vs.

7:10 PM ET | SNY

Once, while standing in the Shake Shack line (yea, I know), I overheard two fellow Mets fans discoursing.

EUTHYPHRO: Hark, Socrates. What make you of the Metropolitans play of late?

SOCRATES: Greetings, good friend. The Mets play of late brings me great pleasure. For now they seem to hustle and play with much grit.

EUTHYPHRO: Indeed, I too have observed such a change. To what do you attribute this improvement, wise Socrates?

SOCRATES: Why I had heard the wise man Jerome of Car Phone discoursing in the public square this very morning. He said the absence of lazy, unclutch centerfielder Beltran was surely cause for the improvement. And Jerome is nothing but not a man knowledgeable of such issues.

EUTHYPHRO: Jerome is wise indeed! The strength of argument is evident!

At least I think that's how I went. Anyway, the gist of the conversation is there. Many Mets fans did not appreciate Carlos Beltran. In fact, many disliked him. It's sad, but true.

They say playing centerfield in New York is an honor. That's a little highfalutin, but Beltran's game is downright Maysian -- a mechanically perfect hitter with a combination of strength and grace in the field only surpassed in this generation by Andruw Jones. How good was Carlos Beltran? According to this gibberish, he was the Mets fourth best hitter ever.

When I was 15, the first thing I ever blogged was "I want to make Mets fans appreciate Carlos Beltran." And based on my informal polling in the Shake Shack line, I really screwed that up. But I will spend the rest of my life organizing letter writing campaigns, petitioning his inclusion in the Mets Hall of Fame and Baseball Hall of Fame, if that's what it takes. Prepare your mailbox, Jeff Wilpon!

If you're going to the game today, cheer three times as hard for Carlos -- once for yourself, once for me, and once to cancel out the dope sitting next to you.

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7:10 PM ET | WPIX11

"Show me a guy who can't pitch inside and I'll show you a loser." - Sandy Koufax

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7:10 PM | SNY

A random WFAN caller sits down for breakfast.

*opens newspaper*

*looks at probable pitchers*

*face slowly slackens from disbelief, causing gold-plated monocle to fall into imported English breakfast tea*

"STULTS, ERIC (0-0) v. HEFNER, JEREMY (0-1)"

*whispers a single curse*: "ssssanddy..."

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12:35 ET | SNY

For a team in fourth place, the Mets have won quite a few divisional games (14-7 against the East). Part of that's necessity -- they've played more inter-divisional contests than the Nationals and Braves combined. But it also means that, to catch those teams (at least in the short term), the Metsies will have to match their rivals' success against the Central and West. Dropping a series to the Cardinals is always forgivable, but contending teams rack up wins during these emotionless and attainable midseason games. I won't go so far as saying losing this series means the Mets played down to their opponent -- they share many basic flaws with the Pirates -- but they can at least play better than the Braves and Nats, who have each done no better than split against Pittsburgh so far.

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Just some bullet points I gotta get out there.

1. Stronger Start
2. Radulov needs to shoot--Yes, Mike Fisher looked off several wide-open shots last night. But his line has been playing too cute all year and getting away with it (good puck luck?), so I don't expect them to change. As long as he and Marty play strong On The Forecheck™, their five-on-five contributions are assured. Alexander Radulov, though, has to shoot. He's not getting paid for his defense (which is not to say he's a liability). Too often last night he skated either around the Coyotes defense, or into the slot, before sending the puck back to a defenseman. In theory, he's right to find the open man and find a quiet area. But practically, in many of those situations, he was choosing a Kevin Klein shot from the point over an Alex Radulov shot from the top of the circle. That's no choice at all. You can't play that well with the puck for 20+ minutes and have 0 SOG.
3. Get Gaustad more involved on offense--The Predators losing so many faceoffs was problematic , but can be overcome. The Preds could probably be this bad on faceoffs and still win the series--it's an overrated part of the game. But Trotz might do well to use a Legwand-Gaustad-Radulov line for a few offensive-zone draws in the first period. It's not like the guy is Jerred Smithson on offense--he's got a disruptive net presence that would probably help against Mike Smith.
4. No Klein/Josi pairing-- I was wondering how long that would last. Maybe you think I'm turning on Kleiner too soon. But my comfort level with a Gill/Josi second pair is higher than with Klein/Josi right now.
5. Get Sergei going--I'm getting pretty sick of his play. He hasn't made any obvious defensive errors, but that shouldn't be the standard for players sitting/playing. Sergei looks lethargic out there. He doesn't get open. He slows up. He stick handles his way out of good offensive opportunities. His dumb icing lead to Whitney's game winner. After seeing how Colin Wilson looked shot out of a canon his first game back in round 2 last year, it's hard to imagine he wouldn't be an improvement. Short of that, why not put Sergei on a line with Andrei? His brother seems to be the only thing that gets him to raise his level lately.

