Predators Game Day Preview: Nashville @ San Jose

by Dirk Hoag on Mar 19, 2009 2:07 PM EDT

TV Coverage: Fox Sports Tennessee (Dish Network 444, DirecTV 644)

Streaming Video: Yahoo! Sports

Radio: 104.5 "The Zone" (WGFX)

Fresh off of stealing a point in the standings in an OT loss to Anaheim, the Preds conclude a four-game road trip tonight in San Jose, where the Sharks are merely 27-3-4 on home ice. Keep in mind, however, that it was Nashville that gave San Jose it's first loss at home on November 11 in a 4-3 overtime win. Jason Arnott and Radek Bonk are still not expected to play due to injury.

Questions to be answered: (1) Do the Predators have any gas left in the tank after playing last night? (2) Will Dan Ellis get a rare start in goal? He's made 82 saves on 89 shots in two games against the Sharks this season, a .921 save percentage. (3) Can the Sullivan/Legwand/Erat line recover from a poor game against Anaheim, or will they be split up?

Predators coming in: With the OT loss to the Ducks, Nashville is 2-0-1 on the current road trip, and 8-2-3 in their last 13 games. With 76 points, they currently sit in 7th place in the Western Conference. Edmonton is a point back at 75, but has two games in hand.

Sharks coming in: After losing in Phoenix 4-3 Tuesday night, San Jose held a long closed-door meeting between the players and the hockey operations staff. After a four-game losing streak a couple weeks ago, the Sharks are 3-2 in their last five.

Predators to watch: After I wondered if Ryan Suter might be the hottest Predator yesterday, he went out and recorded three assists last night giving him 36 so far. The team record for assists by a defenseman in a season is 42, set by Kimmo Timonen in 2006-7. J.P. Dumont had a goal and an assist, giving him consecutive multi-point games.

Sharks to watch: Joe Thornton is tied for 4th in the league in assists with 55, and Patrick Marleau appears rejuvenated under new coach Todd McLellan, playing at roughly a point-per-game pace. Evgeni Nabokov's gaudy win totals keep him among the most overrated players in the NHL; in my book, he's an average starting goaltender behind an incredible lineup.

Here's a look at the two teams in the main statistical categories, along with overall NHL rank:

	Nashville		San Jose
Record	35-30-6	17th	45-14-10	2nd
Pts %	.535	18th	.725	1st
Goals For/Game	2.51	25th	3.16	6th
Goals Against/Game	2.72	8th	2.42	2nd
5-on-5 GF/GA	0.95	17th	1.16	6th
PP%	14.6	28th	23.3	3rd
PK%	84	3rd	83.3	5th
Shots/Game	29.1	16th	33.9	2nd
Shots Against/Game	29.3	12th	27.4	1st
FO %	52.5	3rd	53.5	2nd

Umm... *gulp*. Let's move on.

Here's a review of who draws the penalties, and who takes them for each team (data as of March 16):

Nashville	Penalties Drawn			San Jose	Penalties Drawn
Player	Draws	Fouls	Pen +/-	Player	Draws	Fouls	Pen +/-
Jordin Tootoo	47	42	+5	Joe Thornton	41	24	+17
Martin Erat	24	24	0	Ryan Clowe	32	17	+15
Ryan Jones	23	10	+13	Devon Setoguchi	32	17	+15
Dan Hamhuis	21	24	-3	Joe Pavelski	26	14	+12
Joel Ward	20	11	+9	Patrick Marleau	25	8	+17
Vern Fiddler	20	9	+11	Travis Moen	23	23	0
	Penalties Taken				Penalties Taken
Jordin Tootoo	47	42	+5	Rob Blake	7	39	-32
Ryan Suter	16	34	-18	Jody Shelley	22	30	-8
Shea Weber	14	32	-18	Christian Ehrhoff	19	28	-9
Greg de Vries	11	25	-14	Joe Thornton	41	24	+17
Martin Erat	24	24	0	Brad Staubitz	18	24	-6
Dan Hamhuis	21	24	-3	Travis Moen	23	23	0
				Alexei Semenov	17	23	-6

Rob Blake is at the very bottom of the Penalty Plus/Minus rankings, but having stellar performers at the top end like Thornton, Clowe, Setoguchi, Pavelski and Marleau ensures the Sharks spend more than their fair share of time on the power play. San Jose has enjoyed 309 PP's this season, while only having to fight off 269 PK's, a +40 differential that's among the best in the league.

Lastly, let's check on the goaltenders: