The Nashville Predators can look forward to a hectic schedule this week, with four games in seven days. The good news is, they'll have the benefit of home cooking as they welcome in a trio of Western Conference playoff contenders.
Follow after the jump as we break it all down!
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The Dallas Stars recently joined the NHL's list of official "sellers", when they sent defenseman Nicklas Grossman to Philadelphia in exchange for a pair of draft picks. There are a few more suspects who might be on the move over the next few days as well, as GM Joe Nieuwendyk looks to continue his reshaping of that roster.
What we'll be watching for later today is news of whether the Stars' leading scorer will play tonight - Jamie Benn suffered a skate cut to his leg Thursday vs. Calgary, but was initially expected to be available against the Preds.
A four-game homestand begins with a visit by Vancouver, which took a 4-3 shootout decision in Nashville on February 7th. The Canucks have the cruise control set at a pretty high speed right now, with an 8-0-2 record over their last 10 games, and a ridiculous 15 point lead in the Northwest Division.
And look who just recently passed the 20-goal mark for the fourth consecutive season, our old pal Alex Burrows:
After years of expectation for improvement, the Blues have finally found the winning formula this season, thanks to a mid-season coaching change which installed Ken Hitchcock behind the St. Louis bench. You might even say they've developed into Nashville arch-enemy (thank you, thank you very much). Based on the standings right now, the Blues & Preds would meet in the first round of the playoffs as the #4 & #5 seeds.
The scary bit is while the Blues have already been playing well, and boast a healthy 7-point lead on the Predators in the standings, they continue to get stronger as injured players return to action. Center Andy McDonald just came back a week ago after missing four months, and David Perron has been outstanding for them once he rejoined the team in December, after being out for more than a year with a concussion:
San Jose always makes for a lively home game, as the memory of those two playoff defeats in 2006 & 2007 still linger in fans' minds. It looked for a while like the Sharks would be able to cruise to another Pacific Division title just like Vancouver is in the Northwest, but the Phoenix Coyotes are pressing them a bit, so San Jose will definitely be looking for two points out of this game. In addition, we have a possible first-round playoff preview here, as the Sharks are on target for the #3 seed in the West, and the Preds could easily end up in 6th.
The Sharks have three 20-goal scorers leading the way offensively, including one of the brightest young stars in the NHL, Logan Couture:
That's a pretty stacked lineup of opponents coming through Bridgestone Arena this week - what do you think would make for a successful record out of these four games?
0 recs | 16 comments
6
With the other teams only getting 2 points (Not St. Louis) Of course 8 would be great
IG-PRED8 - February 19, 2012
5
I think we see a loss or an OT loss tonight in Dallas. We also receive a loss thanks to the Canucks. We will win Thursday’s and Saturday’s home games vs. Blues and vs. Sharks.
Klein(er) - February 19, 2012
if
AhwatukeeCoyote - February 19, 2012 via Android app
stupid phone
if you guys could beat San Jose for us, we’d really appreciate it.
AhwatukeeCoyote - February 19, 2012 via Android app
We would love to.
davisca - February 19, 2012
season on the line
we could just as easily go 0-4, but i think they play better when they play more often. this trade deadline seems to have everybody nervous.
jeffery101y - February 19, 2012
6
Will depend on tonight’s game. Dallas has a group of large forwards that give the Preds fits. Maybe Gill can help with that. Hopefully Kari Lehtonen sits tonight.
Should be two good games against the Canucks & Blues if they can put forth the same effort they showed in Detroit but with a few more goals. The Nucks have pretty much figured out the Preds dump and chase system. When the Preds bring it up ice the Nucks send a man deep in their zone to quickly retrieve the puck and counter attack while our forwards are trying to fore-check .The only way we win this one is to carry the puck in and start the cycle
I like the match up with San Jose the best, good forwards but lacking a bit on D- and goal tending .
Still a tough 6 points get over all
DHack - February 19, 2012
you don't even want to know how long it took me to get the "arch-enemy" joke.
I need coffee.
and I feel more confident about Dallas and SJS than about VAN and STL, so I’ma go with 5.
CAustin - February 19, 2012
Hahaha.
davisca - February 19, 2012
Three point games
I wouldn’t be surprised to see four 3-point games this week.
Griz-ATL - February 19, 2012
3 points
The team really has not played a full game on offense or defense since the All Star break.
djzielin - February 19, 2012
i think besides the last few seconds of the Detroit game we played quite well
Herzausstein - February 19, 2012
I think they found their defense again in Detroit and Gill can only help that. Dallas is on it’s second game of a back-to-back, so no Lehtonen, Benn is likely sitting. We match-up well with SJS and Trotz seems to hold a spell over Hitchcock. 6 points isn’t unreasonable for the optimist in me.
Catwoman - February 19, 2012
match up well with SJS? since when?! that team cycles the hell out of the Preds every game.
The 3rd-4th point is coming from the STL game though.
djzielin - February 19, 2012
I'm gonna guess 5-6
SJS, STL wins, hopefully at least 1 point in VAN. And maybe 2 points in DAL.
davisca - February 19, 2012
I'm just glad
they got a regulation win tonight. I posted during the all-star break that the next fourteen games were gonna be tough and so far it has. Preds are 4-3-2 since 29 January and Zero back to back wins so far. The pattern the last nine games is win, lose and lose in a shootout get a win. I’m going FIVE points this week since they have two in the bank with tonight’s win. Also that would be consistent with their pattern since the All-Star break. Every win is important but, it would be nice for the regulation win to be over St Louis since we are trailing them in the division. Beating the Canucks and the Sharks is great but they are at the top of their divisions so we don’t gain anything on them.
jmkiii58 - February 20, 2012
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