Round one.

Today's topic: "Would you rather face Chicago or Phoenix in round two?"

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In the first 27 games, we were like 12-11-4. Then in the last 55 games, I think we were 36-15-4. And if you were to ask me after the first 20 games, "What do you really think?" If you wanted my brutal, honest answer, I didn't think we would probably be in the position we are.

-- Barry Trotz

On the verge of yet another first-round match-up with Detroit, such was Predators coach Barry Trotz's reflection on his team's regular season. And his diagnosis seems right on the mark: for a while, this Predators team seemed destined for mediocrity. Badly out shot night in and night out, the Predators eked out an even record on the strength of incredible goaltending and power play prowess, both of which seemed unsustainable.

So what happened? The outside observer or casual local fan might attribute this season's success to more patented Barry Trotz magic. After all, the story of this Predators fits the mold of its predecessors: the team lost some key pieces in the offseason, regrouped, and made more with less.

Really, though, the defining trait of this hockey season in Nashville is how much it broke the mold.

The Predators have built a respected franchise, but to what end? To this point, they've earned respect, but in the sense that David Poile and Barry Trotz's work is admired, not in the preferred sense of scaring the fear of God into their opponents. And for many years, the Predators seemed to be working under a ceiling, both of achievement and finances--proof that something could be both good and stagnant.

David Poile, with a stable ownership group at his side and a core group he liked, set out to change all that. In the past nine months, he has affected a process of destroying and rebuilding that would take most teams years.

The story of this year's Predators is a series of necessary sacrifices and grievous mistakes, followed by an improbable recovery. And the result of it all--good or bad--will irreparably change the course of a franchise seemingly stuck for many years in second gear.

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Barry Trotz's (and the franchise's) 500th win was an appropriately important one. The Predators beat the Detroit Red Wings presented by Amway, their likely first-round opponent, in the ever-tough Joe Louis Arena presented by Amway. And in so doing, the Preds leap-frogged the Red Wings presented by Amway in the standings, taking fourth place and the edge in the race for home ice.

The Predators got out to a hot start in the first period, but didn't break out until the second period, when Gabriel Borque got a screened shot past Jimmy Howard presented by Amway. The Predators tried to give the lead back, going on basically a four minutes of uninterrupted penalty kill after their goal, but the Red Wings presented by Amway couldn't figure out Pekka Rinne.

Francis Bouillon would add to the lead in the final seconds of the period, picking up a loose puck from a Radulov-against-world scrum in front of the net. Radulov would then put the game away with a goal-- and his 100th career point--to open up the third.

The Red Wings presented by Amway couldn't muster much of an attack after that, as the Preds played solid at their own blueline. Jiri Hudler ended Pekka's shutout bid, but it was too little too late. Shea Weber scored the empty-netter.

Todd Bertuzzi is a thug, J.R. Lind is a marked man & more after the jump.

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Marc and I think we have found a way to settle our constant hockey-related arguments and provide some interesting content for the blog. We're going to start posting the transcript of our email back-and-forths here and let you, the reader, decide the winner.

As they involve issues currently on our minds, hopefully these debates will touch on some hot topics in the Preds community and foster some good discussion.

Today's topic is: "Given the choice, should the Predators scratch Jordin Tootoo or Matt Halischuk?"

