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HEAD COACH
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Barry Trotz
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ROSTER
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C - Darren Turcotte, Greg Johnson, Jeff Nelson, Patric
Kjellberg, Sebastien Bordeleau. LW - Andrew Brunette, Blair
Atcheynum, Scott Walker, Denny Lambert, Ville Peltonen, Jeff
Daniels, Vitali Yachmenev. RW - Sergei Krivokrasov, Brad Smyth,
Tom Fitzgerald, Patrick Cote. D - Joel Bouchard, Bob Boughner,
John Slaney, Jamie Heward, Jayson More, J.J. Daigneault, Drake
Berehowsky, Jan Vopat. G - Mike Dunham, Eric Fichaud.
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INJURIES
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Joel Bouchard, d (back, 1-2 more days); Blair Atcheynum,
lw (ACL in right knee, 4-6 weeks); Scott Walker, lw (separated
shoulder, 2-3 weeks).
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TRANSACTIONS
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Recalled Eric Fichaud, g, from Milwaukee Admirals
(IHL); assigned Tomas Vokoun, g, to Milwaukee Admirals (IHL).
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GAME RESULTS
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11/10 at San Jose W 4-2
11/12 at Los Angeles W 3-1
11/14 at St. Louis L 5-1
11/17 Chicago L 2-1
11/19 St. Louis W 3-2
11/21 NY Islanders L 6-3
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STANDINGS
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Central Division GP W L T PTS GF GA
Detroit 18 10 8 0 20 57 46
St Louis 17 7 5 5 19 47 41
Nashville 18 7 10 1 15 45 55
Chicago 20 5 12 3 13 39 72
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TEAM NEWS
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by Jeff Middleton, Nashville Correspondent
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Well, folks, we're going to try something new this fortnight. We're
going to try a little different format, and be a little shorter than
usual . . . just thought I'd let you know before you curled up with
your laptop by the fire.
FUN IN THE SUN
It was a very pleasant trip to the Southern California coast for the
Predators, as they played two contests and were victorious in both.
Surprising the Sharks and the Kings on their home ice allowed the
Preds to enjoy the long flight into St. Louis for the final game on
the long swing. Nashville threatened a shutout for two periods
against the Sharks, but allowed San Jose to get close before sealing
up the win with Scott Walker's empty-netter. Against LA, the
Predators gave up a short-handed goal before scoring three straight
to close out the faltering Kings.
ST. LOOEY BLUES
Tired. . . .tired . . . . tired. No excuses, but the Predators had
to be tired. After almost two weeks on the road, the Nashville
crew had one more game against division rival St. Louis. For the
first time all season, Mike Dunham looked fairly human, and was
replaced at the beginning of the third period by Tomas Voukoun, who
held his own for the remainder of the game. Unable to put together
any sort of offensive attack the Predators found themselves down
early and out of the game before too long. The Preds were able to
even out the road trip at 3-3, though, quite respectable for such a
long and arduous journey.
SUCH A SPECIAL WAY TO LOSE
One of the big problems that the Predators have faced this season
has been the less than spectacular play of special teams. Having
gone about 2 for 15328 in the last five games, the second of three
straight division games brought the Chicago 'Hawks to town. As you
may remember, Nashville choked when they played up in the Windy
City in October, giving away the game in the last five minutes.
Still searching for the first division victory, the Predators were
once again weak on special teams and allowed a power-play goal and
the shorthanded game-winner to Tony Amonte.
REVENGE . . SO SWEET
If Saturday night was any sort of sign of how an expansion team will
typically compete with the league's elite, then Tuesday's rematch
with the Blues was going to be an ugly affair. And it was - for St.
Louis. After digging themselves a two-goal hole in the first 10
minutes of play, the Predators did something they had not done yet
all season . . . they came back from a deficit to win. After getting
a late goal in the first and an early goal in the third, forechecking
madman Denny Lambert turned a poor play by St. Louis defenseman Todd
Gill into a huge goal with 38 seconds left in the game. Cliff
Ronning put Lambert's tape-to-tape pass past Jamie McLennan and the
home crowd celebrated in the glow of, yes indeedly-doodly, a division
victory.
THE FIRST TIME IS ALWAYS THE HARDEST
The New York Islanders have started to show early on this year that
they have quietly put together quite a good little team. In the
shadow of the Rangers, this New York team came to Nashville to give
Tennessee their first taste of the Atlantic Division. Yuck, what
the heck was that . . .sour milk? If you happened to leave at the
end of the first period and return at the beginning of the third
you be upset at the action you missed. Down 2-1 after one, the
Preds found a clever way to dig a hole deeper . . . the power
play. Giving up too many opportunities and too many shots, the
Nashville boys gave up too many goals. Trying to pull within one
game of .500 proved to be too much, as only two late goals
prevented the final score from revealing the whooping that went
down in Music Town. At least the Rangers are on the horizon.
Notes: Okay so not everything is new . . . I kind of like
the notes section . . . . Cliff Ronning scored his 200th career
goal against Chicago . . . .the Predators have dug themselves 2-0
deficits in four straight contests - can you say: "Slow starters?"
. . . . LW Ville Peltonen has produced admirably since coming back
from the IR (4 G, 4 A) . . .the G(reg Johnson)A(ndrew
Brunette)S(ergei Krivokrasov) line has fizzled a little bit . . .
the Scott Walker/Cliff Ronning/Ville Peltonen line has picked up
the slack . . . Barenaked Ladies kicked butt.
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