Beating elite teams from each conference does wonders for your confidence, and the stream of activity in Nashville Predators blogging circles shows just that.

After the jump, we've got a host of recaps from the Devils win, a 2-part look at the long-term trend in Nashville under David Poile and Barry Trotz, and another "intent to blow" ruling that denied a goal in last night's Toronto-Carolina game...

Predators News

They Are Who We Thought They Were…We Hope (Part 1of 2) " Pull My (Fang)Finger
AJ likes what he sees out of the Preds these days, and ties much of it back to the tried-and-true formula that David Poile and Barry Trotz have executed for over a decade.

They Are Who We Thought They Were…We Hope (Part 2 of 2) " Pull My (Fang)Finger
A really fine recap of Nashville Predators history from AJ, which raises an interesting question; is this team finally recovered from the troubles of 2007, and ready to compete with the best teams in the league? I wouldn't go quite that far myself, but I do think they're very close.

See Puck City: Devils Not Welcome In The Bible Belt: Preds Win In Shoot-Out 3-2
SPC got lower bowl tickets in Section 101 to last night's win and has something to say about the lack of energy from that part of the crowd...

Preds On The Glass: Predators Beat Devils in Shootout (Postgame Interviews Included)
Buddy's game recap includes comments by Barry Trotz, and players from both teams.

The Captain's Offense Returns As Preds Push Past Devils 3-2 In A Shootout - Brandon Felder
Brandon's recap includes a note about Jordin Tootoo's success in agitating the Devils.

Postgame Pred ponderings - Predators Insider
John Glennon also notes that prior to the shootout last night, the Erat-Santorelli-Hornqvist line has been sputtering in recent games.

Around the NHL

New Jersey Devils Get a Point, Lose in a Shootout to the Nashville Predators, 3-2 - In Lou We Trust
Here's the Devilish perspective on last night's game.

Video: Anaheim fans brawl over Scott Niedermayer's stick - Puck Daddy
There was a wild scene in Anaheim last night when the star defenseman tried to toss his stick to a little girl in the crowd...

Lowetide: Oilers 10-11
Is the mood getting dark in Edmonton, or what? Lowetide's already looking forward to next season, and whether or not the Oilers can coax Jaromir Jagr back from Russia.

Addition of Afinogenov Paying Big Rewards for Thrashers - Bird Watchers Anonymous
In what I'm sure will draw an "I told ya so" from the guys at Section303.com, Maxim Afinogenov is tearing it up for Atlanta. I doubt he'd fare anywhere near as well with the Preds, however; he is, after all, playing alongside Ilya Kovalchuk.

Game No. 20 (Puck-rakers)
The Blue Jackets come to Nashville tomorrow night after putting together what Tom Reed calls "arguably their most complete effort of [the] season" against Dallas.

Dreger: New soft cap shoulder pads can cut down on injuries
Darren Dreger brings news that a small, but common-sense step towards increasing player safety is on the way. Softer shoulder pads can still protect the player without being used as a weapon.

2009-10 NHL man games lost to injury - From The Rink
James reviews the game-by-game details to come up with team injury totals. The Preds rank 16th in man-games lost.

Video: Intent To Blow strikes again in Leafs/Hurricanes OT - Puck Daddy
I'm really hoping that "intent to blow" doesn't become the catch-phrase of this NHL season...

November 19, 1983: M-I-C K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E - The Copper & Blue
Bruce McCurdy celebrates the 26th anniversary of what was probably the most controversial quote that Wayne Gretzky ever gave...

Jonathan Quick is Not Very Good Right Now - Battle of California
That's about the least-surprising headline I've read in a while. The Los Angeles Kings are off to a good start, but they still have a glaring weakness in their system when it comes to goaltending.

Trophy Tracker: Norris, Calder, Adams races after 20 - NHL.com
Sure it's early, but that doesn't stop Phil Coffey from looking at the top individual performers around the league.

CTV Olympics - Who should be on Team Canada
The speculation around Team Canada's Olympic roster is only just beginning. You can expect several more weeks of night-in, night-out assessments of individual players and how their chances are rising or falling with each game.

Finally, Dallas Stars forward James Neal is expected to hear from the league office after this hit last night on Columbus Blue Jackets forward Derek Dorsett. Neal got a major and a game misconduct on the play: