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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).
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TRANSACTIONS
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Assigned Mark Mowers, f, to Milwaukee (IHL); claimed
Dan Keczmer, d, off waivers from Dallas.
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GAME RESULTS
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3/10 at Chicago L 5-2
3/12 Chicago W 5-3
3/14 Edmonton W 3-1
3/16 Calgary L 4-2
3/18 at Montreal L 3-2
3/20 at Pittsburgh T 2-2
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STANDINGS
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Central Division GP W L T PTS GF GA
Detroit 70 34 30 6 74 208 182
St Louis 70 30 29 11 71 202 185
Nashville 70 24 39 7 55 166 225
Chicago 70 21 39 10 52 164 219
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TEAM NEWS
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by Jeff Middleton, Nashville Correspondent
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HOME AND . . .
The Predators wound up their road trip in Chi-town, attempting to
get a victory against the only Division foe below them in the
standings. Interestingly, the 'Hawks were also the only team in
the Central who they had not defeated this year. Seems as though
the Red Wings and the Blues were easier targets for the expansion
team. Things did not go any better this time around, as the Preds
got behind early, came back to within one in the third period, then
allowed late goals to put themselves away. They came back home to
prepare for a return visit with the lowly Blackhawks on Friday
night.
. . . HOME AGAIN
And what a nasty visit it was. It seemed like Nashville and Chicago
both got up on the wrong side of the bed, as neither team was
interested in being friends. In a hard-fought contest, the Preds
jumped out to a lead and held on to seal up the first franchise
victory against the Blackhawks.
MOVING UP . . .
Nashville had played the Edmonton Oilers tough each time they
played, but could not seem to score enough times to win. Either
that or they needed another 10 minutes to complete the comebacks
they made. This time, the Predators had a little more to fight
for, as the Oilers were one of the teams they were fighting for a
playoff birth. In the first of two key matchups, Nashville was
able to gain some ground by defeating the Oilers.
. . .AND THEN DOWN
Unfortunately, they were not able to gain more ground on Tuesday
night. The Fleury-less Calgary Flames came to town and put back
the distance Nashville had gained by taking the Oilers. This seems
to be a common theme for the boys from Music City - every time they
show a little life and start to threaten, they die a little and
lose their fangs. These games were crucial to the fate of the
Preds, and they wound up exactly where they started.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Road games in the second half of the season have been significantly
kinder than those in the first half. After a three game homestand,
Nashville headed out for their first visit ever to the Montreal
Forum. OK, maybe not, but it was the first time they had ever been
to Montreal. Sebastien Bordeleau, centering the Preds hottest line
and on a tear himself, was with the Habs last season and has proven
himself to be one of the better two-way centermen in the league.
He certainly wanted to prove to the Canadiens that they had made a
mistake in leaving him exposed for the expansion draft. The
Predators were able to gain a lead on a shorthanded goal by Vitali
Yachmenev, but gave up two goals in five miuntes and were shut down
by Montreal. The fat lady is warming up.
IGLOO-ED
And this sure isn't going to make her stop and think about it. When
the Penguins came into Nashville, they were forced to go to overtime
to defeat the Preds. This time, they were forced to go to tie them.
Tomas Voukoun stopped everything except for a power-play goal early
in the third to continue his unexpectedly solid play. Not bad . .
.not bad.
Notes: With the victories over Chicago and Edmonton, the
Predators have at least one victory against every Western
Conference opponent . . . . Sebastien Bordeleau, Scott Walker, and
Tom Fitzgerald have proven to be the best defensive AND offensive
lines of late. . . . . nothing big expected from the Preds at the
deadline . . . . top prospect David Legwand's agent has issued a
deadline of March 25th to sign his client to a deal or it will have
to wait until September . . . . GM David Poile said that's fine
with him . . . Nashville Arena was named "Loudest Arena in the
League" by somebody with a lot of authority over giving out
worthless honors.
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