Nashville Predators at the New York Islanders: Pre Game Primer

TV-Radio...

Noon CST - TV: Fox Sports TN, MSG Plus, and NHL Network in Canada. Preds Radio Network (102.5-FM The Game)

Stage Setter...

After surviving an ongoing dog fight in the Western Conference and winning 13 of their last 17 games, the Predators travel to New York to play the Islanders today and the Rangers tomorrow. With back to back games it would not be a complete surprise to see Anders Lindback in net this afternoon. No official announcements have been made.

Make the jump for everything else...

Western Conference Standings...

        Team        GP Pts
1. *  Chicago      46 60
2. * Vancouver 46 59
3. * San Jose  42 55
4. St Louis 44 58
5. Detroit            44 57
6. Nashville 44 54
7. Los Angeles    46 53
8. Minnesota       45 51
9. Colorado        46 50
10. Dallas           42 49
11. Phoenix         45 47
12. Calgary         46 47

Prior Meetings...

This is the only meeting of the season between the Preds and Isles. Last season the Predators won the only meeting which was in Nashville on December 13 when the Predators won 5-0 with Lindback pitching the shutout. The Predators are 6-0-2 in the last eight games against the Isles who have not beaten the Preds in regulation since the captured a 5-2 win in Nashville on April 11, 2002.

Last Time Out...

Nashville played one of their best games of the season, beating Philadelphia in Smashville in front of a sold out Bridgestone Arena in a highly entertaining game.

The Islanders defeated Buffalo 4-2 in Nabokov's 300 th career win plaing in front of the home crowd.

Top Scorers (G-A-Pts)...

Nashville - S. Weber (9-23-32), M. Erat (10-19-29), D. Legwand (12-15-27), C.Smith (9-17-26),  R. Suter (5-20-25) and C. Wilson (8-15-23)

Islanders - J. Tavares (15-27-42), M. Moulson (21-18-39), P. Parenteau (7-30-37) and M. Streit (2-19-21)

In Goal (W-L-O, GAA, save %)...

Nashville - P. Rinne  (23-11-4, 2.54, .920) and A. Lindback (2-4-0, 2.75, .893)

Islanders - E. Nabokov (Probable Start) (7-11-0, 2.64, .909) and Kevin Poulin (0-1-0, 3.07, .897)

Other Comparisons...

Teams	Predators	Islanders
Record	25-15-4 (54)	16-20-6 (38)
Last 10	7-3-0	5-5-0
Home Record	14-7-3	10-10-3
Road Record	11-8-1	6-10-3
Power Play (rank)	21.6 (3)	19.3 (7)
Penalty Kill (rank)	82.1 (19)	83.2 (10)
Goals For (rank)	2.70 (13)	2.36 (27)
Goals Allowed (rank)	2.68 (12)	3.07 (26)
Shots For (rank)	27.5 (27)	30.0 (15)
Shots Allowed (rank)	31.2 (24)	29.9 (13)
Penalty Mins (rank)	10.1 (7)	9.7 (4)
Faceoff % (rank)	49.4 (19)	48.9 (25)

Injuries...

Nashville - Jerred Smithson (lower body), Craig Smith (illness).

Islanders - Rick DiPietro (Sports hernia/knee swelling), Mark Katic (Shoulder), Al Montoya (Concussion), Mike Mottau (Concussion), and Marty Reasoner (Broken Hand).

Notes...

• The Predators are 20-2-2 when scoring more than two goals.
• The Predators are 13-0-1 when Nick Spaling scores. He set a career high for points in a season (7g-8a-15pts) on Saturday with his game winner.
• Colin Wilson and Nick Spaling lead the team in GWG with three each.
• Todays game is the 6th of 11 back to back games this season. They are 3-2-0 record on the front end and 2-3-0 on the back end.
• This is one of three matinees for the Preds this year. The Preds beat Calgary 2-0 on 1-1-12 and will play one in Boston on 2-11-12. They are 21-7-7 all time in day games.
• The Preds have comeback from a 2 or 3 goal deficits 6 times this season
• The Preds have a .294 win % when trailing after two periods (5-12-0), Second only to Ottawa in the NHL
• The Preds are 0-24 during the Goo-Goo minute and will have their nest chance on Saturday against the Blackhawks.

Other Predator Previews...

Predators.com
PredsOnTheGlass
The Tennessean
Ryan Porth  Preview - Pekka Rinne Audio Preview
Amanda DiPaolo
Robby Stanley
Dirk Hoag
Paul McCann
Fang Finger
Patten Fuqua
Predatorial

Long Island  Media...

Islanders.com
Chris Botta
Lighthouse Hockey
Dee Karl
IslesBlogger
The Islanders Aggregator

Game Notes from NHL Media Services

A Look Ahead for the Preds...

Today                    @ NY Islanders (noon start)
Tuesday                  @ NY Rangers 6:30 p.m.
Thursday (1-19)      @Columbus 6 p.m.
Saturday (1-21)      Chicago Blackhawks 7 p.m.
Monday (1-23)       Columbus Blue Jackets 7 p.m.
Tuesday (1-24)       @ Chicago Blackhawks
1-25 to 1-30           All-Star Break

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass