Friday's notes: Soaring with Sully

The Nashville Predators fan base is understandably giddy this morning over the team's 3-0 start, but perhaps even better reason for optimism is the hot start by Steve Sullivan, who now has 4 goals in 3 games (tied for the league lead), and almost had a hat trick at the end of the first period last night. Just having him back on the ice was once a pipe dream, but to see him leading the way is a special treat for Preds fans.

Follow after the jump for a deep look at exactly how Anders the Giant is doing so well, word of a serious injury to a major goal-scorer for Detroit, and some musing over exactly why Matthew Lombardi was scratched yesterday...

The Flying Ovechkins (err... the Washington Capitals) come in to Smashville Saturday, followed by Calgary on Tuesday and Sidney Crosby & the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday. Use this special offer for OtF readers to save money on Nashville Predators tickets for these, or any other home games this season.

Nashville Predators News

Lanky Lindback Wins His First Two Starts - The Goalie Guild
A wonderfully detailed analysis of Anders Lindback's success so far. This is the kind of stuff you don't see in general recaps, and focuses on specific techniques used on particular saves.

Preds On The Glass: Preds Off to Best Start since 2005 and Friday Findings
Buddy's morning links include the "Questions Will Be Answered" commercial featuring the Preds.

Why "Experts" Pick The Blues Over The Predators Every Year | PredsBlog
Why? Legendary baseball manager Casey Stengel perhaps has the best explanation...

Red Light District: Conversation with Cody Franson
Ryan shares an interview with the 2nd-year Pred, who will be relied upon to boost the power play.

Preds On The Glass: The Nashville Predators Remain Undefeated as They Defeat the St. Louis Blues 4-3
Buddy has your post-game press conference video...

The View from 111: Predators Survive the Blues 4-3
Mark's concerned about the 2nd period letdown, but otherwise gives the Preds high marks (pun thoroughly intended).

Lindbäck’s Glove Save On Roman Polak | PredsBlog
A picture's worth a thousand words, right?

Hockey Night in Nashville: Preds Hold On vs. Blues 4-3
Robby's happy that they were able to coast across the finish line even after running out of gas.

Steve Sullivan establishes a new personal milestone - Nashville Predators Examiner
Is Sully off to his hottest start ever, with 4 goals in 3 games?

Predators Power Play Leads To Victory Over Blues - Predlines
Not to be a downer, but if we're going to give credit to the PP so far, we should also point out that the penalty kill hasn't gotten the job done.

Paul McCann - Sully Comes Up Big and Random Notes
Paul likes what he's been seeing, and let's face it, he's got the best seat in the house.

odd man-crush - Hands of Cement
Newton has a thing for a certain Predators plugger.

A little question and answer with Admirals fans | Admirals Roundtable
The folks up in Milwaukee are just as excited to have hockey back as we are...

Steve Sullivan takes scoring load on his back - The Tennessean
Besides lauding Sully, Bryan Mullen shares some of the conversation Jordin Tootoo had from the penalty box.

Postgame ponderings - Predators Insider
Josh reads something deeper into Trotz's comments regarding Matthew Lombardi, and his surprise scratch last night.

Around the NHL

Franzen Out After Taking Hit To The Head - KuklasKorner
The Red Wings get stricken by the injury bug again, as Johan Franzen reportedly suffered a concussion and left last night's game in Dallas.

Q. Makes a Statement as Hawks Fall to "Lucky" Preds | Hockey Independent
Al Cimaglia wonders whether Joel Quenneville should make greater use of his bench, rather than wear out his star players.

Leaf bandwagon crowded with media types - The Globe and Mail
Bruce Dowbiggin takes members of the media to task on a couple of good points: hyping the Maple Leafs prematurely, and calling for star players to retire rather than hang on until the very end.

Has the salary cap hurt hockey? Only if you're not a geek - Puck Daddy
Greg picks apart a whiny diatribe from a Toronto writer which says the salary cap hurts the game.

Down Goes Brown: Other ways NHL teams are watching the bottom line
Ouch, here's a good one for Anaheim: "Would like to follow in the footsteps of other teams by assigning NHL-calibre defencemen to the AHL. (Plan currently on hold pending acquisition of an NHL-calibre defenceman.)"

Does Anyone Know Anything?: More Coyotes Sale Nonsense - Five For Howling
Travis refuses to get caught up in conflicting media reports out of Canada.

In defense of Adam Foote - Mile High Hockey
Can the old guy still get it done for a very young Avalanche team?

Less Is More " Michelle Kenneth's Hockey & Musings
Michelle has some admiration for how the Devils are handling their roster.

Protecting Philadelphia From Evil: Introducing The Broad Street Bully - Broad Street Hockey
OK, this is pretty funny. A new superhero for the Philadelphia Flyers!

Capitals Insider - Bruce Boudreau expects Semyon Varlamov to dress against Nashville
The Capitals may have their #1 goaltender back for Saturday's game, too.

Be sure to "Like" our site on Facebook (now at www.facebook.com/OnTheForecheck)! To keep up with all of our coverage of the Nashville Predators, you can follow us on Twitter (@Forechecker, @predatweeter, @SLakePreds & @Short_Shifts), and if you have any questions, feel free to email me at the.forechecker@gmail.com.