Nashville made their way late last night to the snowy lands of lower Michigan for a date this evening with the Detroit Red Wings. Last night, the Predators put everything they could towards Roberto Luongo and the Vancouver Canucks, but it wasn’t to be as they would be shutout for the 4th time this season losing 1-0.
Detroit, themselves, are having a bit of a problem as well. The Red Wings are losers of 5 straight games, including both an overtime loss to Nashville on Tuesday (4-3) and a heart-breaking loss to Columbus where they allowed the game-winning goal with only 24 seconds left in the game. So, suffice to say, both Detroit and Nashville probably aren’t happy campers come puck drop tonight.
Leading the way offensively for the Red Wings is the ageless duo and 1-2 punch, Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk. Both are quietly having an impressive season, Zetterberg notching 22 points in his first 17 games (5/17/22) and Datsyuk collecting 18 points in his first 16 games (8/10/18). The Predators aren’t strangers to this duo, either, especially Datsyuk. Here is just an example of what he did Tuesday against Nashville:
While the Wings have been riddled with injuries, their goaltending hasn’t done them any favors either. With a combined record of 7-7-3, Jimmy Howard/Peter Mrazek/and Jonas Gustavsson haven’t been getting the bounces they need to get to succeed. Either way, they’ll have to step up big time against a hungry Nashville offense that’s still searching for their consistent identity.
As Detroit has their own issues, so do the Predators. In the previous 2 games before their match-up with Vancouver, Nashville had deposited 9 goals. All of that offense was misplaced and lost last night against the Canucks. It wasn’t all for naught, however, as the Predators put 13 shots on Luongo in the first before Vancouver woke up in the second and third. The effort is clearly there, but the finishing touch is missing it seems.
Ultimately, with the effort that Nashville brought to the game last night that seemed to dwindle as the game progressed, the Predators know exactly what they have to do to get and stay on track and to succeed in the uber-difficult Western Conference. With Chicago winning again last night, Nashville falls 2 more points behind their Central Division leading foes. A win against Detroit would at least get them back on track.
Tonight’s game is at 7pm and can be seen on the NHL Network as well as heard on 102.5 The Game locally in Nashville. The Predators will next hit the ice after tonight on Monday evening at home against the Dallas Stars. Puck drop for the game is 7pm and tickets are still available, where you can get a discount here.
