Preds Fall to Ninth As Streak Reaches Four Games and Monday Musings

Note: No POTG Radio Tonight - Winter Classic Preview will be with RLD Hockey on Tuesday

The current Predators losing streak now stands at four which ties the second longest streak of the year. Without some offense, they have a good shot at tying the longest streak of the year on Tuesday night against Dallas. The Preds now have three goals in the last four losses.

All of the Predators' regulation losses but one have come in these three streaks with the lone non streak loss coming in the meltdown in Toronto on November 16th. This is an amazingly streaky team that can win in bunches and lose in bunches.

After last Thursday's game, I asked Barry Trotz what the streaks meant. He denied any reason for the streaks, "One thing you find in this league sometimes is that you hit teams at the right time be it the schedule, be it the mindset, be it injuries or whatever; certain players getting hot or cold all together or collectively."

"For me lately, the last couple of games, finding consistency in our lines has been a little bit of a problem. In terms of their play, what I think are the best two lines tonight, the next game they won't be. They keep flip-flopping."

So much of the talk has been about coaching issues, but Trotz makes a good point that the players on the ice have responsibility and if he is not getting the same play out of individuals and line combinations night after night then it is difficult for the coaches to plan and make decisions.

Since the team is so streaky, Predator fans can only hope that the winning streaks outlast the losing ones. For me, next time the Preds lose the first game, I'm headed to Vegas.

With the win last night, St. Louis jumped over the Predators in the standings to claim eighth place and the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. The Preds are now in ninth with 40 points.

The Preds will play Dallas at home tomorrow night at 7 p.m. at the Bridgestone Arena. Limited tickets are available.

Predators-Blues Round-Up...

Here is our game story from last night.

Josh Cooper had his game story, notes column, and postgame ponderings.

From the blog world reports come from Amanda DiPaolo, Mark Willoughby, Dirk Hoag (with his advances stats), Jeremy Gover, and Hockey Night in Nashville.

The winning side of the story comes from the Post-Dispatch, BlueNote Zone, Frozen Notes, and St. Louis Game Time.

In Pred Nation...

The Tennessean has a great piece from Josh Cooper on Jeff Cogen and his strategy to fill the building on a nightly basis. Cogen has realy done a good job for the Preds and may be their best acquisition in a long time.

Mark Willoughby has a seasonal "My View" that you really should check out.

Jas Faulkner has answers to questions from her mailbag at The Hockey Writers.

World Junior Scoreboard...

Switzerland 4, Germany 3
Canada 6, Russia 3
Sweden 7, Norway 1
USA 3. Finland 2 OT

Preds prospects had a big day at the World Juniors with Ryan Ellis getting a goal on five shots and Patrick Cehlin having a three point day for Sweden with 2 goals and an assist. David Elsner did not play since he was promoted to another leve in his home league.

Mayor's Manor has a primer on what you need to know about the World Juniors.

Winter Classic Outlook...

Rain is the biggest issue facing the Winter Classic at this point. Here is the latest along with the contingency plans from Rob Rossi.

Here is the latest from ice expert, Dan Craig on the rink construction.

Here is the latest video update from Dan Rosen of NHL.com...




Around the NHL...

Sidney Crosby extended his point streak to 24 games with a goal with 3:22 remaining in last nights 3-1 loss to Ottawa.

The Islanders tried to postpone last night's game due to blizzard conditions but ended up with their third straight win in front of 3,136 people.

Ryan Porth has the final projections based on current points per game here at the Christmas break.

Adrian Dater will be disappointed as it is reported that the latest Peter Forsberg comeback attempt has been abandoned once again due to his foot injury.

Here is a list of the top 100 NHLers (and prospects) on Twitter ranked by number of followers. They also have a list of fake accounts.

Odds and Ends...

Nineteen folks in Santa outfits went surfing at the same time in Cocoa Beach. I want to see a picture.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Blues Extend Preds Losing Streak to Four Games with 2-0 Win

Jaroslav Halak played flawless hockey in goal and David Backes provided all the scoring as the St Louis Blues defeated the Nashville Predators 2-0 at the Scottrade Center on Boxing Day.

Halak stopped all 32 Predator shots in getting his fifth shutout of the season. Pekka Rinne was the hard luck loser, making one mistake and stopping 24 of 25 St Louis shots that he faced.

The Predators had plenty of chances but were unable to get the puck past Halak who was clearly the star of the game. The loss is the fourth in a row for the Preds who had won eight of nine before the streak began.

The Predators began the game looking out of sync and low on energy much as they have done in the last three losses. By the end of the first period they looked a bit better and actually out shot the Blues 12-11 but were behind in the Corsi 19-15.

Backes started the second period with an unassisted goal at 1:15 after Cody Franson turned the puck over in the neutral zone and Backes skated in to the left of Rinne and wristed it into the top of the net to put the Blues ahead 1-0. It was a goal Rinne should have stopped but he can't be faulted for the loss.

For the second period, the Preds played some better than the way they started but still could not find the net. Nashville out shot the Blues 12-8 and tied the Corsi 17 all. Through two periods, neither team landed in the penalty box.

The Predators seemed more desperate in the third period. Halak held firm in the Blues net and withstood a barrage of chances from the Preds just past the 8:00 mark. The first penalty of the game came at 15:13 when Joel Ward was called for tripping Carlo Colaiacovo in the Preds offensive zone. The Preds had a short-handed shot while holding firm on the Blues' man advantage.

Backes put the game on ice at 19:43 when Alex Steen grabbed a loose puck and sent it off the boards toward the Predator empty net. Backes won a race with Cal O'Reilly and nudged the puck int the net to give the Blues a 2-0 lead and the win.

The Predators led in shots in the third 8-7 and 32-26 for the game.

The Predators were improved in the faceoff circle winning 32 out of 56 draws after struggling in three of the last four games.

Nashville started the game without the services of Steve Sullivan, Martin Erat, David Legwand and Matthew Lombardi.

Linus Klasen was recalled from Milwaukee before the game. Klasen was plugged into Erat's spot beside Marcel Goc and Sergei Kostitsyn. Klassen received his most extensive playing time in the NHL with 20 shifts for a total of 16:21 in ice time. He had one shot and one hit to show for the effort.

The Predators returned home after the game and will face the Dallas Stars on Tuesday at the Bridgestone Arena.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass.com

Preds Finish Home Series With Blues and Wednesday Wrap-Up

The St. Louis Blues (11-5-3) make their final regular season visit to Bridgestone Arena tonight at 7 p.m. to play the Nashville Predators (9-7-3) in a nationally televised game on the Versus Network.

The teams have played twice in Nashville and once in St. Louis so far this season. The Preds won the first meeting in Nashville 4-3 on October 14. Two weeks later the Blues blanked the Preds at the Bridgestone arena 3-0 in a game that started the Preds five game losing streak.

In the only contest in St. Louis, The Preds ended the losing streak with a 3-2 shoot-out win that marked the start of a period of improved play for the Predators.

St. Louis started the year as one of the NHL's hottest teams, going 9-1-2 in their first 12 games. Since then, as the injuries mounted, the Blues have gone 2-5-1, with the two wins coming against Ottawa and New Jersey over the weekend.