We plead our cases after the jump. And after reading, be sure to vote in the poll, to let us know who you thought won.

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The Predators rebounded from two untimely losses earlier in the week to beat the Jets (barely) tonight. I say barely because they let Winnipeg back in late, though the game should have never been that close. Missed chances, particularly on the power play, reared their ugly head again.

Though, the thing about unconverted chances is that the team necessarily did something right to generate the chances in the first place. And in that sense, tonight's win was very much a continuation from Thursday of a good underlying game by the forwards.

One such forward, Alexander Radulov, demonstrated an impressive passing ability all game, finally getting rewarded 2:56 into the second. Three Jets defenders converged on Radulov in the neutral zone--a pretty impressive sign of respect this early in his comeback (or maybe the Jets just suck)--and Rudi slipped Matt Halischuk the puck on his backhand without hesitation. Halischuk was home free from there and put a slap shot past an otherwise good Ondrej Pavelec.

The other line that formed upon Radulov's arrival--Bourque/Spaling/Andrei--looked equally impressive tonight, and was rewarded when Gabriel Bourque scored in front off a Spaling rebound.

The sequence that lead to that goal probably wouldn't have happened with Tootoo (or whomever) still on the third line. Andrei Kostitsyn's size and puck handling ability allowed him to salvage the puck from a broken cycle, take it to the point, and create some space passing between him, Ellis, and Bouillon. This play opened up Spaling underneath in the slot, leading to Bourque's goal. Having Andrei Kostitsyn on the third line is a great residual effect of Radulov's arrival, as really only Erat, Wilson, and Alex himself can compete with that kind of puck-possession play.

Some bad shifts from Ellis-Bouillon, however, let the Jets back in it midway through the third, when Tim Stapleton snuck past three Preds to score.

After the Stapleton goal, though, the Predators stopped screwing around, and in an uncharacteristic turn of events, took the play to the Jets for the last five minutes. Oh the joys of life under the Radulov regime. Three lines that can score! Aggressive with a third period lead!

Highlights, notes & errata after the jump.

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6:00 PM CT on FSN-TN

The last time Alexander Radulov played a hockey game in Nashville was April 20, 2008, the day Red Wings eliminated the Predators from the playoffs. Radulov's performance was seemingly as ignominious as his subsequent departure: 0 G, 0 A, -2, and a team-high 4 PIM.

One incredible stat from that night, however, was Radulov's 17:20 TOI, in spite of his 4 minutes in the box. In that game, Trotz leaned on the 21-year-old Radulov for offense. With 23:08 TOI, a 23-year-old Ryan Suter lead Predators' defensemen. Fresh-faced 22-year-old Shea Weber wasn't far behind at 19:17 TOI.

And behind these youngsters, the veterans filling the gaps with 17+ minutes TOI that game included: Radek Bonk (a lovely -31 that season), Marek Zidlicky, and Greg de Vries. Even Darcy Hordichuk dressed, playing all of 3:46.

I'll get to the Winnipeg Jets in a minute, but I wanted to reflect on how far the Predators have come since the fire sale, because that box score blew my mind. I might complain about the Predators' over-reliance on rookies, but at least this group can shelter those guys because of a strong core. Can you imagine Brian McGrattan dressing against the Wings in the playoffs this season and Nick Spaling playing 18 minutes a game?

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Yesterday's big news lead to multiple light-hearted texts from high school friends with whom I used to hang out in the intermissions of the bygone first Radulov era. I had hardly even talked to one of those guys since high school, and his text just accentuated the feeling I'm caught in an Alex Radulov time warp.

I want to be mad at Radulov. When he left for the KHL, he was my favorite player. I read about his departure on the Predators' official message boards in disbelief. To my eyes, the Predators' most promising young forward choosing to play in a second-rate Russian league made a joke out of Nashville, already the butt of too many jokes in the NHL, having narrowly escaped relocation the year before.

