Nashville is winding up their six game road trip tonight. If you would have told me that we would have been finished the road trip at .500, I’d be happy. Well it looks like that is going to be the worst case scenario for the Predators tonight. At the very least, the Preds will come back home getting six out of a possible twelve points.
That isn’t enough for me though, and it shouldn’t be good enough for you either. The Preds played great against Dallas, and finally got the power play going. They are running into a buzz saw tonight though. The Blues are the hottest team in the NHL right now. They’ve won seven straight, and look to make it eight in a row against Nashville.
The St. Louis Blues
The Blues are coming off impressive back to back wins against the New Jersey Devils. But the Devils weren’t the only impressive win that they had in their last seven wins. They have wins over the likes of Chicago, Anaheim, Dallas, and the New York Rangers.
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More from our team sites
The thing that makes this streak so impressive is that they are doing it without Paul Stastny and T.J. Oshie. The biggest reason for their success has to be the emergence of Vladimir Tarasenko. He has been an absolute monster these past few games. He is slowly becoming one of the top Russian players in the NHL.
The goaltending and defense is going to be the difference maker for the Blues in this game. If they can contain the first line, and Prince Filip, they have a great shot of taking two points away from the Preds. However, if Forsberg and James Neal continue their scoring pace, St. Louis could see their streak finally ended.
The Nashville Predators
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The Predators have alternated wins so far on this road trip. If that trend continues, we are probably looking at a loss tonight. I don’t see that happening though. Nashville’s biggest weakness on the road trip (and most of the season) has been special teams. It looks like they have finally figured that part out. I would like to think that part of the reason is because Peter Laviolette finally put Shea Weber back on the point. But let’s be honest here, we all know the real reason….
And that reason is none other than Filip Forsberg (a.k.a. #PrinceFilip). He has been remarkable this season. He leads this team with thirteen points and is becoming an almost guaranteed scorer. Every time he touches the puck, you can almost sense something good is about to happen. HIm and Neal have found a nice chemistry, and they look to carry that over to tonight’s game.
The entire first line has to be the key to a Nashville victory tonight. If they continue that scoring pace, it is only going to lead to success for the Predators.
Reason To Watch
This game contains arguably the two most exciting players to watch in hockey right now. Vladimir Tarasenko and Filip Forsberg. Watching these guys go at it all season is going to be fun, and tonight is just round one.
Drink Of Choice For Game Time
Whiskey (preferably Gentleman Jack). Because with Gentleman Jack, your night will always end up great, no matter the outcome of the game. And that might just be what you need after this one.
You can catch the game on FS-TN locally, and on 102.5 The Game radio. Pucks drops at 7:00 pm CST.