The Predators have played better lately winning four of their last six contests. They did lose on Monday to the Blue Jackets who played a near perfect game. I doubt that anyone could have beaten Columbus the way they played on that particular night.

It is expected that Pekka Rinne (6-6-2, 2.59, .916) will start for the Predators and Jaroslav Halak (9-4-2, 2.45, .910) will go for the Blues.

Both teams have injuries to key people. St. Louis is without David Perron, T.J. Oshie, and Roman Polak while defenseman Barret Jackman is expected to return tonight or on Friday.

The Predators remain without Matthew Lombardi, who has no timetable for a return. Ryan Suter and David Legwand are "day to day" with some thought that Legwand could return tonight.

One thing to look for in tonight's game is several penalties from the Blues who are last in the league, averaging 19.3 minutes per game in contrast to the Preds' 10.8 minutes. The Preds power play is 29th in the league with a 10% conversion rate and are three for 57 since the Preds first meeting with the Blues.

There should be a capacity crowd on had tonight, so if you don't have tickets, you may want to plan in advance this morning.

Other game previews come from Amanda DiPaolo, Chris Burton, and The Tennessean.

For previews from enemy territory, check out the Post-Dispatch, BlueNote Zone, Frozen Notes, and St. Louis Game Time for Blues news.

Programming Note...

I was a co-host on a special nighttime edition of RLD Hockey Radio last night that featured Jeff Marek from Hockey Night in Canada who discussed the Habs, Leafs, Flames and the situation on Long Island. Inside Hockey's Tim Rosenthal also joined with a preview of his upcoming Rosie Awards. Here is the full list at IH.

Listen to internet radio with Ryan Porth on Blog Talk Radio

In Pred Nation...

AJ has all the dirt from the SlapShot Radio road trip including detail of Jackson and my misbehaving on the way home.

J.R. Lind has big news from the Predators at the Nashville Sports Authority's meeting yesterday. The Preds submitted their 2009 net worth statement and indicated that they would pursue the Frozen Four when the next bid process begins. They also indicated a new owner would be on board soon. You would have to speculate that it would be W. Brett Wilson.

Amanda Dipaolo has a complete look at what Shane O'Brien has meant to this team in the first quarter of the season.

Josh Cooper called Preds' prospect, Austin Watson for an update. Here's the result. Josh also looks at the Preds needing to improve on the power play.

Mark Willoughby missed yesterday AM's deadline with his Preds-Jackets story because he was late getting back from the game.

David Boclair is confounded by the lack of goals from the Predator's goal scorers.

Chris Burton breaks down Rick Nash's goal from Monday night.

From @SLakePreds: Dan Gendur (the placeholder/throw-in in the O'Brien deal) has actually be recalled to Milwaukee! He has 2g, 6a in 10 CHL games this season.

Seth Lake also found an interview at Hockey Spy with Charles-Oliver Roussel.

Bird Watchers Anonymous breaks down the strength of schedule for all teams and the Preds lead the way. It's an interesting list to ponder.

Admirals Roundtable has the story of the Admirals 4-1 loss to Oklahoma City last night.

Predators.com also has the weekly Admirals update.

If anyone is looking for pictures of Alexander Radulov, Hotice Magazine from Russia has quite a few. I'm sure Pred fans could put them on their dart boards.

Around the NHL...

The first round of votes are in for the NHL All-Star game and Steven Stamkos is not in the top three forwards. It must be a bummer to be the best player of the year so far and not have the local fan support to get you to the top of the pack. On an obviously slow day, Puck Daddy looks inside the numbers of votes cast.

Ryan Porth looks at six teams that have been surprises and rates them as contenders or pretenders.

Hockey 54 has a new video featuring Tyler Meyers and Steven Stamkos.

Matt Reitz takes an in depth look at what the NHL needs to do to move back into the big four in the sports world.

Demolition on the Spectrum in Philadelphia began yesterday. Here is a slide show of screen shots from the ceremony. Several former NHL players and others were in attendance.

With the Spectrum now gone, TSN asks what was you all time favorite arena.

AZ Vibe Sports gives the hard sell to the locals to go out and watch a winning Phoenix sports team.

Odds and Ends...

This is an unbelievable video of some folks that sent a camera 20 miles high with a weather balloon and recovered it. Jackson liked this.

This is interesting that a man ordering 178 pizzas in Amherst in the middle of the night did not raise any eyebrows. I hope they gave them to the homeless shelters.

A good thing about getting groped in an airport this weekend is the chance to pick up a new foursquare badge.

Fortune Magazine has an interesting post about Reed Hastings, the top guy at Netflix. The guy lives in Santa Cruz, California so you know he's done something right.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Is Columbus a Playoff Team, Game Wrap, and Tuesday Round-Up

Last night's Predators game may have been an example of what happens to a decent Western Conference team that plays three teams from the much weaker Eastern Conference and gets lulled into playing a different style of game that doesn't hold up in the West.

Amanda DiPaolo lays out the argument for Western Conference dominance in an article yesterday that clearly shows that top to bottom the West teams are better as a whole.

Columbus is on a hot streak and Rick Nash is playing the best hockey of his career, winning the NHL Player of the week honor yesterday.

I have been a non-believer of Columbus being a potential playoff team until now. I'm not fully ready to jump on their bandwagon but could possibly change my mind prior to New Years if they don't go into an extended swoon in the next thirty days.

For now, I will admit that Columbus played the best game against the Predators that we have seen this year. The Predators were not bad last night. Columbus was very good which caused the Preds to be unable to do much of what they have been doing in their recent improved play.

Preds-Jackets Round-Up...

Here is our game story from last night.

The Tennessean has the AP Story and Josh Cooper has his postgame ponderings.

Jim Diamond was at the game in Columbus and was also impressed with the Jacket's play. Jim also found a little trash talk among dads.

David Boclair has his story at The City Paper.

From the blog world reports come from Amanda DiPaolo, Dirk Hoag (with his advances stats), What the Puck, and Hockey Night in Nashville.

The other side of the story comes from the Columbus Dispatch, The Dark Blue Jacket, and The Cannon.

In Pred Nation...

Jim Diamond was in Columbus for the game but has an interesting note at the end of this post about a rumored relocation to Quebec for a number of teams. I would not categorize this to be anything serious at this point. Jim also has a story about Columbus coach Scott Arneil discussing the development of Cal O'Reilly.

Congrats to the Section 303 gang as their 303:30 podcast won the A.I.R Award for Best Locally Produced Podcast.

On The Forecheck has the weekly fantasy update for the Preds.

The news we've been waiting for comes from @kcwilson: Congrats to Ryan Suter on the birth of his first child, Brooks William - 8 pounds, 13 ounces - on Sunday.

George Scoville, who we saw in Raleigh, is the winner of What the Pucks donation to Movember this week.

Around the NHL...

Down Goes Brown reveals The Code that allegedly doesn't exist in hockey.

We've been hearing that Alex Kovlev was on the verge of getting his 1000th point for what seems like forever. He finally got it in last night's 3-2 Sens win over the Kings. There was a horrible call against the Kings with three seconds left when a goal was ruled to have been tipped with a high stick.

