Trotz: Let Players Police Themselves and More

Nashville Predator Coach Barry Trotz appeared on the Team 1260 with Jason Gregor from Edmonton late yesterday it and was interesting to hear the wide-ranging interview with fellow Canadians. The complete 20 minute interview can be found here at the start of hour three.

The only thing that I had not heard before was a comment about the instigator penalty and cleaning up some of the illegal hits in the NHL, "Some guys will hit you in the back and there's not as much respect for that hit as there was 15-20 years ago. Brian Burke may have something, that is take out the instigator penalty. Let the guys police themselves a little. That might help."

Here are a few more quotes extracted from the conversation.

Big reason for the Pred's turn around. "We figured out how we needed to play instead of how we wanted to play. Once we had the buy in there, everything started falling into place."

How the Preds have to play, "We have to play with a lot of intensity. We're a team that doesn't have a number of high end offensive players but we have some pretty good scorers. We have to play with a certain amount of risk and a certain amount of responsibility. If we have that balance then we are fine but if it gets out of balance, we are not as good as you think."

On bad games, "When we don't play well, we are going to get blown out. That's just the way we are. When we play well we will win that 3-2 game."

Did Trotz have a conversation with Marty Erat to get him going recently? " I think we'll keep that between me and Marty. It is a process like with Dustin Penner. When you first sign a big contract they want to play bigger than they need to and then they sort of figure it out."

On the Predators way, "If we are going to get it done, we have to do it as a group. We know that he strength of each of us is the strength of all of us. We have to rely on a team game and an all out effort by everybody every night."

Trotz also referenced the Predators 2006-07 season which was the team's best start to a season. In that year, the Preds got to 43 points in game 31 on December 14, 2006 with a 6-0 blowout of Ottawa.

In summary, Barry Trotz represented Nashville and their fans well to the Edmonton area audience.

In Pred Nation...

John Glennon has an article about the Predators increase in goal production pointing out thathe Preds have scored at least four goals in 10 of their last 16 game. He also has a game at a glance tfor tonight's game at Edmonton.

David Boclair has an article about scoring also and discusses going to the net.

We reported yesterday that prospects Ryan Ellis and Gabriel Bourque would play for team Canada in the World Junior Tournament starting next week. Jim Diamond has more details at the Examiner.

Forechecker has questions about how Wade Belak has been used this season. I agree and left the following comment, "I am becoming less enamored with fighting lately. I love seeing a good fight more than most but I really don’t like seeing Weber and Klein fighting when they are vital to the team’s success. I am amazed that Smithson didn’t get hurt beating the other guy’s fist with his face. Belak, as he has been used this year, is completely ineffective. Trotz said that the Bolts were picking on the defense last night so he should have run Belak out to deal with it. If he breaks his hand we can always call up Triston Grant to play 5:00 a game. If Weber gets hurt we are in big trouble."

Colin Wilson get's called out at Hockey's Future for not meeting expectations as does Pred prospect Nick Oliver. Ouch!

For something a little different here is a European look at the Preds win over Tampa Bay along with the translation. "Trimester" is an odd way to look at a period.

Daniel Sallows at Bleacher report has a top ten list of players not playing in the NHL. I have to disagree with number one, Alexander Radulov.

From yesterday the road continues down hill for the Lightning. @erlendssontrib: Hedman has left the ice here at Joe Louis, didnt see exactly what happened, but he couldnt put weight on left leg. Also, no Steve Downie for practice after hit hit head on ice during fight last night; he said after game he was fine, we'll see. #TBLightning all-time record at Joe Louis is 1-11-1; only win came Jan. 1994; tie came in Cup year 03-04

Around the NHL...

B D Galloff asks Charles Wang to be honest with the Lighthouse supporters and come clean on what the current status really is.

Here's the latest from Rob Higgins and his HFI index for fantasy advice.

From @walsha: At BOG meeting, Bettman predicts flat revenue this year and the Upper Limit to remain at $56.7M plus/minus $1M. Only variable on NHL revenues appears to be value of Canadian dollar, currently at 95 cents. That is the first time I have seen any mention of a cap that does not involve a reduction of at least a couple of million.

More from the BOG @reporterchris: Gary Bettman says the league would like to get next year's schedule out before the draft. Usually comes out in July.

More Twitter news @Aportzline: #CBJ to open 2010-11 #NHL season in Sweden. Other teams mentioned on XM 204 as possibilities for a European vacation to start the season include San Jose, Minnesota, Boston, and Carolina. As many as six teams may go in 2010.

Our friend Matt at View From My Seats has a great post on annoying fans to sit near and also has Episode 2 of their podcast.

Who plays in goal for Russia at the Olympics. Ryan at the RLD takes a look.

Another day, another review for Colin Campbell. Here David Koci gets called for boarding Washington's Mike Green.



Here is a video of a referee saving a players life by immediately administering CPR when the player went into cardiac arrest. Luckily the player survived thanks to the officials actions.

Finally, it is starting to look like a rink at Fenway Park. Take a look at the 15 minuted delayed Live Cam (that would not really be live would it?).



More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Cody Franson Recalled by Predators

As has been speculated for a couple of days and was reported by Admirals Short Shifts on Tuesday night, Cody Franson has been recalled by the Nashville Predators and will meet the team in Edmonton.

Sometimes, it's hard to keep secrets. In Barry Trotz's post game presser, he was specifically asked if Franson would go west with the Predators and he responded, "We're thinking about that."

While not addressing Franson specifically, Trotz also discussed players going up and down and how the team likes for them to get extra playing time and see different situations. That would explain Franson's quick trip to Milwaukee for a two game set where he logged more time than he would have in Nashville.

Here is the official release from the Nashville Predators...

PREDATORS RECALL DEFENSEMAN CODY FRANSON FROM MILWAUKEE

Nashville, Tenn. (December 16, 2009) – Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile announced today that the club has recalled defenseman Cody Franson from Milwaukee (AHL).

Franson, 22 (8/8/87), ranks seventh among rookie defensemen in points, with seven (2g-5a) in 24 games since making his NHL debut on Oct. 17 at Washington. He also leads the Predators, and is tied for fourth among rookie defensemen in plus/minus (+5). Nashville’s third choice, 79th overall (third round), in the 2005 Entry Draft, Franson recorded his first career NHL point/assist on Oct. 21 at Boston and scored his first NHL goal the following night in a 6-5 overtime victory at Ottawa. Franson’s recall to Nashville is his second of the season. The Sicamous, B.C., native started the 2009-10 season with the Admirals before being recalled on Oct. 16. He skated in 24 of Nashville’s next 26 games before being reassigned to Milwaukee on Dec. 13. Franson has five points (1g-4a) in five contests with the Admirals this season.

The Predators, who are currently tied with the Chicago Blackhawks for the Central Division lead (43 points each), begin a three-game road trip tomorrow night at Edmonton (8:30 p.m., FOX Sports Tennessee, 104.5 FM The Zone) and will play six of their next seven games on the road. The club’s next home game will be vs. the Blackhawks on Saturday, Dec. 26 at 7:00 p.m. Tickets to this game, and all other regular season contests are now on sale and can be purchased by logging onto nashvillepredators.com. Tickets are also available by calling (615) 770-PUCK and at all Ticketmaster locations.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Preds Beat Bolts 7-4 in A Wild One

Coach Barry Trotz Post Game Comments

Pekka Rinne, Nick Spalling, Jerred Smithson, and David Legwand post game comments

Coach Rick Tocchet, Antero Niittymaki, Kurtis Foster and Matt Smaby post game comments

The Nashville Predators rose to the occasion to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 7-4 in what Preds Coach Barry Trotz called a "trap" game. The win moved the Preds into fifth place in the Western Conference with 43 points. Division leading Chicago, also has 43 but has two games in hand.

Seven different Predator players scored goals and 14 skaters had at least a point in the wide open contest. Players with multiple points were Patric Hornqvist and David Legwand each with a goal and an assist and Marcel Goc and Joel Ward each with a pair of assists.

Barry Trotz explained that he was worried about how the Lightning game fell into the schedule, "To me it was a little bit of a trap game. You’re not emotionally tied to the Tampa Bay team, we see them once a year." That coupled with an emotional game against division rival Columbus on Monday made it a tough situation for the Predators.

"We got contributions throughout the lineup, every line on our team got a goal today" Trotz explained. "When you play back-to-back, it can sometimes be taxing. It was our third game in four nights. This time of year it's a little tough. Hats off to the players, they responded in the second period, right off the bat, and opened the floodgates."

The Predators opened the scoring at 6:53 in the first period when Jerred Smithson picked up a rebound in front of the net and put the Preds ahead 1-0. Tampa Bay came back with goals from Steve Stamkos and Vinnie Lecavalier to end the period with a 2-1 lead.

The second period was all Predators with goals from David Legwand, Ryan Jones, Patric Hornqvist, J.P. Dumont, and Dan Hamhuis to give the Predators a 6-2 lead after two.

Tampa Bay showed heart in the third by coming back with goals by Kurtis Foster and Vinnie Lecavalier, his second of the night, to make it a two goal game. A minute and a half later, Marty Erat scored for the Predators to put the game out of reach of the Lightning.


Story Lines from the Game

Wide Open Offensive Explosion...

"It was wide open. Both sides got some easy goals. I give a lot of credit to the guys," Trotz explained. "Sometimes these games are really tough – the other team has a lot of pride, and they came back and really pushed the pace in the third period. You’ve got to play hard. You’ve got to skate; you’ve got to work. You’ve got to pay the price and do all the things you did earlier."

Pekka Rinne gave up four goals in the win and Barry Trotz commented, "He's been better, but he got the win and that is what matters."

When asked if it was difficult playing with a big lead, Rinne explained, "Yea, a little bit. We scored five goals in the second period and we were leading by four goals in the third period, and right away they got the power play goal and next the got the breakaway, and you start to worry a little bit but we handled it pretty well. Obviously, I don't like letting in four goals but we scored seven so we were the better team tonight, big two points."

The Rookie Gets a Point in His First Game...

One of the better stories from the game was Nick Spalling's unexpected call up from Milwaukee on Tuesday. Spalling responded and got an assist in his first NHL game.

Spalling was surprised by the call, "I was just up there in Canada playing two games and I wasn't thinking about a call-up I was just thinking about the next game." On the excitement of his first point he said, "That was pretty exciting, it was just a little garbage goal, Jonesy crashing the net. I'll take it. It was great."

Barry Trotz was complementary of Spalling, "He made a great play on the controlled break out on Jonesy's goal. He's got a lot of speed, a lot of smarts, and detail to his game and he's strong on the puck. For a first showing, it was good for him."

Unexpected Pugilists...

Pred's enforcer Wade Belak was dressed as a counter to the Lightning's Zenon Konopka but the two never hooked up. Instead there were three other fighting majors with unexpected combatants for the Predators.

Steve Downie prodded Shea Weber into a fight that he wish that he had never started at 13:39 of the second period. Weber uppercutted Downie until he was plowed into the ice. Later in the second period Kevin Klein became fed up with Stephane Veilleux and took care of the matter beating him repeatedly in the back of the head as Veilleux tried to duck the blows.

Finally, as the third period began, Jerred Smithson and Ryan Malone hooked up and Malone won one for his side to finish off the fisticuffs for the evening.

Barry Trotz discussed the fighting, "They were sort of targeting our defense. They were trying to deplete our numbers a bit. It's an old tactic."

Up Next...

The Predators leave tomorrow for a three game Western Canada Swing that begins Thursday in Edmonton and will also include stops in Calgary and Vancouver before the Preds take three days off at Christmas.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Game Preview: Preds Host Struggling Bolts

Buoyed by a big road win in Columbus last night, the Nashville Predators (19-11-3) return home to face the struggling Tampa Bay Lightning (11-12-9) tonight at the Sommet Center.

The Lightning started the season well going 10-6-7 but have gone 1-6-2 since November 28 and fell below .500 after their 4-0 loss in Chicago on Sunday night. Sunday's loss may have been the final straw for Coach Rick Tocchet.

According to Erik Erlendsson of the Tampa Tribune, there appeared to be serious fallout from the recent situation at the morning skate. He reported that Alex Tanguay, Jeff Halpern and Todd Fedoruk will be scratched from tonight's game and that eight defensemen will dress.

Additionally, coach Rick Tocchet put the threesome through a "bag skate" session and that there may be additional friction between Halpern and Tocchet as it appears that there are some non-ice related issues that has not been made public as neither would comment on the "healthy" scratch.

Antero Niittymaki (6-5-4, 2.26, .927) will start in net for the Lightning tonight. The Preds have not announced a starter, but I would be shocked if Pekka Rinne (13-6-2, 2.61, .909) does not get the call since Dan Ellis (6-5-1, 2.77, .908) played last night in Columbus.

Predator fans will get their first look at the Bolts 2009 Draft pick, defenseman, Victor Hedman, who is in his first pro season with the Lightning. They will also see a much different Steve Stamkos, who has transformed from an over-matched rookie to a point per game producer with a team leading 17 goals and 13 assists.

The Predators are hoping that their increased point production will continue as they have scored three or more goals in 12 of their last 15 games.

Nick Spalling will make his NHL debut as he was recalled to take the place of Jordin Tootoo on the Predators roster.

Predators Keys To The Game

Beware The Injured Lightning Bolts!...

Based on the information about the turbulent morning skate session at the Sommet Center Tampa Coach Rick Tocchet has done everything possible to scare and threaten the players that will be taking the ice tonight. He has not been pleased with the effort or results during the recent slide and wants it turned around tonight. With the situation as desperate as it appears for the Bolts, the level of play could be much improved if the Lightning responds to Tocchet as he hopes they will.

Strike Early and Often...

The Predators need to be aware that the Bolts are playing under threat and need to try to control the game early and not let the Lightning gain any confidence. The back to back goals against Steve Mason last night literally broke him and threw the Jackets back into their defeated funk taking the wind out of their sails. The same thing needs to happen early tonight against the Bolts.

Play a Full 60 Minutes...

The Bolts should be the more rested team since they were snug in their Nashville hotel room beds while the Predators were beating the Blue Jackets 5-3 in Columbus last night.

Tampa coach Rick Tocchet has stressed that he wants 60 minutes out of his players tonight and the Preds need to be aware and respond with 60 minutes of their own. After a game last night and a late bed time, it would be real easy to be sluggish as we have seen the Preds be at times recently. The Predators do not have back to back games for 11 days so they need to go full out from the start and keep it going for the entire game.

Next Up...

The Predators will leave for Edmonton on Wednesday and play the Oilers on Thursday. They will play Calgary on Saturday in an afternoon match, and Vancouver on Tuesday before scattering for a three day Christmas vacation.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Predators Recall Nick Spalling

As Admirals Short Shifts reported last night, Nick Spalling has been recalled by the Nashville Predators. Spalling has a goal and six assists for the Milwaukee Admirals this season and was impressive during the Predators Preseason camp.

Short Shifts had been predicting that Andreas Thuresson would be the call-up to replace Jordin Tootoo on the Preds roster but it appears that David Poile is giving a variety of prospects the opportunity to get their feet wet at the NHL level.

I'm sure the NHL waiver rules play heavily into their choice of Spalling as well. After getting stung by losing Rich Peverly to Atlanta last season, the Predators are being more cautious this season.

Here is the full text of the release from the Nashville Predators...

NASHVILLE PREDATORS RECALL FORWARD NICK SPALING FROM MILWAUKEE

Nashville, Tenn. (December 15, 2009) – Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile announced today that the club has recalled forward Nick Spaling from Milwaukee (AHL).

Spaling, 21 (9/19/88), has seven points (1g-6a) in 27 games for the Admirals this season, including points (1g-2a) in his last three outings (all wins), and in four of his last five (1g-3a). In his second professional season, this is the first career recall for the 6-1, 196-pound forward. Nashville’s third choice, 58th overall (second round) in the 2007 Entry Draft, Spaling tied for fourth on the Admirals in points (12g-23a-35pts) and tied for fifth in assists in 2008-09.

The Predators play their final home game before heading out on a three-game Western Canada road swing tonight when they host the Tampa Bay Lightning for the first and only time this season (7 p.m.). Nashville returns to the Sommet Center the day after Christmas to host Chicago for the third and final time in 2009-10 – the club’s final home game of the calendar year. Tickets to these games, and all other regular season contests, are now on sale and can be purchased by logging onto nashvillepredators.com. Tickets are also available by calling (615) 770-PUCK and at all Ticketmaster locations.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Preds Celebrate Win, But Get Back to Work Tonight

After last night's big win, the Predators wake up in sixth place in the Western Conference, having leap-frogged Phoenix, who lost to Detroit. The Preds are still two points ahead of the Wings but have moved seven points ahead of Columbus and a full ten points ahead of the Blues.

It is hard to believe after the Predator's slow start that with a win tonight, they could have the same number of points as the division leading Blackhawks and with a little help from other teams, they could be two points out of the Conference lead.

Here's another quick look at Sully's hat trick from last night.



We will have our Predators-Lightning preview later today.

Preds - Blue Jackets Wrap Up...

Here is the link to our game story that includes some lingering problems that were masked by the big win.

John Glennon has his game story, notes and post game blog for the Tennessean.

Steve Sullivan made Puck Daddy's third star of the night.

Around the horn in Pred blog nation stories come from Dirk the Forechecker and Mark at Hockey Independent.

Here's a few quotes from the Blue Jackets media department.

The other side of the story comes from of the Columbus Dispatch.

Heres a Tweet from Tom Calahan that had to be the low point of the game RT @predsradio: "BOOO to CBJ security for throwing out the fan who threw the hat for Sully's hat trick. That's bush league, folks. Pure junk."

In Pred Nation...

Word from Admirals Short Shifts is that Nick Spalling was recalled by the Predators and will soon play his first NHL game. They also have the story of the Admirals 4-3 OT win over the Toronto Marlies.

From Icethetics comes a report that the Predators may have new primary jerseys next year. With a 1-2-1 record with the new thirds, I wonder if they should change anything else.

Jim Diamond looks at the Preds record with and without Jordin Tootoo. Hopefully, the Preds learn to play without him and that he is a quick healer.

NHL.com has a good article on Chet Pickard and his recent success in Milwaukee. The Preds are blessed with three fine goalies in the system with Mark Dekanich and Jeremy Smith but none appear ready to step into the Preds back-up position should a move be made at some point this season.

The Preds have their weekly Admirals update at their home page. It is a shame that Colin Wilson's injury has slowed his development this season.

Big Kev checks in after a retail frenzy caused hiatus with a few thoughts before last night's game.

Preds101, the new guy in Preds blogdom, has a comparison of Rick Nash and Ben Roethlisberger. Also, they explain the face off. Nothing like fresh blood for a new prospective. Keep up the good work!

Around the NHL...

Hat's off to the San Jose Sharks marketing department for this series of advertisements.

For those looking for an unusual hockey gift, go to Forgotten Miracle to purchase a DVD from the producers of the great video Pond Hockey. The new video celebrates the first miracle on ice when the 1960 Team USA hockey team won the gold medal at Squaw Valley. The 1960 team won

Adrian Dater has a great list of to do's for anyone traveling to all 30 NHL cities. The one commonality appears to be having a drink at each stop.

Here is a good article on 12 Things I liked about Pre-1967 Expansion Hockey. It is a great educational piece for hockey fans from Vintage Leaf Memories.

Marion Hossa's goal Sunday night is worth another look.



Off Topic but Timely... With 2009 coming to a close, out friends at The Film Talk have a podcast of their top film picks of the decade.

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Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Sully Leads Preds to 5-3 Win

Highlights from NHL.com

The Nashville Predators made a quick trip to Columbus and beat the Blue Jackets in short order 5-3 on the heels of Steve Sullivan's seventh career hat trick.

Patric Hornqvist and Ryan Jones also had goals for the Predators while Columbus received goals from R. J. Umberger, Antoine Vermette and Jakub Voracek in a high scoring affair.

The Predators got off to the quick start that they wanted. At 3:52 Steve Sullivan stole a loose puck near the blue line and circled back by the left boards and let loose of a slap shot that found the net behind the disappointed Steve Mason.

A little over a minute later, play became very disjointed during back to back penalties to the Pred's Ryan Jones and the Jackets Antoine Vermette with breakaways in both directions. Both Mason and Ellis held firm.

Joel Ward put Columbus on the power play on a hooking call at 14:29. Before play expired on the Jackets man advantage, Antoine Vermette blew the puck passed Dan Ellis who was being screened by Raffi Torrez in front of the net to make it a 1-1 game, which is how the period ended. The Predators out shot the Jackets 15-11 for the period.

The second period was a wild ride for both teams with plenty of power play time. The Preds were whistled for five penalties while the Jackets had two. Starting at 1:31, the Predators had back to back penalties to Sullivan and Weber which gave the Jackets 1:13 of 5 on 3 action but the Jackets were unable to convert.

At 8:27 Patric Hornqvist was able to take a David Legwand feed and put it past Mason for a go ahead goal. Twenty-five seconds later, Steve Sullivan converted for his second goal to give the Preds a two goal lead. Steve Mason looked completely frustrated after the second of the back to back goals.

Jason Arnott took a tripping penalty at 10:35 which led to the Jackets second power play goal by Jakub Voracek 34 seconds later to bring the Jackets back within a goal.

Steve Sullivan answered at 16:08 with his third goal of the game to give the Preds a 4-2 lead and his fourth hat trick as a Predator. For the period, the Preds out-shot the Jackets 12-9.

Columbus started the third period with more jump than they had earlier in the contest. At 6:18 in the third period Dan Hamhuis threw a wrister from behind the face off circle into a crowd in front of the Columbus net where it was redirected by Ryan Jones into the net to put the Preds ahead by three, 5-2.

The Predators put Columbus on their eight power play at 10:48 when Ryan Jones was called for hooking. The Preds survived the Columbus man advantage and brought their short handed time to a season high 11:22.

With the clock winding down, at 15:53, R. J. Umburger skated around the net for a wrap-around that went off Dam Hamhuis' skate and Dan Ellis' glove to find the goal line and bring the Jackets within two, 5-3, and make a game of it down the stretch.

The Predators held on for the final minutes to win their first win in Columbus since March 2008.

Storylines from the Game

Sully, Sully, Sully...

The reigning Masterton Trophy winner had a great game and was in the right place for a scoring opportunity on three occasions. It was only six nights ago that Marty Erat had another hat trick on home ice against Vancouver. The only negative to Sullivan's big night was that it was on the road so no hats were thrown onto the ice. Maybe he should do it again on Tuesday against the Lightning to get the full effect.

Dan Ellis Survived...

Dan Ellis rose to the occasion and played well enough for an important road win. Ellis stopped 28 of 31 shots including 7 of 9 on the Blue Jackets power play. He survived several break-away attempts early when the Preds continued to have problems with mis-handled pucks in the neutral zone.

Preds Win in Spite of a Few Negatives...

The Predators played a very uncharacteristically undisciplined game taking eight minor penalties, five of which were in the second period. The penalty kill gave up two goals on eight opportunities that totaled 11:22 of ice time.

The Preds won only 37% of the 59 face offs in the game and were in the high twenties percentage-wise late into the second period.

The Preds were also out shot 11-5 in the final period when Columbus started putting on significant pressure. For the game, Columbus led the Preds 62-51 in the Corsi numbers.

While everyone is pleased with the victory, these three negative areas are ones that the Predators need to keep an eye on for any negative trends that could become problematic over the long haul.

Up Next...

The Predators returned home after the game tonight and will play the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday at the Sommet Center. Puck drop is at 7 p.m. in the last game that the Preds play at home before Christmas.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Preds and Jackets Ready for Rematch

The Nashville Predators (18-11-3) travel to Columbus for a rematch with the Blue Jackets (14-12-6) after the Preds beat the Jackets 4-3 in a shoot-out last Thursday in Nashville.

Since their meeting last week, the Preds lost to Detroit 3-2 in overtime at home on Saturday, and the Blue Jackets lost to the Ducks 3-1 at Nationwide Arena.

Both teams lost gritty players in their last game. The Preds lost Jordin Tootoo to a foot injury as a result of a Shea Weber slap shot while the Jackets lost Derek Dorsett with a broken hand which required surgery this morning.

Tom Reed at the Columbus Dispatch reports that Coach Ken Hitchcock had major shakeups in the Jacket's line combinations at the team's morning skate. The first line will consist of Antoine Vermette centering Rick Nash and Jason Chimera. The second line will have Kristian Huselius, R. J. Umberger and Jake Voracek. The third line will be centered by Dereck Brassard with Raffi Torres and Freddy Modin, while the fourth line will have Sammy Pahlsson, Andrew Murray and Jared Boll.

Steve Mason (10-9-5, 3.28, .891) will start in goal for the Jackets. With Back to back games, Dan Ellis (5-5-1, 2.74, .909) will start in net for the Predators according to John Glennon who is in Columbus.

The Predators will be playing with a twenty man roster in Columbus with the injury to Tootooo and with Cody Franson playing a couple of games in Milwaukee. Franson will probably return to the Preds prior to the upcoming road trip to Western Canada and a forward will also be added, possibly Andres Thuresson or Triston Grant.

Preds Keys To The Game

Play Well Without Jordin Tootoo...

It may be a coincidence, but the Predators have played much better with Tootoo in the lineup than when he was injured for the team's first 13 games of the season. During that early stretch, the Preds were 6-6-1 while they have been 12-4-2 since his return (excluding Saturday's game when Tootoo played 3 shifts).

Columbus and Nashville have always played a very physical game and much of the attention has been directed at Tootoo. Hopefully his absence will not give Columbus more time to focus on playing quality hockey. Wade Belak will dress in Tootoo's absence, but he does not bring the ice presence that Tootoo brings to the table.

Preds Need a Good Game From Dan Ellis...

Dan Ellis has had success in is career against the Jackets going 3-1-1 with two shut-outs, a 1.25 GAA, and a .963 save percentage.

However, Ellis has only played four games in the last month and had to be removed from his last game against Minnesota nine days ago after playing well the night before.

Preds Need to Make the Jackets Doubt Themselves...

The Blue Jackets have had numerous problems all season. It has been a situation where when they fix one thing another one crops up.

We had BlueJacketBuzz's Eric Smith on POTG Radio last Monday and he discussed several issues with the team and he placed a large portion of the team's slow start with Steve Mason and his relationship with his team mates in the locker room.

With dissension among the team, an early goal or two could lead to doubt, which would further the Pred's chances of a much needed road win.

Up Next...

The Predators will return home after the game tonight and play the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday at the Sommet Center. They will then fly to Edmonton on Wednesday to begin a three game swing that will also take them to Calgary and Vancouver before taking a couple of Days off at Christmas.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Tootoo to Miss 3-4 Weeks with Broken Foot

From the Preds comes the official word of what everyone feared on Jordin Tootoo, a broken bone in the foot.

Here is the official wording from the Predators...

MRI results have revealed that Jordin Tootoo has a broken bone in his foot after being hit by a shot on Saturday night. He is expected to miss 3-4 weeks.

We would expect a call-up at some point today or Tuesday. I'm sure the Preds wanted a concrete time frame to consider who to recall since they are playing waiver-roulette with several prospects when they go up and down.

Admirals Short Shifts thinks it will be Andreas Thurresson which would not be a bad choice.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Predators Reassign Franson to Milwaukee

In somewhat of a surprise move that was speculated on by Admirals Short Shifts an hour ago, Cody Franson has been reassigned to Milwaukee.

There has been no official word on Jordin Tootoo's injury or if a replacement will be in place for Monday's game with Columbus.

Here is the full text of the Predator's release.

PREDATORS REASSIGN DEFENSEMAN CODY FRANSON TO MILWAUKEE

Nashville, Tenn. (December 13, 2009) – Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile announced today that the club has reassigned defenseman Cody Franson to Milwaukee (AHL).

Franson, 22 (8/8/87), ranks seventh among rookie defensemen in points, with seven (2g-5a) in 24 games since making his NHL debut on Oct. 17 at Washington. He also leads the Predators, and is tied for fourth among rookie defensemen in plus/minus (+5). Nashville’s third choice, 79th overall (third round), in the 2005 Entry Draft, Franson recorded his first career NHL point/assist on Oct. 21 at Boston and scored his first NHL goal the following night in a 6-5 overtime victory at Ottawa. The Sicamous, B.C., native started the 2009-10 season with the Admirals, posting two points (1g-1a) in the club’s first three games.

The Predators play the front end of a back-to-back set tomorrow night in Columbus against the Blue Jackets (6 p.m., FOX Sports Tennessee, 104.5 FM The Zone). The club then returns home on Tuesday night to host the Tampa Bay Lightning at 7 p.m. – the only meeting between the teams this season. Tickets to this game, and all other regular season contests are now on sale and can be purchased by logging onto nashvillepredators.com. Tickets are also available by calling (615) 770-PUCK and at all Ticketmaster locations.


More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Preds Surprised by Wings in OT Loss

Coach Barry Trotz Post Game Comments

Ryan Suter, Ryan Jones, Jordin Tootoo and Pekka Rinne post game comments

Mike Babcock, Drew Miller and Todd Bertuzzi post game comments

For the second time in two nights, Detroit's Todd Bertuzzi was the Wing's hero scoring two goals including the overtime winner as the Wings beat the Nashville Predators 3-2 in overtime.

With the score knotted 2-2 at 24 seconds into the overtime period, Pavel Datsyuk picked up an errant pass from David Legwand near the Wing's blue line and passed it ahead to Todd Bertuzzi who was able to get the puck past Pekka Rinne on the breakaway for his second overtime game winning goal in as many nights.

Even with the Predators picking up a point in the contest, there was definitely a losing feel to the locker room after the game.

"Even though it's Detroit, I know people always say getting a point against Detroit is good, but I think everyone was feeling that we could win the game and it was a little disappointing." lamented Preds Goalie Pekka Rinne.

The game started with more energy from the near capacity crowd of 16,673 than the Sommet Center has seen this season.

The teams committed two penalties each in the first period with Shea Weber cross checking Thomas Holstrom at 2:58 and Nicklas Lidstrom hooking Patric Hornqvist at 5:41. Brad May then was called for interference at 8:12. Shea Weber was whistled again at 15:13 for tipping. Neither team was able to capitalize on the man advantage.

The Preds experienced an early power outage as they did not record their second shot on goal until 13:03 in the first period. For the period, the Wings out shot the Predators 14 to 5, with a 23 to 10 disparity in the Corsi numbers. It would almost be considered a moral victory for the Preds to have escaped the opening period with a 0-0 tie.

The Preds weren't as lucky at the start of the second period. Todd Bertuzzi made scored at 1:21 on a very unusual 360 degree spin move to the left of the slot that appeared to baffle Preds goalie Pekka Rinne.