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Today is the birthday of our fearless leader, Dirk Hoag! I won't tell you how old he is, but I think I speak for Dirk when I say, "A lot of people blogging about my birthday in this morning's notes...not really a number I buy into, though. The underlying numbers are much better. Why look at just one stat?"

By the way, if you're interested in birthdays, check out some great deals on birthday candles at hockeygearhq.com!

All kidding aside, today we celebrate the tireless work of our favorite blog's manager. The king of blogging! Long live the king!

What he lacked in skill, he made up for in heart and stupid faces. May we never forget.

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I Will Try: An Intermission Interview Poem

by Sergei Kostitsyn

Sometimes when I see the guy, he's in better position than me.

So sometimes maybe, I shoot--take a shot--but I'm trying to make a pass.

But yea, I think I should take more shots, like coach is telling me.

So I will try.

In a battle between the league's best power play and the second best power play, man-up situations unsurprisingly carried the day. The Predators decisively won the special teams battle, while playing blooper-reel hockey at even strength.

After a scoreless, though uncharacteristically busy, first period, Mike Fisher tallied on the Preds' second power play. While Ryan Suter deked the entire Vancouver PK unit, Fisher watched weak side and eventually tapped Suter's shot home. The vaunted Canucks power play would get the next two chances, giving Hal Gill a much anticipated PK debut. And Gill was as advertised. On the Nucks second PP, Gill used his long reach to push a puck up to Fisher, who would spring a two-on-one, leading to a Sergei Kostitsyn shorty.

The only Canucks goal was scored by Dale Weise when Roman Josi and David Legwand managed to step on the same banana peel. That was the only time I suspected someone on the team having the actual flu, and not the Mike Fisher flu that nets you three points.

After both teams exchanged incredible, but unsuccessful, bids to get the pivotal next goal in the third, it was David Legwand, sneaking off the bench, who scored on a confused Luongo. I kidded before the game on Twitter that Chris Mueller was only called up to catch the super-center flu, but now I'm not sure it was a joke.

Notes, highlights, & errata after the jump

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Our OTF crack computer forensics team has hacked into the Predators' internal messaging system to give you the inside story of Hal Gill's first days as a Predator.

Follow the jump for our shocking findings.

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Just one week from the deadline, it's NHL trade season. And you know what that means: the widespread systematic dissemination of bad information and false hope. More so than any other sport, hockey engenders a trade fever, leaving fans obsessed with the possibility of gleaning insight into their team's deadline machinations. And a few enterprising individuals trade on this hysteria, appointing themselves as anonymous insiders, releasing vague information which is lapped up by fevered fans.

Now I know what you're thinking: "this sounds like a good racket, how do I get in on this?" Lucky for you, I've studied these "insiders" on twitter for months, learned their ways, and am now ready to release my findings to you, the trusting hockey public. Below is my step-by-step guide to becoming an NHL insider. Follow my E.K.L.U.N.D. system closely and you'll be swimming in Twitter followers in no time.

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Why scratch Ryan Ellis? Only a game removed from his 2 point performance against Chicago, it seems like a valid question. Assuming Weber, Suter, Klein, and now Gill are safe, what does Roman Josi (9 points, but -10) and Francis Bouillon (7 points in twice as many games), have over Ryan Ellis' 9 points and +8 rating?

Only half the stats tell half the tale, though. Let's look a little deeper at the Preds defenseman. I created this sortable table to compare each player's 5-on-5 performance:

By default, the table is sorted by quality of competition, in which Ellis ranks dead last. Trotz never uses Ellis against top lines, if he can help it. Another measure of strength of minutes is zone starts, or the percentage of times the player starts his shift in the offensive zone versus defensive zone. Here, Trotz has found another way of protecting Ellis, sending him out whenever the Preds get a whistle in the offensive zone.

Roman Josi, by contrast, has faced some of toughest minutes (42.7% zone starts). And their results reflect that difference. Josi is -10 on the season, because he does much of the team's defensive heavy lifting, along with Klein, Weber, and Suter. Ryan Ellis is +8 because he's used like a power play specialist, even at even-strength.