Puck Daddy has another one for the Islander's media hit list as TV announcer Howie Rose had a little gaff on Sunday during a break in the action of the Isles-Thrashers game. Losing 13 in a row is tough on everyone.

Amanda DiPaolo discusses faces of the East and the teams of the West at Too Many Men on the Site. She also has her weekly Central Division Shakedown at Predlines.

I missed the preview of 24/7 since I was in Raleigh but now my next road trip will be to the Winter Classic so this makes this a little more interesting.

Kent Wilson has a good analysis of new media and the MSM and ties it to the Chris Botta situation. This is a good read.

ESPN has the latest speculation on Stamkos and Doughty contracts and Iginla rumors.

Pat Hoffman at RLD looks at where Chris Drury fits in among Ranger Captains.

XM Home Ice has an interview done by Scott Laughlin with Pat Burns from March of 2009 where he reflects on his career.

Dee Karl, the Isles seventh woman, remains hopeful on the Island. It's good to see that.

B.D. Gallof offers seven suggestions for the Islanders to clean up their act.

Odds and Ends...

For fans of The Office, this site catalogs almost any quote you would ever want to find.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Predators Break Streak, Look For Better Days Ahead, and Friday Findings

The Nashville Predators broke their five game losing streak by playing as close to a complete game as they have seen this season. They were behind twice and came back both times before finally taking the lead in the fourth round of the shootout.

During the five game losing streak, they had been creative in finding different ways to lose ranging from not being competitive against the Kings to not playing to the final horn against the Ducks.

Last night, after a shaky first period, they played with good effort and did the things that it takes for the team to win, with defense and goaltending leading the way.

Pekka Rinne still did not appear to be in his normal top form but was able to stand firm in the third period on a few tough chances and in the shootout. It's hard to put a finger on why he looks uncomfortable at times, but if it was a boost in confidence that he needed, last night's win should help. He seemed almost giddy in the TV interview after the game.

I have not heard an explanation but Nik Spaling, Colin Wilson and Jerred Smithson received very little ice time during the game, all being in the six to seven minute range.

The Predators clearly are looking for better days ahead starting with a home game tomorrow night against the Blackhawks at the Bridgestone Arena. They hit the road again for a trip to Toronto, Montreal, Carolina and Columbus, all places where they have had success.

After that, cones a more favorable schedule with eleven of eighteen games at home through the new year that includes no extended road trips like they are enduring now.

Preds-Blues Round-Up...

Here is our recap from last night.

The Tennessean had the AP story and Josh Cooper added his postgame ponderings at Inside Predators.

From the blog world reports come from Amanda DiPa0lo, The View from 111, Dirk Hoag (with his advances stats), Jeremy Gover, and What the Puck.

The other side of the story comes from the Post-Dispatch, BlueNote Zone, Frozen Notes, and St. Louis Game Time for Blues news. The Blues will look different for the next three months with T.J Oshie out with a broken ankle.

In Pred Nation...

Jay Levin documents how a few of the Preds prior slow starts still led to the playoffs.

Josh Cooper has a note about Wade Belak's claim to fame of now having the longest streak of games played without a goal.

Paul McCann had a Thursday round-up with a few thanks to veterans and a note about their latest edition of SlapShot radio that was a tribute to the movie "SlapShot.".

Hands of Cement has a new odd man crush over the Movember Mo's.

The Preds and Bridgestone Arena teamed up on a new deal with Grand Avenue Limousine. The level of sponsorships has really increased this season.

Around the NHL...

Plenty of opinions are around about the new All-Star game format. Former player, J.T. Bourne likes the new plan.

Down Goes Brown also has the difference between a fantasy draft and the All-Star Game draft.

With Willie Mitchell out, the Kings are going to be forced to shuffle the pairings on defense.

Bill Guerin turned 40 this week but is still keeping his options open on a return if some team calls.

Michelle Kenneth has the story of Lindy Ruff's 1000th game. Ruff is the only active coach with more games with the same team than Barry Trotz. She also defends Ilya Kovalchuk which is a bold undertaking at this point.

PHT has the story of the bad blood that was brewing before the Blue Jacket's 8-1 blow out of the Blues on Wednesday. It's hard to believe that these guys are in the same players union. This hatred is almost like old time hockey.

Interesting post on the best interviews in the NHL from Billy Jaffe.

As if the Calgary Flames needed more trouble, Brett Sutter was arrested in Arizona after a bar fight early Thursday morning.

Patrick Hoffman names the worst player of the year so far and I completely agree on his choice.

Not only did Tampa get slammed to the mat by the Capitals on Thursday, they lost Vinnie Lecavalier for an extended period with a broken hand.

Quietly, (very quietly) Donald Fehr has visited all thirty NHL teams prior to a vote to confirm him as head of the NHLPA. The CIA isn't this quiet.

Odds and Ends...

We were at Mavericks in Half Moon Bay, California on a relatively calm day. Two weeks later, this is what it looked like. I want to go back and see the big waves.

Switchfoot's Jon Foreman compares bars and churches and finds a lot of the same in each.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Goc Goal Gives Preds Shoot Out Win Over Blues

Marcel Goc scored in the fourth round of the shootout to give the Nashville Predators a 3-2 victory over the St Louis Blues at the Scotttade Center on Thursday night for their first win in their last six games.

After the shootout went to sudden death tied 1-1, with Preds shooting last, Marcel Goc went to Halak's left and put the puck over his outstretched leg to seal the victory for the Predators.

The Predators had fought the Blues for every inch of the ice and forced play into overtime on a goal by J.P. Dumont late in the third period.

The Predators first goal came from Cal O'Reilly to tie the game in the second period after the Preds went down at the end of the first on a goal by David Backes. The Blues second goal came from Mark D'Agostini.

Pekka Rinne got his first win in almost three weeks, stopping 21 of 23 Blues shots and three of four in the shootout. Jaroslav Halak lost for the second night in a row, stopping 24 of 26 and two of four in the shootout.

Both teams wanted to start the game with a fast pace as they each had their own demons to expel. The Preds had lost five in a row and the Blues were coming off an 8-1 thrashing by Columbus the night before.

The first real scoring chance for either team was at 9:43 in the first period when a Jay McClement shot slowly leaked out behind Rinne into the blue ice and was headed toward the red line when Goc arrived and took the puck to the other end of the ice to be a hero early in the contest.

The Blues got on the scoreboard first at 18:22 on a broken play when the puck was sent sailing into the air above the net with some incredible hang time. Backes pushed Steve Sullivan out of the way, took a pass from Andy McDonald, and cleared space to have a open shot at the the net to put the Blues ahead 1-0.

The period ended with St Louis leading in shots 9-4 and also the Corsi 17-11.

The second period started with few shots and multiple infractions that led to two Blues penalties and one by the Preds, none of which resulted in goals.

The Predators finally got on the board at 13:44 when Sullivan skated the puck into the Blues zone and passed to Frankie Bouillon who shot the puck through traffic at the net. Halak left a short rebound and O'Reilly put the puck in the net.

Back to back penalties struck the Blues at 15:54 and 16:17 to give the Preds 1:37 of five on three man advantage but they failed to get a shot.

