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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, Cliff Ronning. 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, Kimmo Timonen. G - Mike Dunham, Eric
Fichaud, Tomas Vokoun, Chris Mason.
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INJURIES
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Ville Peltonen, lw (separated shoulder, 4-8 weeks); Eric
Fichaud, g (separated shoulder, season); Jayson More, d
(post-concussion syndrome, day-to-day); Darren Turcotte, c (knee,
4-6 weeks); Drake Berehowsky, d (knee, day-to-day); Denny Lambert,
lw (chest congestion, day-to-day); John Slaney, d (finger,
day-to-day).
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TRANSACTIONS
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Re-signed Cliff Ronning, c.
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GAME RESULTS
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1/26 Detroit L 4-1
1/28 at Buffalo W 4-2
1/30 at New Jersey W 3-2
1/31 Phoenix L 4-1
2/04 at Calgary T 2-2
2/05 at Edmonton L 4-2
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STANDINGS
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Central Division GP W L T PTS GF GA
Detroit 52 25 23 4 54 150 134
St Louis 48 19 20 9 47 128 123
Nashville 51 18 28 5 41 117 162
Chicago 52 14 30 8 36 112 164
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TEAM NEWS
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by Jeff Middleton, Nashville Correspondent
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THE ALL-STAR BREAK CONTINUES
Unlike to rest of the NHL, the Predators decided to take both Monday
and Tuesday following the All-Star game as additional vacation days.
Unfortunately, they were scheduled to host the Central Division
leading Red Wings on one of those nights and it showed. Looking flat
and uninterested, the Predators did not start off the push for the
playoffs in style.
ALL-STAR GOALIE NUMBER ONE
Most teams that come to Buffalo are met by a hard-working team
playing in front of the best netminder in hockey, Dominik Hasek.
The fans of Buffalo gave the Predators very little respect, that is
until their boys lost. In a hard fought contest, the Predators got
a key power-play goal from Blair Atcheynum to take the lead in the
third period. Insurance came from a great play, Sebastien
Bordeleau to Tom Fitzgerald. The two monkeys that have been riding
the backs of the Predators were temporarily removed when they beat
not only an Eastern Conference team, they beat an Eastern
Conference on the road! Not only that, their anemic power-play
scored the winning goal. Great start to a tough road trip.
ALL-STAR GOALIE NUMBER TWO
Coming off their victory Thursday night, it was almost expected that
the Nashville boys would play a miserable game and get smoked by the
bigger, faster New Jersey Devils. The problem was that pretty much
everything that happened on Saturday afternoon was a surprise. The
Devils built up a two-goal lead in the first period, but Mike Dunham
shut the door on his former mates to hold them off the rest of the
way. Martin Brodeur made an uncharacteristic puck-handling mistake in
the third period to give up the tying goal, and then allowed
Sebastien Bordeleau's shot through the five-hole for the OT
game-winner. TWO victories against Eastern Conference foes, both on
the road!! Do I smell playoffs?
ALL-STAR GOALIE NUMBER THREE
Not yet I don't. When the Predators came home to face the Phoenix
Coyotes, they were once again tired and flat. After scoring a
short-handed goal early on, they gave up four goals and had a not
so super Super Bowl Sunday. With Captain Keith Tkachuk back in the
lineup, the Coyotes convincingly exacted revenge for becoming the
first shutout victims of the Predators.
GO WEST, YOUNG MAN
In their efforts to earn a place in the playoffs, the Predators
headed out to Western Canada to play two teams they needed to
beat. The Flames were working on a four-game unbeaten streak and
they kept it going by tying the Predators early in the third
period. The game ended up in a tie. The last time the Predators
visited the Edmonton they gave up two early goals and fought back
to lose 3-2. This visit, they gave up two early goals and fought
back to lose 4-2 (4th goal was empty-netter). They do not go back
to Edmonton this year.
Notes: Injuries continue to plague the Predators as they are
trying to work every single player in their organization into at
least 20 NHL games . . . Kris Draper of the Red Wings was suspended
for his stickwork to Kimmo Timmonen's lip and mouth . . . .Timmonen
missed one game and was back against New Jersey . . . the Predators
put on a good show for their fathers, who traveled with them to
Buffalo . . . the writer actually attended the game in New Jersey
and as a true Devils fan found it difficult to root for either team
. . . I was disappointed with the outcome.
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