Oilers (6) @ Predators (2)

This morning's hockey notes include the first of what will surely be many quarterly reports on the Preds, speculation about outside Suter suitors, and much, much more...

Last night the Oilers were outplayed for a full sixty minutes by a Stars team that looked like they belonged in a different league. Tonight it was the Oilers who looked like they belonged in a different league taking complete control of the game early on en route to a 3-0 lead after the first period that would allow the Oilers to coast to a comfortable 6-2 win over Nashville.

Tonight it was the Nashville Predators who looked like the team which had just played the night before, as the Oilers dominated the first period with a 3-0 lead, allowing them to cruise to a 6-2 win.

A preview of tonight's game between the Oilers and Predators.

One factor tonight is whether or not the Preds should try to rough up their opponents, given a perceived lack of toughness on the Oilers, and the fact that they're coming in after having played the night before in Dallas.

The Nashville Predators wrap up their 5-game homestand tonight against Edmonton, before heading out on the road for a trip which will eventually take them through Western Canada for the second time already.

Lately these two have been headed in opposite directions, as the Oilers lost their 6th game in the last 8 Monday night at Dallas, while the Preds have gone 7-0-4 in their last 11, good enough to lift them up into 4th place in the Western Conference.

While the hockey world will be focused on the return of Sidney Crosby tonight, the game with local implications takes place in Dallas, where the Edmonton Oilers face the Stars before flying up to Nashville for tomorrow night's affair.

The featured charity at Tuesday night's Nashville Predators/Edmonton Oilers game at Bridgestone Arena is the "Sled Preds", a group which helps physically disabled kids & adults take up the great sport of sled hockey.