The second period shot totals were the opposite of the first with the Preds outshooting the Blues 10-3 and leading the Corsi 18-11.

The third period started with more pushing and shoving between the teams that finally led to a coincidental minor between Dumont and Alex Steen for roughing setting up two minutes of four on four play at 5:37.

After the initial faceoff, D'Agostini got past Kevin Klein and took a pass from Patrik Berglund who skated toward Rinne and put the puck into the net to give the Blues a 2-1 lead.

At 8:24, tempers flared again with penalties to Patric Hornqvist and Shea Weber for the Preds and to D'Agostini for the Blues to set up a St. Louis man advantage. The Preds penalty kill held firm.

Dumont tied the game 2-2 at 13:08 in the third when David Legwand fired a shot wide of the net that took an odd bounce off the boards and Dumont threw it toward Halak and the puck found the net.

With 1:50 left, Rinne made the save of game when he stopped a point blank shot from Vladimir Sobotka that was later reviewed.

There was fierce action as the clock wound down but the Preds and Blues found themselves playing overtime hockey. For the period the Preds outshot the Blues 12-8 and led the Corsi 17-12.

In overtime, with 1:19 remaining, Alexander Sulzer let Steen get away from him and was called for tripping. Miraculously, the Predators survived the rest of the overtime four on three and took the contest to the shoot out.

In the shootout, D'Agostini and O'Reilly scored in the first round. Brad Boyes, Andy McDonald, and Berglund missed for the Blues while Sullivan and David Legwand failed in their attempts for the Preds, before Goc finished the contest with his short wrister.

There were plenty of unsung heroes for both teams but the Predators played better than they have since their losing streak started against the Blues on October 28. Patric Hornqvist's effort was notable as he intimidated the Blues players every shift that he was on the ice.

In turn, the Blues had several players step up to play higher roles after T. J. Oshie, ankle surgery rendered him to the injury list for at least three months.

The Predators now lead the season series with the Blues 2-1 and will face them for the final time at the Bridgestone Arena on November 24.

The Preds returned home after the game where they will prepare for Saturday night's contest with the Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Preds and Blues Both Hope to Bounce Back Tonight and Thursday Thoughts

Salute to the Veterans

As has become an annual tradition on Veterans Day, I defer to Mark Willoughby for today's post to honor our troops and veterans. Mark writes another excellent piece so follow the link and enjoy his tribute. Jim Diamond also points you to a great Veterans Day Tribute from 2006 which points out the importance of the Derek Hines Unsung Hero Award given out by the NCAA.
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The Nashville Predators (5-5-3) return to the ice tonight in St. Louis to play the Blues (9-2-2) for the third time this season. The Preds are looking for the hockey gods to give them favor so they can right the ship that has seen them fall from first to 13th in the tough Western Conference.

Before last night's 8-1 shellacking in Columbus, the Blues only regulation loss was to the Predators in a 4-3 game on October 14. The Blues in turn, gave the Preds their first regulation loss in a 3-0 shutout on October 28 which was the start of Nashville's current five game losing streak.

The Predators went on to lose to Detroit, Phoenix, Los Angeles and Anaheim after the team's last meeting with the Blues.

The Blues have become one of the darlings of the Western Conference as they rode the hot hand of Jaroslav Halak who was 8-1-1, 1.46, .944 before he gave up four goals on 16 shots in last night's debacle against the Blue Jackets.

It is unclear who will start in net tonight for the Blues as backup Ty Conklin also got pummeled last night. The Preds will go with Pekka Rinne (2-4-2, ,910, 3.01) who hopes to return to his early season form after losing 4 games in a row and giving up sixteen goals in the process.

Injured Predators Ryan Suter, Marty Erat, and Matthew Lombardi did not make the quick overnight trip to St. Louis and there is no timetable for their return.

Late word from last night was that T.J. Osie suffered a broken ankle that will require surgery. Oshie was the Blues' leading point producer with a goal and nine assists. The Blues also are without Barret Jackman, Roman Polak, and Carlo Colaiacovo who has been out since being hit by Jordin Tootoo in the last meeting.

While many fear a backlash from the Blue after a sound beat down on Wednesday, it is rare for a very hot team not to go int a bit of a slide one a streak is broken. To me, it looks like the table is set for the Predators to start their comeback trail and make the best of the next couple of weeks as they prepare for plenty of home games after Thanksgiving.

Other Preds-Blues previews come from Amanda Dipaolo, Chris Burton, The Tennessean, and Predators.com.

Check out the Post-Dispatch, BlueNote Zone, Frozen Notes, and St. Louis Game Time for Blues news.

In Pred Nation...

Josh Cooper has the latest thoughts from David Poile. He also has the injury updates which continue to be day to day on Erat and Suter and no time soon for Lombardi. Josh also has a piece this morning on the Preds-Blues rivalry and a notes column highlighted by Frankie Bouillon wearing the "A."

Colin Wilson steps in for his weekly blog and tells of a celebrity moment when he met Kevin Connolly from the TV show Entourage.

The Predators and the Tennessee Lottery have teamed up on a promotion where you can get discounts on Preds tickets with your losing Powerball tickets.

Section 303's podcast, the 303:30 has been nominated for the prestigious AIR Awards in the best locally produced podcast category. Click here for details.

Dirk Hoag has an interesting poll as to what Barry Trotz should do in the absence of the three injured Preds. Segei Kostitsyn seems to be the solution of choice. You can also vote on the OTF play of the week.

Here are the updated Movember pictures for the Predators. Another well known mustache bit the dust when Yanni cut his Mo for the cause.

Jordin Tootoo was on Puck Daddy Radio yesterday. Go here to listen.

Ryan Ellis was named co-captain for Team OHL in the Subway Super Series that will play their first game against the Russians tonight. Ex-Pred Dan Hamhuis was named honorary captain of Team WHL for their game against the Russians in Prince George on November 18.

From @NHLPredsInsider: From David Poile and Paul Fenton in Windsor: Ryan Ellis breaks franchise's dman points record with an OT goal

Mike MacDonald asks if it is time for a coaching change with the Preds. It's not going to happen based on this little bump in the road. The Predators will be back.

Paul McCann's entertaining salute to the movie Slapshot from last night is now up on podcast.

The Milwaukee Admirals and the Grand Rapids Griffins played 65 minutes of scoreless hockey before the Ads won the shootout 2-1. Mark Dekanich stopped 35 shots and then two of three in the shoot out for the win, boosting his record to 7-1-1 for the season.

Around the NHL...

Details of the new NHL All-Star game format were released. The fact that the game is being discussed at all in November is a big win for the marketing folks. It should do well this year but will have a short shelf life going forward.

Matt Reitz has interesting commentary on the new format at View From My Seats.

Patrick Hoffman interviews Aron Papernick aka the Paperboy of NHL Home Ice's Hockey This Morning. We don't get enough of him on the show so this was a treat.

Jon Jordan has an update on the Bolts after their win over Toronto and has good things to say about ex-Pred Dan Ellis who has two shutouts so far this year.

As much as Pred fans are worried about the injury situation, the Avalanche has ten players on the injury list.

One more time, there are reports of a new potential comeback by Peter Forsberg. Dater loves these stories.