The Wings made it 2-0 at 11:37 when Pavel Datsyuk put a shot on goal that rebounded high and Drew Miller pulled the puck down and into the net behind Rinne. Wings goalie Chris Osgood received a rare assist on the play.

The Wing's Todd Bertuzzi was called for slashing at 13:01. At 14:44 Sullivan fired a slap shot from the right face off circle that Ryan Jones was able to tip into the Red Wing net for a power play goal to pull the Preds within one. Prior to the Preds goal the Wings penalty kill unit had been successful on 27 straight kill attempts.

The Preds were much more aggressive in the second period out shooting the Wings 19-8 but still only had one goal to show for the improved effort.

Shea Weber was called for roughing at 20:00 of the second period for some extracurricular activity after time expired. The Wings were unable to convert on the resulting power play at the start of the final period.

The Predators tied the game at 4:45 on an odd play where Ryan Jones fired a shot from the right face off circle that rebounded to the left side of Osgood where J. P. Dumont passed it to David Legwand who had a great position to put a perfect shot on net.

The teams again traded penalties. Marty Erat was called for hooking at 5:27 but the Wings were unable to produce off the man advantage. AT 14:15 Kirk Maltby was called for interference giving the Predators a timely opportunity that they were unable to convert.

Regulation ended with the score tied 2-2. The Predators out shot the Red Wings 11-6 in the third period.

The crowd had not settled in to the overtime period before Bertuzzi put an early end to the Predators with his game winning breakaway goal.

Jordin Tootoo was forced to leave the game after only three shifts when he was hit in the foot by one of Shea Weber's patented injury bombs. He will have an MRI on Sunday and is considered day to day at this time.

Barry Trotz indicated that a player may be recalled from Milwaukee to fill the void left by Tootoo's injury. It is speculated that Triston Grant who plays a sandpaper type game may be in line for some ice time against Columbus on Monday night.


Game Storylines


Ryan Jones Best Game of the Year...

Ryan Jones was clearly a standout player in the game, picking up a goal and an assist and logging almost fifteen minutes of play on 20 shifts.

"Since I was recalled, I feel like I've been bringing a lot of energy even though it wasn't showing up on the score sheet," Jones explained. Tonight, the pucks bounced a little bit my way. I was fortunate to be out front and Sullivan made a great shot and it went off my stick.

Barry Trotz was also complementary, "Jones was one of our best guys out there. He was really on the puck, he went hard, he went to the net, he got a goal. We started out slowly and he was one of the few guys doing well."

Todd Bertuzzi Scoring Two Big Goals...

In the last two games, Todd Bertuzzi has scored four goals and had two game winning goals in overtime for the Wings.

Pekka Rinne was surprised twice by Bertuzzi's goals. On his first goal, which was a spin-a-rama move, Pekka related, "I was waiting for a pass and there was no question I should have made that save."

On the overtime goal Rinne explained, "Klein was on his back and I thought there was no way he could go back to his backhand, but some how he pulled it off and got a nice goal."

Bertuzzi was humble in his success saying, "I've just been really concentrating on shooting and getting my feet moving. Right now they seem to be finding their way into the net."

Detroit Coach Mike Babcock was pleased with Bertuzzi, "He's been playing well for a while. He's just been snake bitten around the net. He's been a goal scorer for a long time and if he starts feeling it that will be a bigh help to us."

Predators Slow Start...

The Predators got off to a slow start offensively but played much better in the second half of the game.

"We had trouble getting going for the first 30 minutes," Barry Trotz explained. "They were winning a lot more of the puck battles than we were early. They had a sense of urgency."

When asked about the slow start, Ryan Suter did not have an answer, "That is a good question, you know, they were shooting the puck more even on the power play and then in the second we started to shoot the puck a little more."

Up Next...

The Predators have a day off from practice on Sunday but will travel to Columbus for a Monday night match-up with the Jackets before returning home for a game with the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday night.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Preds Host Wings in Key Match-up and Daily Notes

The Nashville Predators (18-11-2) hope to extend their team record four game win streak against the Detroit Red Wings (15-11-5) tonight at the Sommet Center where the season's first sell-out crowd is expected.

The Preds and Wings have met once this year, in Nashville on November 23, in a game that he Preds won 3-1. The Preds won the last three meetings between the teams last year starting with the 8-0 oddity on February 28 in Nashville.

After several games of uneven play, the Predators have played much better the last two games with wins against Vancouver and Columbus (shoot-out) and hope to continue the improved play against their biggest rival this evening.

The Red Wings played at home last night and came out on top of the struggling Anaheim Ducks in a 3-2 come from behind overtime victory. Todd Bertuzzi was the star, scoring the game tying and game winning goal for the Wings. Jimmy Howard picked up the win in net.

The Wings have extra incentive to beat the Preds as they trail Nashville in the Western Conference standings, a rarity this late in the season. The Predators are tied for sixth with 38 points while the Wings are in ninth place with 35 points.

Detroit has been plagued by injuries all season and currently have a group of six players on long term injured reserve that would be a formidable unit for any team. Johan Franzen (knee), Jason Williams (leg), Dan Cleary (shoulder), Valtteri Filppula (wrist), Niklas Kronwall (knee), and Andreas Lilja (concussion) are all out for extended periods of time.

Pekka Rinne (13-6-1, 2.45, .910) will start in net for the Predators while Chis Osgood (6-5-4, 2.75, .896) will go for the Wings. Jimmy Howard (9-6-1, 2.43, .914) has started twelve of the Wing's last 16 games but has still not officially been named the Wings number one goalie. Osgood has struggled early before only to come on and star in the playoffs.

Predators Keys to the Game

Play a Full Sixty Minute Game...

While the Wings don't appear to be the same team that Pred Fans expect to see, they are still a dangerous team loaded with many skilled weapons. Any lapse in play or focus by the Preds will result in the Wings finding the Pred's net.

Chris Osgood has been shake this year and has not played much lately. The Preds need to have good net presence and crowd Osgood around the net, picking up as many second chance shots as possible. Getting the first goal early will make for a much better chance of winning.

As was seen last night when they came back from a 2-0 deficit against the Ducks, the Wings can come back so no lead is secure.

Focus on Special Teams...

The Wings and Preds are ranked one and two respectively in the fewest amount of penalty minutes per game so man advantage situations should be a rarity in tonight's game. When they do occur, they need to be treated with extra urgency.

The Preds need to score on the power play to get back on track after missing out against Columbus. The Predators are 9 for 27 on the power play in their last seven games against Detroit and scored twice in their previous meeting in November.

The Wings normally effective power play has struggled recently going 5 for 39 in their last ten games. Despite that, the Wings are ranked tenth in the league at 20.6%. The Wing's penalty kill is currently riding a streak of 25 straight kills and is ranked 18th in the league at 80.0%.

Limit Scoring Opportunities for the Wings...

The Wings average 34.2 shots per game and traditionally have run up big totals against the Preds. The Predators need to play a controlled game with plenty of forechecking and puck control in the Detroit zone to limit the amount of time the Wings play in the Predators zone.

In the first meeting this year the Preds held the Wings to 31 shots which was a key ingredient in their 3-1 win.

Pekka Rinne was the game saver against Columbus making up for several Predator errors in the closing minutes of the game, but the team needs to put him in less of those situations in order to be successful against the Wings.

Up Next...

The Predators travel to Columbus on Monday and return home for a meeting with the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday.

In Pred Nation...

Dirk the Forechecker takes on the Tennessean and their most recent attack on the Preadators armed with half truths and innuendo basing a fresh article on old news and information from sources that have been proven not to be creditable (Forbes). I'm glad Dirk wrote this because if I took a swipe at them, I doubt that I would have been as civil.

Mark Willoughby from the view from 111 hashes out the financial end of the Predators situation from his point of view as a financial expert. I trust Mark's view over that of the business hacks at the Tennessean.