Should Ellis be punished for making the most of the opportunities given to him? That's a trickier question and one we debated with Cody Franson/Kevin Klein. But if Franson's time with the Predators taught us anything, if Trotz doesn't trust the player with a greater role, there's a reason, and he won't change his mind in the middle of a stretch run.

Carrying a power play specialist would have been defensible on past Predators teams, but this year Weber, Suter, and Josi have all been excellent on the man-up. And the acquisition of Gill for the PK frees up Weber and Suter for more PP minutes. Given that Trotz trusts Josi and Bouillon to help carry the load at even strength, scratching Ellis works to the benefit of everyone.

Over the summer, when Dirk ranked potential scoring forwards the Predators could seek in trade, Ales Hemsky's name came to the top. In 47 games last season, Hemsky's 5-on-5 scoring rate was superstar quality, higher than Anze Kopitar's, higher than Alex Semin's, higher than that of each of Anaheim's big three.

Times are different, though, you say. Nashville has the 12th ranked offense in the NHL and Hemsky is struggling in Edmonton.

But how are the Predators scoring? 5-on-5, the shutdown line--i.e. the line facing the toughest competition--centered by Mike Fisher, leads the way. On the man advantage, a trio of Americans--David Legwand, Colin Wilson, and Craig Smith--have combined to make the Predators' power play the third-best in hockey.

What happens in the playoffs, however, when Kostitsyn/Fisher/Erat consistently face tougher top lines and fewer penalties make special teams a moot point? The Predators risk a Vancouver-series situation, in which it takes incredible individual offensive effort to break the game open. Someone who can go coast to coast like butter toast. Someone like Ales Hemsky.

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It was the battle of two top-three power plays and the winning team went 1-1 on the man advantage, the losers 0-4. Go figure.

Vancouver's lone power play tally was the first goal of the game, as Ryan Kesler scored on a one-timer at 11:42. Frustratingly, Pekka was square Kesler on the play, but still couldn't make the save. Colin Wilson answered quickly, though, at 13:47, walking into the Canucks zone 1-on-2, scoring through the tiny space between Luongo's left arm and body.

Tied, and with their second power play chance late in the period, the Predators looked in good shape, but they promptly dug a nice-sized hole for themselves, allowing two goals in the final 100 seconds of the period. The recently recalled Byron Bitz, who had all of one goal this season in the AHL, scored his first of the year on an odd-man rush created by a bad Preds' change. Bitz added his first assist of the season a few seconds later, when Henrik Sedin beat Francis Bouillon to the front of the net.

To their immense credit, the Predators stuck to the system, confident they had mostly outplayed the Cancuks for 18 minutes of the first. After a productive shift from the Yip-Spaling-Tootoo line, Kevin Klein deflected a puck of Sergei Kostitsyn's skate and into the net, just like they practice. Roberto Luongo then decided to even it up, kicking a Shea Weber shot into his own net. They gave the goal to Mike Fisher, because why not?

That score would hold through a third period in which the Canucks mostly controlled the play (though David Legwand uncharacteristically looked off an empty net) and an overtime in which the Preds had some chances.

The Preds shot themselves in the foot tonight, but get full marks for coming back and being uncharacteristically aggressive in overtime. Hard to be too disappointed with a point tonight, especially since Vancouver will probably win their division anyway. Besides, this game going to overtime ticks off all our rivals!

Notes, highlights, and shootout judgement after the jump

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The Predators' priorities, heading into the February 27 trade deadline should be:

1. Convince Suter (and Weber) to stay
2. Make the team better for the stretch run
3. Increase payroll

And in that order.

These goals are interrelated, of course--some potentially available players could help the Predators in the playoffs, and, in turn, make Nashville more attractive to the team's impending free agents. Very few of said players, however, signal a significant long-term financial commitment and instantly make Nashville a serious Stanley Cup contender.

Jeff Carter does! And he fits a series of needs.

Tweet with the hashtag #barterforcarter to let David Poile know Jan Hlavac and Dustin Boyd aren't going to cut it!

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The Predators took an early 2-0 lead against the Blues in Nashville and then a goaltending battle broke out. The following is a metaphor for said battle:

Don't bring a knife to a Pekka Rinne fight.