NHL GameCenter Live is now available on the Roku and Boxee players as well as the PlayStation 3. I love our Roku and would have preferred to go this route instead of the Center Ice Package. This should have been announced in September.

Intent to Blow has news of a huge bonus that is now due to Derek Boogaard since he scored a goal. This will bust the cap for the Rangers.

Finally, how bad are things in New Jersey? This is what their $100 million man did to end the game in the shootout last night. This video is not for the squeamish.

Odds and Ends...

Do you think your boss has a personality disorder? According to this story they probably do.

I knew our Northern Tissue was getting smaller. Here is why.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Predators Head to the Road after Tootoo Controversy and Friday Findings

First off, thanks to everyone for all the birthday wishes yesterday. It was a bit overwhelming for an old guy like me.
---------------------------------------------------

The Predators finally lost a game in regulation. For fans in attendance it was not a pleasant game to experience. A good Thursday night crowd of 15,506 was in attendance as well as writers from NHL.com and ESPN as it was hailed as the "game of the week."

If you are a Blues fan, it probably lived up to its billing. Preds fans were disappointed as they had little to cheer about.

The most memorable thing from the game was the Jordin Tootoo hit on Carlo Colaiacovo in the third period. Colaiacovo has a history of concussions and folks around the league do not like Tootoo so it was the perfect setting for an overreaction by the officials on what was a garden variety hit by Tootoo standards.

In the postgame, Tootoo and Coach Barry Trotz plead innocence on any type of dirty hit, head shot, or anything on the nature that the stiff penalty was allegedly called for.

If you review the video, Tootoo clearly did not hit head to head and his skates did not leave the ice until the momentum of the hit lifted one skate, in spite of what the "homers" from St. Louis say in the video.

Anyway, the first loss is in the past and the Predators leave today for Detroit which is the first game of an extended, two week, five-game, road trip.

The Predators have played well on trips like this in the past and will have enough time between games to continue to work on the details of their game as well as spend time together and bond as a team.

Last night's game was one loss and no reason for anyone to throw on the panic switch.

Preds-Blues Round-Up

Here is our game story and video of Barry Trotz from last night.

Josh Cooper had his game story and and postgame ponderings. He also discusses the Jordon Tootoo hit and penalty.

Jim Diamond goes to the rule book to analyze Jordin Tootoo's penalty.

David Boclair has his story at The City Paper.

From the blog world reports come from Ryan Porth, Amanda DiPaolo, The View from 111, Chris Burton (with advances stats), Jeremy Gover, and Hockey Night in Nashville.

Dirk Hoag has the video of the Tootoo hit and a poll of whether he will receive supplemental discipline.

The other side of the story comes from St. Louis GameTime where they seem to be clear that Tootoo's charge was a head shot. They must not have see the same video that I did. The St Louis Post-Dispatch has a little less biased game story.

In Pred Nation...

Possible breaking news from Dirk Hoag this morning with a Swedish newspaper indicating that Linus Klasen may have been recalled by the Predators.

The Hockey Tonk Angels TweepUp has gone national with a listing at NHL TweetUp for the event scheduled at Bleachers on November 7 when the Preds play the Ducks on the road.

Adam Gretz has an excellent interview with Cody Franson at Fanhouse. He has great things to say about Nashville and the fans.

Last night's game was ESPN's Game of the Week. Scott Burnside was in town and filed this on the Predators' goaltenders.

More national coverage from John Manasso who sorts out the team effort by the Predators.

Predators.com have their weekly prospect update with a focus on the 2009 draft class.

Admiral's roundtable looks at what Steve Begin brings to the table for the Ads. The Ads have games tonight and Saturday in Abbottsford.

Forechecker beat us to the punch on the big Hunt Brothers Pizza announcement as a new vendor at the Bridgestone Arena. Jackson seemed to have no complaints with his slice last game.

Rachel at What the Puck found an odd video clip of Hannah Montana playing some type of hockey.

Around the NHL...

Michelle Kenneth is following the Devils on their west coast road trip and has the latest after the Sharks loss.

The Blackhawks lost the services of Marian Hossa in their game against the Kings on Wednesday. It is unclear how long he will be out due to the "upper body injury." Brian Campbell's appears ready to return soon.

From @ChrisBottaNHL: The Islanders have sent Nino Niederreiter to Portland (WHL). His Entry Level Contract still has three years on it. This was a clse call as Chris wasn't sure what they would do when we talked to him on RLD Radio on Tuesday.

Other junior player news of sorts from @TSNBobMcKenzie: No surprise here, ATL has told Burmistrov he isn't going back to Barrie of the OHL.

Chris Botta also his weekly column at Fanhouse and throws kudos to the Preds and Pekka Rinne. He also hiit on the "9 game clause" for junior players.

Ryan Porth looks at the surprising Montreal Canadians who are off to a much faster start than I expected.

The 2011 Winter Classic jersey for the Pittsburgh Penguins was released yesterday. Here are some pictures.

The Carolina Hurricanes finally made it to the home rink for a game on Wednesday and lst to the Capitals. This may be one of the longest roar trips ever to start a season with the trip to Russia, Europe and the Carolina State Fair keeping them away from home.

Congrats to our friends at Illegal Curve who will move their show to a new home on November 6 at Sports Radio 1290 in Winnipeg.

Lauren Belfoy debuts at The Fourth Period with a good post about types of hockey players.

Inside Hockey looks at coaching greatness and those who come and go.

Ryan Porth's favorite prospect has been traded. This from @MLalancette: Kirill Kabanov is traded to Lewiston, against four draft picks (one European). The Maineiacs are pleased with their new player.

Odds and Ends...

Here is a video from the South Central Regionals Derby to get you pumped for the Nationals next weekend in Chicago. The Nashville RollerGirls are the third seed from the region and are guaranteed to finish in top twelve.

I don't play Farmville bu I know folks that are obsessed with it. A Florida mother killed her baby because it was interrupting her play. I hope they have a good connection for her in the pokey because she will be there for a good long while.

It's hard to believe what's laying around under the ocean floor. A Florida salver found a gold statute worth $885,000.

I'm not sure what our puppy will play with now that they have done a way with the cardboard tube in toilet paper.

I think that the wax Taylor Swift looks better than the real thing.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Predators Lose to Blues 3-0 in First Regulation Loss

Everyone knew that the Nashville Predators would not survive an 82 game schedule without a regulation loss but no one was ready for the streak to end.

Jaroslav Halak played a near perfect game as the Blues won 3-0 and got payback from their only regulation loss two weeks earlier when the Preds won 4-3.

The Preds remained competitive in the contest until the double whammy of the Blues' second goal and a questionable charging call against Jordin Tootoo took the wind out of the team's sails with less than eight minutes remaining in the game.

The game started with both teams skating well and few stoppages in the first two periods. The Predators had great chances early. At 5:38 in the first, J.P. Dumont had a great opportunity as he found himself alosne in front of the net but Halak stoned him.

At 11:41 Patric Hornqvist had a breakaway that Halak appeared to read the entire way. For the first period, the Blues outshot the Preds 15-8.

Alexander Steen scored what was the eventual game winning goal at 12:56 in the second period. It was a short-handed goal that came four seconds after Alexander Sulzer came out of the box with the Predators having 30 seconds left on a power play.