For legitimate news the Tennessean lets John Glennon report on the number of Predator players that are in their contract year. He also has the Game at a Glance for tonight's game. This morning he has his game day update at Inside Predators.

Paul McCann and Jim Diamond check in with game stories for the Preds Wings game.

Admiral's Short Shifts has the story on Milwaukee's 4-2 win over San Antonio on Friday night that included Colin Wilson's first goal and the return of Mark Dekanich.

Our friend Hunter Patterson has a Preds story today at his blog.

Finally, Dirk found this one, a Preds Primer for football fans. Hats off to the mystery creator.

For all those going to the game tonight, stop by outside the 310-311 entrance and say hey between periods.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

O'Reilly Reassigned to Milwaukee

Not surprisingly, Cal O'Reilly has been reassigned to Milwaukee. With the return of Dave Scatachard last night, the Preds were at the roster maximum of 23 and had too many centers.

O'Reilly did pick up an assist in the game against Minnesota last Saturday for his first point of the year.

Here is the complete text of the Predators release...

PREDATORS REASSIGN FORWARD CAL O’REILLY TO MILWAUKEE

Nashville, Tenn. (December 11, 2009) – Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile announced today that forward Cal O’Reilly has been reassigned to Milwaukee (AHL).

O’Reilly, 23 (9/30/86), played in three games during his most recent stint with the Predators, recording his first point of the season on Dec. 2 at Minnesota. In nine games with Nashville during a pair of recalls this season, the Toronto native has one assist and two penalty minutes.

The Predators finish off a four-game homestand tomorrow night against the Central Division rival Detroit Red Wings (7 p.m.), and a limited tickets are available. Tickets to this game, and all other regular season contests are on sale and can be purchased by logging onto nashvillepredators.com. Tickets are also available by calling (615) 770-PUCK and at all Ticketmaster locations.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Preds Halt Garon's Shoot Out Streak in 4-3 Win

Barry Trotz Post Game Presser

Jason Arnott, Pekka Rinne and Mart Erat comment after the game

The Nashville Predators had to go five deep in a shoot out but finally came up with a 4-3 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday night at the Sommet Center.

Blue Jacket Goalie Mathieu Garon has a streak of thirteen straight shoot out wins but Steve Sullivan put one past him in the fifth round of the shout out to break the streak and bring his NHL record run to an end.

Preds Goalie Pekka Rinne stopped 28 of 31 Blue Jacket shots prior to the shoot out, and then three of five in the shoot out to pick up the win and bring his record to 13-6-1 on the season.

The first period got off to a good start for the Predators as they pelted Garon with 16 shots, many on rebounds off Garon's pads.

The Preds got on the board first at 11:03 when Kevin Kline fed a beautiful pass to Dave Scatchard who redirected it into the Jacket net. It was a good return for Scatchard who had missed five games due to an upper body injury.

The Jackets came back early in the second on a rebound goal by Kris Russel to tie the game at one. The Preds came back quickly with a goal by Marty Erat with the assist going to Ryan Suter, his first of two on the evening.

The Jackets came back to tie the game with a power play goal by Raffi Torres where he circled behind the net and threw if off of Rinne's skate to get the puck into the net.

The Preds appeared to be struggling with the pressure that Columbus was putting on them as the second period moved toward a close. However, Ryan Suter picked up a puck behind the Jacket net and passed it to Shea Weber who fed Jason Arnott who was skating down the ice for a breakaway goal with 28 seconds left in the period to give the Preds a 3-2 lead.

At 4:18 of the third period Rick Nash got a break away goal to tie the game once again at 3-3. There was controversy on the play as Jerred Smithson had received a hit worthy of a penalty at the other end of the ice which distracted several Pred players who thought a penalty would stop play. Unfortunately, Rick Nash played to the whistle and took advantage of the distracted Preds.

The period ended with both Garon and Rinne making several important saves to push the game into overtime. The biggest save of the game was by Pekka Rinne on R. J. Umburger at 8:01 in the final period.

The Preds were able to create more chances in OT out shooting the Jackets 4-1 but neither team scored.

In the shoot out, both Columbus goals were scored on an odd moves where Kristian Huselus and Fedor Tyutin slowed to a near stop right in front of the blue ice then flipped the puck past Rinne.

"The shoot outs have become a real art. The younger players coming into the league have been more creative," Barry Trotz said, explaining the odd moves. "It's a technique that you are seeing more and more of."

Pekka Rinne discussed the move, "It's hard. I was expecting a lot of moves by Huselius but he skated down and kind of stopped and made a good shot. The same thing happened with number 51 (Tyutin) he came down and put it over my back."

The Preds received shootout goals from Marcel Goc to open the series, Jason Arnott to tie and extend the shoot out, and then the winner by Steve Sullivan.

Storylines from the Game

A Streak Would End...

Going in to the shootout it was clear that either Mathieu Garon's 13 shoot out win streak or the Predators 12 game home win streak against Columbus would fall.

Pred players and coaches did not appear to be aware of either streak. When Jason Arnott was told of Garons streak he replied ,"Oh Really!"

Pekka Rinne was equally surprised saying, "Really, I didn't know that."

When questioned about Garon's streak, Barry Trotz said, "He had a good run with Edmonton in the past and he's been pretty good in the shoot outs."

When asked if the had a plan on Garon, Trotz was humorous in his response, "We scout them all, absolutely." He then paused, laughed and said "No." With a more serious tone he said, "There's tendencies every goalie has and we have tried to pick up on a few and the guys use that information and go to work."

As far as the Preds 13 game win streak against the Jackets Trotz commented, "I don't keep stats like that. That's history, there's different players, different teams different days. I learn that more by what you guys write. The only stat I'm worried about is today."

Pekka Saves The Day...

Pekka appears to be rounding back into form, winning his last two games after going 0-2-1 since his seven game win streak ended.

"Peks made a huge save when it was 3-3 and Umberger was all alone," Barry Trotz explained. "He made a huge save there. They score there and they probably walk away with a win."

Trotz continued, "We found a way and Peks was good when he needed to be."

Timely Goals by the Preds...

The Preds were able to score first and never fell behind in the game in spite of being tied three times in the course of the game.

"We had some timely goals," Trotz related. "Marty Erat , right after they tied it up, and Arnott at the end of the second period. We had some really timely goals and some timely saves."

Up Next...

The Preds will practice on Friday before meeting the Red Wings on Saturday night. They will then pay a return visit to Columbus on Monday before playing the Lightning at home on Tuesday night, ending the extended run of playing 12 of 16 games in 32 days in the friendly confines of the Sommet Center.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Preds Face Columbus In Divisional Showdown

The Nashville Predators (17-11-2) continue their homestand tonight against the Columbus Blue Jackets (14-11-5) with a 12 game home win streak against the Blue Jackets on the line. Columbus last won in Nashville on April 3, 2006.

The two teams last met on November 21 with the Preds winning 4-3 in a shootout with David Legwand getting the game deciding goal. Pekka Rinne stopped two of three Columbus shooters, the exception being Rick Nash who skated into the net in a memorable play. The Preds fired 48 shots against the Jackets in the first meeting of the year.

Columbus has struggled recently, going 1-5-3 leading up to last night's 3-0 shutout win by Steve Mason. Fingers have been pointed at Steve Mason as part of the reason for the team's recent tail-spin. After his Calder Trophy winning season, he has not lived up to expectations this season going 10-8-5 with a 3.29 GAA and a .892 save percentage.

Mason will not be an issue tonight as Columbus will start Mathieu Garon (4-3-0, 3.10, .898). Garon has some odd statistics in his resume. He has posted 13 straight shootout wins which is an NHL record (18-4 lifetime in the SO). Also he is best when facing a lot of action with a 27-7-2 record when facing 35 shots or more. Garon is 2-6-0 against the Preds in his career.

