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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, Robert Valicevic, Vitali
Yachmenev. 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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Mike Dunham, g (groin, three MORE weeks); Ville Peltonen,
lw (separated shoulder, 4-8 weeks); Jamie Heward, d (ankle, 1-2
weeks); Eric Fichaud, g (separated shoulder, 2-4 weeks); Jayson
More, d (post-concussion syndrome, day-to-day); Greg Johnson, c
(post-concussion syndrome, day-today).
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TRANSACTIONS
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Recalled Kimmo Timonen, d, Chris Mason, g, and Vitali
Yachmenev, rw, from Milwaukee Admirals.
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GAME RESULTS
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12/08 Edmonton T 3-3
12/10 San Jose W 2-1
12/12 Montreal T 2-2
12/16 at Anaheim L 6-1
12/17 at San Jose L 3-1
12/19 at Vancouver W 6-4
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STANDINGS
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Central Division GP W L T PTS GF GA
Detroit 30 17 12 1 35 94 76
St Louis 28 11 10 7 29 74 69
Nashville 30 11 16 3 25 70 93
Chicago 32 9 19 4 22 71 107
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TEAM NEWS
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by Jeff Middleton, Nashville Correspondent
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WELCOMING THE OTHER OILERS
Eric Fichaud was facing one of his multiple former teams, and didn't
even make it through the first period. Because of Mike Dunham's
nagging groin injury, Fichaud had tried to step up and fill his
skates. Unfortunately, the Predators were forced to insert Tomas
Vokoun into the lineup to stave off the speedy Oilers when Fichaud
re-injured his shoulder. Going into the third period, Vokoun had
played well, stopping 27 of 30 shots on his way to a 3-3 tie. The
Preds showed a lot of heart as they came back in the third period
with goals 20 seconds apart to tie it up.
HERE FISHY, FISHY, FISHY
The Predators brought up goalie Chris Mason from Milwaukee to back
up Tomas Vokoun as he earned his first NHL win against the Sharks.
Mason is the last goalie under contract in the Nashville farm
system, so somebody better get healthy soon. The game was rough,
with two significant brawls, Bryan Marchment vs. Denny Lambert and
Owen Nolan vs. Patrick Cote - both in response to hard, clean
hits. One of those hits was on Greg Johnson, who suffered a
concussion and has not made it back since. Another recall from
Milwaukee, Vitali Yachmenev, scored the winning goal with a little
less than 8:00 left in the game. The Predators have beaten the
Sharks twice this year, leaving many fans in San Jose scratching
their collective heads.
OLD SCHOOL, NEW SCHOOL
The most storied team in the National Hockey League visited the
least storied team in the National Hockey League last Saturday
night and decided nothing. Mark Recchi sat out his first game in a
really, really long time, and Mike Dunham sat out his sixth game
for Nashville, giving Tomas Vokoun another start in net. The
Predators actually outplayed Montreal, which is no great feat, but
Jeff Hackett kept the Habs in the game enough to salvage one
point. The Preds outshot the Canadiens 43-27 and looked strong in
their second tie in three games.
PAYBACK
Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne were held in check the Friday after
Thanksgiving, but revenge is sweet. Kariya tallied four assists and
Selanne had two goals and an assist as the Ducks creamed the
Predators. Denny Lambert scored the only Predators goal, ending Guy
Hebert's shutout streak and providing Nashville with one lone
highlight.
PAYBACK, THE SEQUEL
The city of San Jose would probably have sent the Sharks out to sea
if they had lost another game to the Predators, but never fear.
With Tomas Vokoun still between the pipes, Nashville has seemed to
lose confidence in its abilities. While Vokoun has played very
well under tough circumstances, he does not seem to give the
Predators the sense of security they have when Dunham is behind
them. Nashville made it once again into the third period down only
one goal, but it lasted only 15 seconds as Joe Murphy put the
Predators away early in the third.
THE WILD WILD WEST
Saturday night's game against the Canucks was one of the most
entertaining hockey games the Predators have played this year.
Facing a five-minute power play due to Drake Berehowsky's
cross-checking, they had almost killed off the entire penalty when
Bob Boughner was called for covering the puck in the crease. The
ensuing penalty shot gave the Predators a two-goal deficit, which
they quickly overcame. Sergei Krivokrasov and Sebastien Bordeleau
exploded for two goals and two assists each to help Nashville score
the most goals in franchise history, winning 6-4.
Notes: Mike Dunham returned for two periods against
Vancouver on Saturday night, then re-injured his groin . . . .he
also had a "fight" with Garth Snow, his college teammate - gotta
love hockey! . . . Tomas Voukoun became the first goalie in
Predators history to record a point . . . it was an assist . . . .
country superstar Trisha Yearwood sang the National Anthem before
the Edmonton game. . . it's nice to hear her without Garth Brooks'
dueting away . . .if the injuries keep up at the same pace, the
Nashville Predators will actually become the Milwaukee
Admirals.
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