For the second period, shots were much closer with St. Louis having a 12-11 edge.

St. Louis appeared to come out on a mission in the third period. Their inspired play neutralized the Predator attack. Patrik Berglund scored the Blues second goal at 12:48 to put the Preds in a deep hole.

The game clincher came a few seconds later at 13:11 when Jordin Tootoo was called for charging and given a five minute minor and a game misconduct. The incident occurred when Jered Smithson and Tootoo sandwiched Carlo Colaiacovo as all three were going for a puck behind the Blues net.

On the ensuing power play, at 15:15, Matt D'Agostini scored to put the game completely out of reach at 3-0.

After the game, Jordin Tootoo was puzzled with the call against him, "My understanding is that it was a blow to the head but you look at the replay and it's shoulder on shoulder. It's a tough league to play in. You've got to keep your head up and when you hit someone hard the refs are going to take a second look at it. I'm speechless."

Barry Trotz also questioned the call on the Tootoo penalty, "I looked at it, charging, he didn't move his feet from the top of the circles in. I looked at it with the big emphasis on shots to the head, and I saw a shoulder to shoulder hit and to me, he didn't leave his feet so I'm a little bit confused on that and before I comment more I'll have to hear from the league. To me looking at the factors, I thought it was a pretty clean hit."

Trotz gave the Blues full credit for the win. "They did a real good job. They're number one in the league and that's just a little taste of what the Central Division is all about. They play a good team game, have the lowest goals against and also give you the least amount of shots in the league."

The Predators have little time to worry about the loss as they will leave for Detroit on Friday to prpare to face the Wings for the first time this season at 6 p.m. Central on Saturday at Joe Louis Arena.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Predators Put Streak on the Line Again and Thursday Thoughts

It seems like a while since the Nashville Predators played at home, but it's will be sixteen days after tonight before they grace the ice at Bridgestone Arena once again.

Tonight, the Predators (5-0-3) put their undefeated in regulation streak on the line for the ninth time this season against the St. Louis Blues (4-1-2), who they faced two weeks ago when the Preds prevailed in a 4-3 win which remains the Blues only regulation loss.

The Predators are coming off road wins over Dallas and Tampa Bay over the weekend and have been idle for three days. The Blues also won their last two games at home over the weekend against Chicago and Pittsburgh.

The Predators have some of the most balanced scoring in the league with 13 players with three or more points. In the game in Tampa. 12 different players pointed on the teams four goals.

T.J Oshie leads the Blues with 8 points (1 goal, 7 assists) while David Perron leads in goals with four.

With both teams coming off several days of rest, barring any surprises, the number one goalies should see action tonight. Pekka Rinne (2-0-2, 1.58 gaa, .955) should face Jaroslav Halak (4-1-1, 1.81, .929) in a matchup of two of the leagues best netminders.

Special teams should be key in what should be a low scoring affair. The Preds and Blues have similar stats on the power play (Nashville 16.1%, St. Louis 16.7%) and the penalty kill (Nash. 82.1%, St.L. 80.8%).

There is a big difference in the number of penalties taken with the Preds having the second fewest (10.1 min per game) and the Blues having the most in the league (21.9 mpg).

The Preds will continue to play with out the services of Ryan Suter (knee), Marcel Goc (shoulder), and Matthew Lombardi (concussion). Replacements for these key injured players have played well in their absence with Alexander Sulzer playing the best hockey of his brief career and Nick Spaling bringing stability to the Predators penalty kill.

The Blues expect to have the services of Cam Janssen for the first time since he went on IR on October 10. The Blues lost the services of defenseman Roman Polak with a severed tendon in his wrist and recalled Nathan Oystrick from Peoria yesterday. Nikita Nikitin is also out.

Puck drop should be shortly after 7 p.m. and the game is not televised locally. Tickets remain for the game which will be the last chance to see the Predators for quite a while.

Other game previews from Predland come from Amanda DiPaolo, Chris Burton and the Tennessean.

Fore Previews from the Blues point of view, check out the St Louis Post Dispatch and St. Louis Gametime.

In Pred Nation...

Josh Cooper has news that Marcel Goc skated at practice yesterday and that the Preds are in no hurry getting Ryan Suter back. Josh also talks about the team's fast start with several players. Finally, Cody Franson reveals his relationship to Bobby Orr.

Colin Wilson's blog at Inside Predators focuses on Jerred Smithson's DJ abilities and Colin getting his apartment cleaned by his mother.

Jim Diamond applauds the excellent play of Alexander Sulzer who is making a case to stay in the lineup when Ryan Suter returns.

Dirk Hoag makes the case for Central Division Supremacy and has a poll as to who will reign.

Amanda DiPaolo discusses the Preds' extended road trips that start after tonight's game.

Mark Willoughby takes a shot at the local media as he presents the video of the check presentation to A-Game Sportsplex by the Predators.

David Boclair has a story about the Predators comfort level in one goal games.

The Badger Herald has a good piece on Blake Geoffrion that looks to his past and his future.

Chris Burton has a roundup of a bunch of power ratings for the week. Hopefully, the Preds will not fall from their lofty ratings.

Paul McCann was back with his weekly Slap Shot Radio last night. Kerry Frazier, Darren Pang and Barry Trotz were guests. The podcast will be available on the web site.

Dan Bradley at Excellence Through Guesswork Hockey has his weekly update.

Terry Crisp was on Puck Daddy Radio yesterday which can be heard here.

In Goal Magazine takes a look at the new mask from Pekka Rinne.

Around the NHL...

Ryan Porth discloses his all under-rated team. This is a good discussion starter. I like the Nichol, Suter and Ward picks.

Mike Ross at NHL Home Ice talked with Eric Cole yesterday and the end of the interview is interesting when he talks about the game with the KHL during the preseason.

The CBC has the surprise five of the young season. Should the Preds really be that surprising?

From the Rink looks around the league at the 1/10 pole. After last night's loss, the Devils do appear to have a lock on worst start. Could John MacLean's job be in jeopardy? Rick Chere asks the question.

It's time to fish or cut bait for the Islanders on Nino Niederreiter at to keep him or send him back to Juniors. Michael Schuerlein has the story.

Teemu Selanne passed Bobby Hull on the all-time goal list on Tuesday night. That one was a little under the radar for me.

The NHL Board of Governors and the Officials’ Association ratified a new four year deal as part of their collective bargaining agreement.

While on the subject of officials, would you like to see comments from the refs after the game. Tim Wharnsby discusses the issue.

Will Craig Anderson going down be the most significant injury of the season? For a team that lived and dies with his efforts last year, others will have to step up. On the positive side, John-Michael Lyles set an NHL record for D-Men in having an assist in nine straight games to start the season.

Later yesterday, we found that Anderson's injury may not be as bad as feared.

The Team Marketing Report is out and Puck Daddy transforms the raw data into a "Beer Drinkers Cost Per Period" which is probably more usable for most folks. As far as average ticket prices, the Preds are middle of the pack.

Here's another team specific podcast, The Bolts Beat. I love the variety of all the podcast available. James "Tapeleg" Gralian redid my hockey podcast aggregator into something that is much nicer and more usable.

Down Goes Brown has a defenseman's guide on how to handle the pressure in the NHL.

Contrary to what we have heard, Jeff Skinner wants to be returned to Juniors so he won't have to live in Raleigh all year.

Odds and Ends...

Is consumerism winning the war on Cancer? Dalia Kurtz shares her thoughts.

Here are forty passive-aggressive parking notes.

For fans of The Office, here are some of the costumes from tonight's special Halloween show.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Preds Off to Best Start since 2005 and Friday Findings

Before you do anything else this morning, take a quick look at the NHL Standings, where you will find the Predators ties with Dallas for the lead in the Western Conference.

The Predators' 3-0 start is the best since the year after the lockout in 2005-06 when the team started 8-0. Barry Trotz admitted last night that an 82-0 season was out of the realm of possibilities, so at least he got that out of the way.

If you take a look at the three Predator wins, the outcome is the only thing that is a commonality. Against the Ducks, in the opener, the Preds played wire to wire against a team that was unprepared.

Against Chicago, they held on for two periods and then played the best third period that we have seen in a while.

Last night, the Predators played as well as they could for the first sixteen minutes of the game and then gutted one out with a ton of heart, (AKA Predator hockey), to hang on for a win. It wasn't very pretty at times, but they brought home a W.

This team seemed to have meshed much quicker than teams in recent years. On the first day of camp, you could sense the common purpose and they planned to play all 82 games with a sense of urgency, and they have for the first three games.

Injuries have taken their toll, but the team knows that it will take at least 30 players contributing before the season is over.

After last year's slow start to the season, the Preds planned to hit the ground running. The power play, is improving, with four goals in three games. The penalty kill needs some work.

Will Anders Lindback take away Pekka's job? Probably not this year, but it looks like Lindy will be able to handle his projected 20-25 starts.

As they say, things are never as good or bad as they seem at a given time. That is true, but I like where the Predators are right now.

Preds-Blues Round Up...

Here is our game story from last night with video from Barry Trotz.

Josh Cooper had his game story and and postgame ponderings where he's starting a conspiracy theory about Matt Lombardi's "upper body injury." Bryan Mullen has the notes column featuring Steve Sullivan.

Jim Diamond touches on Steve Sullivan's personal milestone in the Predators win.

David Boclair has his story at The City Paper where he talks about winning games and losing players.

From the blog world reports come from Ryan Porth, Amanda DiPaolo, Mark Willoughby, Chris Burton, PredsBlog, and Hockey Night in Canada.

Hockey Fights has the Shane O'Brien - B.J. Crombeen match from early in the game last night.

The other side of the story comes from the St Louis Post Dispatch and St. Louis Gametime.

In Preds Nation...

Before last night's game, the Predators activated Sergei Kostitsyn and placed Marty Erat on the injured reserve list.

Ryan Porth talked with Cody Franson and has the interview here. He's another player that likes living in Nashville and having the locals be cool about things.

Jay Levin caught up with the new CEO for the Preds, Jeff Cogen, for an interview. Things are looking up on the business side of the operation too.

Bryan Mullen had the news of Lindback getting a second start and Sergei Kostitsyn getting closer to playing. He also spoke with David Legwand about his quick start.

Sam at BredsBlog claims that he Predators are creating their own narrative. That is indeed the Predator Way.

Hands like Cement waxes eloquent about Jerred Smithson's mustache.

Steph Muraro checks in from Milwaukee on the Lindback debut.

Several folks have been asking about the Predators version of 'Questions Will Be Answered."
Here you go.




Around the NHL...

Mike Modano returned to Dallas as a Detroit Red Wing last night. D'Ann Faught had her thoughts and perspective at Inside Hockey. Dallas had no mercy on Modano and the Wings as they handed them a 4-1 loss.

Chris Botta talked to Jon Sim about the art of agitation. So where is the line and when does it get crossed.

Adrian Dater thinks the NHL acted irresponsibly in its two-game suspension to Niklas Hjalmarsson. Let's hope for the best and we don't see something really bad on Saturday as a result.

B.D. Gallof looks at attendance issues on the Island and possible causes.

Matt Reitz and Jennifer Shaw are back in full swing with another season of VFMS Radio.

Also from the left coast, Kingscast returns to Staples Center. I enjoyed the King's home opener win over Atlanta as much as any non-Preds game I've seen this year. I have about decided that the Kings are my second favorite team this year.

Is there a curse on the new CONSOL Energy Center where the Pens have yet to win? The Hockey Writers tries to keep the situation in perspective.

Odds and Ends...

We are under attack by small asteroids and experts at MIT don't seem to be concerned. One that was 33 feet wide came within 28,000 miles of earth on Tuesday. It wasn't discovered until last Saturday. I think we should be worried, especially since they are shutting down the space shuttle program and we won't be able to send Bruce Willis out to intercept one and save the planet like in Armageddon.

The Nashville RollerGirls received the award for the best venue move from the Nashville Scene as they moved from the Fairgrounds to the Municipal Auditorium.

The Atlanta Braves named Fredi Gonzalez as the new manager to replace the retiring Bobby Cox. I still am having a hard time coming to grips that Cox will no longer be the manager.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

The Nashville Predators Remain Undefeated as They Defeat the St. Louis Blues 4-3

The Nashville Predators survived a divisional battle with a pesky St. Louis Blues team and came away with a 4-3 win at the Bridgestone Arena on Thursday night to go to 3-0 on the season.

Steve Sullivan had two first period goals and Cal O'Reilly added three assists to lead the Predators in a game that was not decided until time expired. Patric Hornqvist scored what was eventually the game winning goal on the man advantage late in the second period.

Anders Lindback survived the Blues' 35 shot attack to claim his second victory in as many nights. Lindback scrambled at times but persisted and made several quality saves during the third period when the Blues out shot the Preds 12-2.

Lindback was humble after the game, "The team should have a real big piece of it. They are doing a great job and I feel really comfortable with these guys in front of me."

The Predator's power play accounted for two goals on three opportunities, including Sullivan's first goal and the game winner from Hornqvist. The penalty kill had a rough evening, giving up two goals in five opportunities.

Barry Trotz was pleased with the progress on the power play, "They are shooting the puck, working at it, and taking ownership as a group. It's a good start. We still have lots of work to do with it, they've got the right idea."

The Predators came out at the start of the game with plenty of jump and kept pressure on the Blues for most of the first period. Marcel Goc scored 56 seconds into the game to give the Preds a quick 1-0 lead.

Shane O'Brien got into his first scrap as a Predator four minutes into the game when he dropped the gloves with B.J. Crombeen.

At 10:08 in the first, Brad Boyes was called for holding and then 10 seconds later Eric Brewer was called for a delay of game to put the Preds on the five on three man advantage. Steve Sullivan responded with a goal after Ryan Suter faked a shot and then slid a smooth pass over to Sullivan who found the empty side of the net.

The Blues came right back and scored two minutes later on a goal by Matt D'Agostini. Fifteen seconds later, Sullivan scored again, this time from the face off circle on O'Reilly's pass from tt.
he corner.

The first period ended with a 3-1 lead for the Predators. Steve Sullivan almost complete the hat trick as he had a breakaway as time expired. Steve Sullivan commented on the missed third goal, "I probably could have iced it for the rest of the game had I scored on that one. Hat tricks are nice but wins are more important."

Trotz was pleased with the fast start, "I was really concerned about the start tonight. Early in the season when you play your first back to backs, and we had a big win in Chicago, your body's not quite used to the adrenalin crash and how it affects you. We didn't have great legs in the last 30 minutes but it was enough to get by."

The Predators did appear to wear down in the second and third periods. It was a masterful job that they had enough left to survive better play from the Blues.

The Blues cut the Preds lead to one at 8:15 in the second when T. J. Oshie had an unassisted man advantage goal after picking up a loose puck in front of the net.

Patric Hornqvist responded with the game winning power play goal at the 16:21 mark. Jaroslav Halak stopped the initial shot from Cal O'Reilly but Hornqvist managed to grab a rebound and punch it into the net.

The final goal of the evening came at 5:23 in the third when Ryan Reaves scored a power play goal to make the score 4-3. The Blues got the man advantage when a scuffle occurred after a clean hit by Jordin Tootoo. The ruling on the ice that saddled Tootoo with a double minor while the Blues only received one roughing penalty was not clear.

The remainder of the game was basically the Predators gutting through fatigue to claim the victory as time expired on a gallant six on four effort by the Blues after Joel Ward's tripping call with 63 seconds left in regulation.

Matt Lombardi was scratched for an upper body injury and Sergei Kostitsyn played his first game as a Predator in his place. "Kostitsyn is not 100% but he's battling through it," according to Trotz. Marty Erat was ruled out for Saturday with his upper body injury.

In the first three games Trotz says he has learned, "about our backup goalie, not only for today, tomorrow, or the rest of the year but also for the next few years. We have Anders, Mark Dekanich and Pekka, thats a pretty good stable, and we also have Chet Pickard."

Shea Weber's reign as captain is a perfect 3-0 so far, "We don't have any superstars so everyone's got to buy into the system, play a role and do a job to win here."

"We won a game against St. Louis," Trotz said in summary. "We can pat ourselves on the back for about an hour and then get ready for Washington."

The Predators will practice on Friday to get ready for their game with the Washington Capitals on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Bridgestone Arena.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

POTG Radio Playoff Preview Round-Table and Weekend Wrap-Up

The final seedings and schedule finally came into focus yesterday with the last games of the NHL season being completed. Here is the complete first round schedule for all series and the TV networks that will be carrying them.

The Predators series with the Hawks does not get underway until Friday, which is the latest start of all eight series. With the Predator's injury situation, the extra two days will help Patric Hornqvist, Denis Grebeshkov and Joel Ward have more time to heal. Playing in the same time zone will also be helpful.

John Glennon talked to Barry Trotz about the match up with the Blackhawks. He also reports that in addition to Versus, FS TN will carry all but the NBC game in the first round. He also looks at the series and the keys to watch.

Forechecker starts the mud slinging with a piece about Patrick "20 cent" Kane. He also has wallpaper for the first round.

From up north, the Chicago Sun Times looks at the Predators and the upcoming series. The Daily Herald also previews the match.

From the Rink has key statistics for each matchup. Puck Daddy rates the entertainment value of each series. Sean Leahy gives the top ten storylines for the playoffs.

POTG Radio Tonight...

We will have a special edition of POTG Radio tonight with a round table discussion of all eight playoff matchups as well as a look at the Pred-s Hawks match in detail. We will have Ryan Porth of the Red Light District, Brandon Felder of Hockey Buzz and Chris Wassel of The Program as participants.

This should be a fast paced hour of playoff talk so please join us live at 7 p.m. Central or on podcat at BlogTalkRadio or on iTunes.

Preds-Blues Finale Round-Up...

Here is our story with postgame interviews from Saturday.

John Glennon has his game story, notes and blog from the game at the Tennessean.

In Pred Blog world wrap ups come from Brandon Felder, The View From 111, Forechecker, See Puck City, The Odd Man Rush,

David Boclair has his story at The City Paper.

Frozen Four/Hobey Baker Wrap-Up...

The finish to the the frozen four was really ugly for Wisconsin as Boston College man-handled them in the finals in a 5-0 shutout.

Blake Geoffrion did all players from south of the Mason-Dixon line proud, as he won the Hobey Baker award on Friday night.

Here are other stories about Blake's award from John Glennon, the Hobey Baker site, Hockey's Future, Jim Diamond, Section 303, and the Forechecker.

In Pred Nation...

J R Lind has a great read on David Freeman and how he has been martyred in spite of all he has done for the Predators.

Jim Diamond has his weekly prospect round-up at the Examiner.

NHL.com has the story of why the Preds will win.

Dirk Hoag has a great look back at the Pred's season month by month.

AJ at PMFF breaks down the good and the bad as the Preds head to the playoffs.

John Glennon has a few quotes from Barry Trotz about the Preds role players needing to "outrole" the other team. John also breaks down five keys for the Pred's to break through the first round of the playoffs.

The Milwaukee Admirals playoff slot is set with the first game on Wednesday. Short Shifts has a prediction that Blake Geoffrion will slide into the injured Hugh Jessiman's slot for the playoffs. Dave Scatchard scored four goals in an 8-1 blowout of the Ad's first round opponent, Chicago. On Sunday, the Ads lost 2-1 to Grand Rapids to close out the regular season.

NHL.com has a good story about the Pred's playoff rookies drawing on past experiences.

The guys over at Bring Back Byakin have adopted the Predators as their team through the playoffs since their Oilers did not make the cut.

Odd Man Rush also looks at contingency plans should the Preds make an exit from the playoffs.

Around the NHL...

Henrik Sedin took the Art Ross trophy after Ovie no showed on Sunday. Here are a couple of more winners of the statistical categories. Congrats to Sidney Crosby, Steve Stamkos and Marty Biron.

It was announced on Saturday that Minnesota would host the 2011 NHL Entry draft on June 24 and 25 next summer.

Ryan at the RLD ranks the goalies in the playoffs by conference. He also has a look at what the standings would have looked like with a three point system.

Scotty Upshall is making good use of his time on Injured Reserve working as the radio analyst for the Coyotes.

Times are hard all around. The Wings are discounting tickets to their first round games. Thir $30 special is only a dollar more than the $29 tickets for the back rows in the Bridgestone high end zone.

Here's what it looks like when you pack up the Stanley Cup (thanks to Dani for the link).

Craig Custance's Sporting News podcast has a new edition up on prospects with Chris Johnson.

Intent to Blow set new records with their revelation about the Sedin Twins. They are not really twins.

The Pens are having a playoff "Beard-a-thon" for charity.

Down Goes Brown looks at the attributes of the retiring Kerry Fraser.

Odds and Ends...

Here's a chance for folks to Chip In for someone who has lost everything. I challenge everyone to go for at least the price of a couple of cups of *$tarbucks.

The Official Blackberry Twitter App is now in public beta. There are a few things I like really well with this including integration into email and text messages. Here is a review with shortcuts.

If you need a refresher on the secret menu at In-N-Out Burger here it is.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass