Tonight, the Calgary Flames visit the Bridgestone Arena to take on the Nashville Predators for the third time this season; this will be the second time the teams meet in Nashville. Just a short time ago, Calgary was sitting in the next to last place spot in the Western Conference. Now they are in 12th place, and are only three points away from the final playoff spot. For a week I have dreaded this game because the Flames simply refuse to give up.
The last time the Predators beat the Flames at home was on January 15, 2008, and Nashville has yet to win a contest between the two so far this season. Goaltender Pekka Rinne will be the savior for the Preds tonight, and his play this season has been a treat for the fans in Nashville to say the least. Pekka received third star honors from the NHL for the month of January, and his eight wins ties him for the most of the month. While I cover my eyes during the game, I know that Rinne will be ready.
Marek Svatos and Francis Bouillon have both been placed on injured reserve for Nashville. Matt Halischuk and Chris Mueller have both been recalled from Milwaukee as expected. Both Halischuk and Mueller are having a great run with the Predators, and will be interesting to watch tonight.
For the Predators, another key player tonight will be Jerred Smithson while on the penalty kill. He is very efficient on the face-off, and may be a momentum swinger tonight. I strongly believe that Nashville needs to stay out of the box tonight, but with penalty killers like Smithson, Nick Spaling, and JP Dumont, the Preds should be just fine.
Tonight's game has a 7:00PM Central Time puck drop, and can be found on FS-TN. "The stretch" is upon us, the All-Star Break is over, and as along as Nashville plays their game the Preds will add two points tonight.