Pekka Rinne (12-6-1, .910, 2.58) will get the start for the Predators after his impressive 4-2 win over the Canucks on Tuesday. John Glennon also reports that Dave Scatchard may also return to the Preds line-up after missing the last five games due to injury. Alexander Sulzer will get his second start in a row with Cody Franson sitting in the press box again.

Preds Keys to the Game

Play a Physical Game without Taking Penalties...

Any time these two teams hook up, there is a great chance of a fight, especially with Jordin Tootoo in the line-up. The Jackets do not like Toots and are checking for his number from the start of the game. Tootoo is the career Predator PIM holder and 88 of his 550 PIMs (16%) have come against Columbus.

Columbus is fourth in the NHL on the power play effectiveness (23.3%) and have gotten 30% of their 90 goals on the man advantage. Columbus coach Ken Hitchcock has indicated that his team may be guilty of not scoring enough on the five on five because they are waiting for the power play for offense.

The Preds have the second fewest penalty minutes per game (9.1 per game) and need to stay out of the box to keep the Jackets power play unit off the ice.

Top Players Need to be the Top Players...

Marty Erat needs to follow-up his hat trick with another productive game. Jason Arnott (six points in the last four games), Steve Sullivan (six points in four games), David Legwand (11 points in 12 games) and Jordin Tootoo (six points in nine games) need to continue to produce while the Preds look for contributions from the others as well.

Play Sixty Minutes...

The schedule is in our favor for a change with Columbus, and our next opponent, Detroit, playing the second half of back to backs while we will have have had a day off prior to game day. The Preds need to play with jump right from the start and keep pushing until the end. The Blue Jackets will be looking for a barrage of shots after the last game and we need to oblige.

Pekka Needs a Second Strong Game in a Row...

After winning seven games in a row, Pekka went 0-2-1 before Tuesday's outstanding performance against Vancouver. He needs to take that confidence and start another streak with tonight's game.

Up Next...

The Preds will practice on Friday before meeting the Red Wings on Saturday night. The will then pay a return visit to Columbus before playing the Lightning at home on Tuesday night, ending the extended run of playing 12 of 16 games in 32 days in the friendly confines of the Sommet Center.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Thursday's Predator News Roundup

As of this morning, the Predators have heard nothing back from the league office on their official appeal to overturn Jerred Smithson's game misconduct penalty from his hit on Alex Burrows in Tuesday night's game.

The court of public opinion in the media and on XM's Home Ice 204 yesterday was clearly in favor of the Trotz/Smithson view of the incident. Bill Clement was emphatic that it was a legal hit and that the hit was the kind that needs to stay in the game.

We will monitor the situation today and provide an update if anything is released on the matter. Later today, we will also have our game preview as well as the keys to the game for tonight's match with Columbus. (I can hear the Darth Vader music already)

In Pred Nation...

Bryan Mullen at the Tennessean has a look at the importance of faceoffs.

David Boclair at The City Paper has more on Marty Erat's hat trick.

Dirk the Forechecker has a look at the Preds attendance through November. Simple math indicates that the Predators will need to average approximately 14,564 paid for the last 27 dates of the season (which includes two miserable crowds last Saturday and Tuesday) in order to participate in the full revenue sharing that they need to stay afloat. I am hopeful, but not overly optimistic at this point.

Mark at the View from 111 tips the cap to the Pred's consistent effort on Tuesday. He also has a post on the iffy financial situation with the Dallas Stars.

A J also checks in with an E(rat) for effort. It was good to see A J at the game on Tuesday.

Last night's HockeyBuzzPodcast that featured Make Willoughby, Eric Smith and Jon Jordan is now up on podcast.

Short Shifts discusses Mark Dekanich and his self esteem building in Cincinnati.

The Pred's Blog off continues to get nasty with See Puck City taking a few shots at the competition. I refuse to get down in the gutter on this, but would appreciate anyone's vote that feels that we are deserving.

The Preds make RLD Ryan's Top 5 Teams that Need to Make a Deal.

Around the NHL...

Our friend Matt Reitz and Jennifer Shaw have started a new View From My Seats Radio Show on Blog Talk Radio. It is great to see a variety new shows this year and Matt is great on the internet and equally as interesting on podcast. Here is the first episode.

The Winter Classic hype is really gearing up. At 1:00 today the NHL will hold a media conference call to welcome the ice plant truck to Fenway. We will monitor the situation for any worthwhile information. Here is yesterday's story on the truck and ice guru Dan Craig. For those who can't get enough of Fenway, here is a live cam of the field as it is transformed to an ice rink.

The Toronto Star has an update on the potential of Canada getting a seventh team. A couple of weeks ago, Gary Bettman mentioned the E-word (expansion) for the first time in many years, setting the stage for more non-Ballsillie "make it seven" talk.

Hockey fans in Canada are frothing at the mouth thinking about their 2010 "dream team" with Mark Messier being named GM of that edition of Team Canada. The potential of Gretzky as the coach would complete the fantasy for Canadians.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Erat's Hat Trick Leads Preds to 4-2 Win Over Canucks

Coach Barry Trotz Post Game Comments

Martin Erat, Pekka Rinne and Jerred Smithson post game comments

Coach Alan Vigneault, Roberto Luongo, Henrik Sedin, and Shane O'Brien post game comments

The game between the Nashville Predators and the Vancouver Canucks turned into the Martin Erat show on Tuesday night at the Sommet Center. Erat scored three goals and assisted on Patric Hornqvist's goal to lead the Preds to a 4-2 victory.

The Predators played with enthusiasm and intensity that has been missing in recent outings and were able to score twice on the power play. Preds goalie Pekka Rinne play an outstanding game stopping 34 of 36 shots from the highly skilled Canuck lineup.

The game got off to a good start for the Predators with an an early goal by Martin Erat at 4:19 in the first period. The play started on a shot by Jason Arnott that went wide and Erat picked up the puck behind the Nucks net and did a half spin-a-rama wrap-around to bounce it in off of Roberto Luongo's left skate.

For the remainder of the opening stanza, the Predators skated well with more jump and enthusiasm than in recent games. The Preds out shot the Canucks 8-7 in the first period with a wider disparity in the Corsi shots of 24-12.

The Preds started the second period in similar fashion as Martin Erat got a power play goal on a break-away at 3:03 into the period. It was an excellent double-deke type move that found Luongo's five hole.

Four minutes later, play was stopped momentarily when Jerred Smithson was given a 5:00 charging penalty and a game misconduct for a hit on Alex Burrows near the Predators bench. Barry Trotz disputed the call which will ultimately be reviewed by the league offices.

At 8:30, during the Canucks resulting power play, Marty Erat had another breakaway opportunity for a shot at a short handed goal and a hat trick but was brought down by a hook from Christian Ehrhoff. The goal shortened the five minute man advantage for the Canucks.

With a second left in the Ehrhoff penalty, Patric Hornqvist was called for holding the stick giving the Canucks the remaining 1:48 of the Smithson penalty with a five on three advantage.

At 12:12, despite the efforts of Shea Weber to break up the play, Ryan Kessler had an unobstructed view of the empty side of the net and scored to give the Canucks a power play goal with five seconds left in the five on three opportunity. Kessler paid dearly as Weber finished his check as the puck entered the Preds net.

The second period ended with the Predators maintaining a 2-1 lead. The Canucks out shot the Preds 12-7 for the period in which the Preds dominated in the face off circle with a 14-8 advantage.

Vancouver started playing desperate hockey in the third period taking a series of three penalties that would be their undoing. Coach Alan Vigneault commented, "Without a doubt, you are down a goal and are trying to fight your way back into the game, taking three penalties in one period is not a smart thing to do so so obviously that really hurt us. They got two goals for the lead again and we were too late."

The Predators got on the board for the third time at 11:27 in the final period on a well executed two-pass play that started with Marty Erat's third point of the game on a cross ice pass to Jason Arnott who centered it to Patric Hornqvist who buried it from the blue ice.

The situation became tense at 16:25 when Vancouver executed a perfect screen in front of Rinne, and Daniel Sedin was able to slip a puck into the net from the slot to bring the Canucks within a goal.

With a couple of minutes left, Vancouver pulled Luongo, and at 18:54 Mary Erat skated for the red line, saw the empty net, and shot the puck cleanly into the cage to make it 4-2.

As the seconds ticked down, the crowd rose to a crescendo of cheers to celebrate a home victory which has been rare over the last ten days.

Game Storylines

Marty Erat has Career Game...

Marty Erat's second career hat trick (first was March 4, 2008) was enough offense to bring the Preds a victory. He also received an assist on Patric Hornqvist's goal that proved to be the game winner.

Marty was humble in his response to the hat trick saying, "It's always nice to get a hat trick but how I said from the beginning we got two points and that is the most important thing right now."

Pekka Rinne Solid in Net...

Although the stats are not overwhelmingly impressive, Pekka Rinne may have had one of his best games of the year stopping 34 of 36 shots from one of the most explosive offenses in the league. Many stops were at point blank range.

The Kessler goal was a backdoor play that could not be stopped and the Sedin goal was on a complete screen.

"Pekka, I thought was really outstanding," said Barry Trotz. "Big save on the five on three. He was solid, they tried to put a lot of pucks in the crease, they screened they bumped him, they did all the usual Vancouver Canuck things that hey do and he was huge tonight."

Horrible Call on the Jerred Smithson Game Misconduct...

NHL officials are very cognizant of head shots and are trying diligently to remove them from the game. On Jerred Snithson's hit on Alex Burrows, they totally missed the boat. At worst, it should have been a 2 minute boarding call and could have even gone the other way and gone as a diving call on the over reacting Burrows.

Barry Trotz was livid after the call. In the post game, he was more reflective, "I had the luxury of looking at it on film. The two things that the referees said to me was that obviously they are cracking down on hits to the head which I am totally behind, and they thought it was a little bit of a late hit. It wasn't a late hit. Burrows had the puck on his stick, and he tried to duck the hit and if you look at Smithson's arms, they are right by his side. It was a shoulder hit and Burrows kind of spun off and tried to avoid it. He ducked it and for Smitty, it was a real clean hit."

Further Trotz said, "The referees were real good, they said if we're wrong we will look at it and apologize but that's how we see it at that time and place. They have a tough job."

Smithson explained his thoughts, "I went in and tried to finish my check and he went in funny, I'm not quite sure, but the were calling it a head shot and then I watched the replay and watched him (Burrows) kinda look up to see if there was a call then he laid there but that's how it is. Maybe the refs saw it from a different angle but there's nothing you can do about it."

From my vantage point, it did not look like a solid hit. Smithson responded to the question, "I really didn't feel like I got him all. I just wanted to get a piece of him and continue on on the back check. He just kind of went into the boards funny and obviously wasn't too banged up as he was right back out there after a few shifts. There's nothing you can do. Stuff happens."

It will be interesting to see what Colin Campbell comes up with on Wednesday after they take another look at the play. Anything short of a recension will be a travesty.

Up Next...

The Predators will practice on Wednesday to prepare for back to back Central Division match ups with Columbus on Thursday and Detroit on Saturday.

More Later....

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Preds Face Nucks in Critical Test

After losing three of the last four games at home, the Nashville Predators (16-11-2) host the Vancouver Canucks (16-13-0) in a critical test to see if they can return to form in front of the home crowd.

Preds coach Barry Trotz has indicated that he will shake up his line up in an attempt to bring the Predators out of their malaise that they have drifted in and out of in the last few games. According to Bryan Mullen, Cody Franson will take a seat in the press box while Alexander Sulzer gets his first shot to play at the NHL level since November 7.

Trotz has also juggled his lines, moving Marty Erat to the first line and J.P. Dumont to the line with Marcel Goc and Jordin Tootoo. It also appears that Patric Hornqvist will return to the lineup after sitting out Saturday's game on a "coach's choice" situation.

Pekka Rinne (11-6-1, 2.61, .908) will start in goal for the Preds and face Roberto Luongo (12-9-0, 2.41, .916) which on paper could be a classic goalie show down.

Preds Keys to the Game

Stay out of the Penalty Box...

Vancouver is fourth in the league on the power play (22.7%) and the Predators do not need to tempt fate by giving them any unnecessary opportunities for the man advantage. The Canucks are loaded with weapons that don't need any easy chances.

Preds Power Play Needs to Show Up...

Vancouver is the fourth most penalized team in the league (15.6 min per game) so the Preds should get several opportunities on the man advantage and they need to cash in for at least a couple of goals. The Nucks are 21st on the penalty kill (78.4) so the Preds should not feel intimidated.

Predators Need an Early Lead...

The normally loud Sommet Center has seemed like a tomb lately with little energy in the building. Discussion after the last game centered about who provides the energy first, the players or the crowd. I vote the players bring it tonight so the crowd will follow.

Next Up...

After tonight, the Preds play at home against Columbus on Thursday and then host the Wings on Saturday so the schedule will not get any easier any time soon.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Tuesday Tidbits and POTG Podcast

After being off for a couple of weeks, I felt a little rusty getting started on the POTG Radio show last night but we had a couple of great guests forced us to be on our toes and got us back in the saddle quickly.

First up we had Anthony Curatolo, one of the Hockey Guys, who primarily writes for Crash The Crease but also writes about the the Islanders, Flyers, Kings and the NHL for Hockey Independent, Hendrick's Hockey and several other sites.

The majority of the focus was on Anthony's favorite team, the Philadelphia Flyers and all the turmoil that has been going on there over the last few days with the coaching change and Daniel Carcillo's incident on Saturday. (Programming Note: I will be on Anthony's Hockey Guys show on Sunday)

Next up we had Eric Smith from BlueJacketBuzz and Fire the Cannon. Eric is always a great guest with keen insight into the Blue Jackets and the NHL in general. On the show Eric got into an excellent analysis of the Blue Jacket's recent woes and laid of lot of the blame at the feet of Steve Mason. Here is a post that Eric made after the show that is a short version of some of what Eric discussed.

In summary, this was one of the tighter shows that we have had in a while that I am sure you will enjoy hearing.



In Pred Nation...

John Glennon has the story on the Predators hoping that they have found a cure for Colin Wilson's groin issues. John also has a game at a glance for tonight's game with Vancouver. At Inside Preds, John talks about the positive results of the Hornqvist benching on Saturday and Erat and Dumont changing line spots. John was busy on Monday with a few community notes as well.

David Boclair at the City Paper talks about changes that may be in store for the Pred's lineup tonight including Alexander Sulzer being recalled.

Predators.com had their weekly Admiral's update.

Dirk the Forechecker come out slinging mud this morning in an effort to overtake POTG in the second round of the Preds Blog Off at the NHL Arena. I haven't mentioned our first round victory but since he brought it up, we would appreciate your vote in the second round (in spite of the terrible accusations Dirk made about us).

The Short Shifts interview with David Poile has been posted. This is a must read.

A funny about Movember from Confessions of a Cheese Grits Fiend is a good one.

Around the NHL...

Later today Allan Walsh will do a live blog at noon Central on the Globe and Mail to talk about hockey and Twitter. Go check it out.

Ken Campbell at THN takes a look at attendance and escrow. Things are not looking good league wide and escrow was risen to 18% from last year's 12.9%.

A really good rebuttal to the renaming of the NHL Award trophies can be found at Hockey Independent. XM's War Room had a good discussion about this idiotic discussion on Monday too. Mick liked my point that if you aren't going to rename the Stanley Cup, leave them all alone.

Who better than our friend Adrian Dater to write about Darren McCarty's retirement.

On Goal Analysis has a new stat to ponder, points per shift. Interesting stuff.

It's never too early to make your #SaturdayNHLPicks on Twitter. Go here now.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass