Predators Game Day Preview: Los Angeles @ Nashville
by Chris Burton on Mar 4, 2010 2:00 AM EST
17 comments
With the trade deadline past, we can turn our full attention to the task at hand--making the playoffs. The Los Angeles Kings roll into town tonight to take on our Predators, and are seven points ahead of Nashville in the standings.
The Predators acquired Dustin Boyd yesterday, will he be in uniform tonight? If so, who will he bump out? The Kings acquired Jeff Halpern and former Blue Jacket Fredrik Modin, and we'll likely see their Los Angeles debuts tonight.
ROSTER UPDATE: According to beat writer John Glennon, Dustin Boyd will be joining the team tomorrow in Detroit thanks to some immigration issues.
Follow after the jump for more!
Special Note: tonight's game will not be shown on local television, but thanks to a free preview of the NHL Center Ice package, you may be able to find the Los Angeles feed of the game on your tube.
Nashville coming in
The Predators are coming off a crucial 4-3 win over hapless Edmonton, which saw former Oiler and new Pred Denis Grebeshkov register a goal and assist in his debut. Captain Jason Arnott scored the game winner, while the power play continued its hot ways with a goal from Shea Weber. Pekka Rinne wasn't especially sharp, but good enough to get it done and will likely get another start tonight. Young defensemen Cody Franson and Alexander Sulzer were assigned to Milwaukee yesterday.
Los Angeles coming in
As mentioned, the Kings made several acquisitions, and are fresh off blowing out the Dallas Stars. They have to be encouraged by the strong play of Olympians Dustin Brown and Drew Doughty, and are my dark horse to win the Western Conference. Nashville won the only other meeting this year 3-1. Swing by the new-ish Kings blog Jewels from the Crown for Kings talk, or check out the always hilarious Battle of California.
The Guys in Goal
For LA, no reason they wouldn't continue with US Olympian Jon Quick:
Projected Lineups
Who knows if Dustin Boyd dresses, or if Wade Belak is suited up to square off against Ratis Ivanans, but here's how they looked against Edmonton:
For LA, accounting for the additions of Halpern and Modin (love that top line!):
Fearless Prediction
I really like the atmosphere surrounding the Predators right now. Grebeshkov appears to be a steal, and the word out of Calgary is that Dustin Boyd is in a Matthew Lombardi/Rich Peverley type situation-- has all the skills, but never got the chance. Lets hope Barry Trotz gives him a shot in Music City.
As for the game, I look for Nashville's defense (do we have the top D in the league, or do we have the top D in the league??) to impose themselves, three pairs deep, on the LA offense. We can bring the pain and points from the back end, something that most other teams can't boast. Scoring the first goal will be key, and hopefully players like Joel Ward and Jordin Tootoo get back to the way they were playing pre-Olympic break. Predators 3, Kings 2.
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I’ll have to see if that center ice preview exists here in Indy. It could make for the whopping 2nd game I get to watch this season!
TN Sports fan in Hoosier Country....
It should be going on all over
More fun than a stick to the face!
On the Forecheck is SB Nation's blog covering the Nashville Predators.
yep
I was able to watch Blues-Coyotes the other night from the Phoenix feed, for example.
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Center Ice quality
I have had CI for the past few years down in Florida at school. Brighthouse Cable Central Florida is my service provider and the quality sucks so bad. Let me know how the quality is for yall tonight, I might complain again for the 100th time
by Smashvillian on Mar 4, 2010 9:19 AM EST via mobile reply actions
It all depends on your cable/satellite provider
I have DirecTV, and it’s great.
More fun than a stick to the face!
On the Forecheck is SB Nation's blog covering the Nashville Predators.
Directv customers are still not getting Versus. That means no playoffs on tv for you Directv subscribers. There has been an ongoing argument between Comcast (who owns Versus) and Direct TV that still hasn’t been resolved. If you were to switch, Dish Network is the obvious choice for a hockey fan, seeing as Versus is available through that carrier, and is not currently on Directtv.
by hockeydekefreak on Mar 4, 2010 10:20 AM EST up reply actions
How’s the HD availability on Dish? We complained to DirecTV about Versus and got a credit against our bill, but the playoffs might be the time to make the switch if they still don’t have this resolved.
More fun than a stick to the face!
On the Forecheck is SB Nation's blog covering the Nashville Predators.
I don’t have an HD capable TV (I know, I know), but from what I can tell on my package (Silver or something) all the HD channels come with it.
I pay like 65 bucks a month for 250 +/- channels, but you’ll have to add the Multi Sports package if you want FSTN (duh, you want it). I was disappointing with Dish when I found out that I had to buy extra to get Pete and Terry, but otherwise its good. Extra five bucks/month, IIRC.
Another thing, though, Versus isn’t offered until like the 4th-tier package on Dish, and as such I currently can’t afford it.
Ah, pros/cons…
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by Chris Burton on Mar 4, 2010 12:08 PM EST up reply actions
not preds, but.....
i get so sick of comcast changing their rates that i’m about ready to cancel. the only problem i have with it is high speed internet. what do you guys with satellite do? according to the website, our phone company doesn’t offer DSL in our area, just the super expensive u-verse crap.
TN Sports fan in Hoosier Country....
I have satellite TV and satellite internet (which sucks!). I don’t recommend it. Its not too awful slow, but its too slow to stream videos and download heavy things. They also have a usage limit and if you exceed it your internet gets basically shut down for a day.
Was internet what you’re talking about?
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That's fine
I have satellite with DSL through my phone company (too bad for you).
More fun than a stick to the face!
On the Forecheck is SB Nation's blog covering the Nashville Predators.
The low ball...
I’m a huge fan of the site guys. I get my Predators news, updates and pregame info from ya’ll everyday, but every game doesn’t have to be decided by only one point!
I’ll take your 3-2 prediction and raise you one.
Preds 4, Kings 2.
grin Just mixing it up (even if our team never does =P)
hey now
I predicted a 4-0 win over Edmonton on Tuesday! We did score four goals :D.
On the Forecheck: a blog that's more productive than a Predator power play!
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Ding!!!
Man, you should win a prize…
More fun than a stick to the face!
On the Forecheck is SB Nation's blog covering the Nashville Predators.
I was almost hoping we didn’t score on the ENG, I wanted my first correct prediction of the year ;).
On the Forecheck: a blog that's more productive than a Predator power play!
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by Chris Burton on Mar 4, 2010 11:37 PM EST up reply actions
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