiprusoff returned the favor with a 1-0 blanking of the Preds on November 29.
The Flames are in the midst of playing the best hockey they have played this season and are on a 6-1-1 run including wins in their last three contests over Carolina, Colorado, and Edmonton.
The Predators have been dependent on the man advantage lately and have risen to fourth place in the NHL with a 20.4% power play conversion rate. The team is seven of fourteen in their last five games where they have had at least one power play goal in each game.
The Flames are led in scoring by captain Jerome Iginla (11g, 10a), Olli Jokinen (8g,13a), and Alex Tanguay (5g, 14a). The Predators have a more balanced attack with nine players with at least 13 points with Craig Smith (8g,14a), Shea Weber (6g, 15a), and Ryan Suter (5g, 15a) leading the way.
Expect to see a rematch between Finnish goalies Pekka Rinne (12-9-4, 2.59, .919) and Miikka Kiprusoff (14-9-1, 2.40, .916) in net once again in tonight's game.
After tonight, the Predators will remain at home with games against Detroit on Thursday and St. Louis on Saturday. Be sure and bring an un-wrapped toy to be collected at the entrances for this year's Toys for Tots campaign.
For special POTG ticket pricing go here and use the special offer code "preds" here to get the best prices for the match with the Flames and all remaining Predator home games.
Other Predator Previews come from Amanda DiPaolo, Ryan Porth, Paul McCann, Predatorial, The Tennessean, and Predators.com.
For the Flames' previews, check out The Calgary Sun, The Calgary Herald, Matchsticks and Gasoline, FlamesNation, Battle of Alberta, and Hit the Post.
The Flames site has the projected lines for tonight's contest.
For game notes from NHL Media Services, go here.
More Later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass
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