Nashville struck first early on the power play. St. Louis' PK aggressively attacked Weber and Suter, but the forwards supported the puck well and Hornqvist found Erat open at the point, where he scored on a 50-foot slap shot. After withstanding continued pressure from St. Louis, the Predators countered with a solid forechecking shift from their top line. Kostitsyn found Fisher in front of the net, who used a nifty drag-play to beat Halak at 12:30.

The second period was notable mostly for the Preds' inability to finish off the Blues. Jaroslav Halak was a perfect 17-17, stopping many second efforts, and causing a frustrated Colin Wilson to break his stick over his knee Bo Jackson-style in the period's final minute.

Not to outdone, though, Pekka Rinne's third frame was even more spectacular, with 19 saves, 2 of the career highlight reel variety. Chris Porter put the fear into Preds' fans hearts when he picked Roman Josi's pocket and cut the deficit to one at 4:01. But from there on out, Pekka stole the show, making unbelievable sprawling glove saves at 9:17 and 11:18 on Matt D'Agostini and Kris Russell, respectively. The Kris Russell save was a stop of the year candidate. (Video).

Sergei Kostitsyn scored the empty-netter, on a pass from David Legwand, proving once and for all that:

1. Sergei is the shooting% king.

2. The Preds will pass on every odd-man rush, even if there isn't a goalie.

Notes, highlights, & Brian McGrattan fighting after the jump.

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There's a place at the intersection of Broadway and Fifth Avenue, in which kids all across North America dream about eventually playing. Y'know...the place by Rippy's and Tootsie's that was originally built for one reason, but now houses concerts through much of the year. It's that big stage, where people stand and cheer for talented people, playing together at the height of their professional careers.

Y'know...the Ryman.

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The Predators bested the Blackhawks in a pretty even game tonight, and in so doing, jumped them in the standings, taking third in the Central Division and the fifth seed in the Western conference. 9-1 in their last ten, the team has definitely earned a full week break (their next game is January 31 in Minnesota).

Nashville played a solid road game tonight, in that they took the lead earlier and didn't blow it. Craig Smith opened the scoring at 11:49 in the first on a Halischuk-style-spin-and-shoot^TM, after he and Matty ice combined on some solid forechecking. The Preds then went back On the Forecheck® after a hellish shift from Ellis-Hillen, and Patrick Hornqvist kicked the puck to Mike Fisher, who scored his fourth in four games.

The good guys avoided their patented second-period slide by spending the first eight minutes of it on some type of special teams assignment (an early PK, followed by a four minute block of 5-4 advantage). The third period was a little more stressful, with the Hawks converting one of three power play chances. A too many men call late, however, allowed the Preds to close out the game on the power play, and Colin Wilson put it on ice with the empty netter.

Notes, video highlights, & errata after the jump.

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The Predators-minus-Weber are a surprising 3-1 this season. Meanwhile, two nights ago, the Predators-sans-Suter lost and dropped to 4-7-1 over the past two years. These results have some fans wondering if Ryan Suter is more valuable than Shea Weber, or more pressingly, if Weber can remain dominant without Suter.

To test these statements, I decided to look a little deeper at each defenseman's numbers without his all-star partner. The popular consensus is that Weber is the dominant member of the pairing, the "1A," so to suggest Suter is more indispensable seems counterintuitive. Weber paces Suter in nearly every traditional stat--goals, assists, plus/minus--and the more esoteric possession ones, like Corsi and Zone Finish%.

Unsurprisingly, the numbers show that, despite the W-L record, Weber played fine without Suter. In fact, Weber has arguably performed better without Suter in the past two season than vice versa. First let's compare Suter's performance in the four games Weber missed to Weber's performance in the Islanders game and Rangers game:

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After last night's win against Minnesota, many wonder: is Pekka Rinne's new mask to blame for his struggles? But perhaps they should instead ask: is he struggling at all?

On paper, Pekka looks to be doing worse. His save percentage has dropped from last year's stellar .930 to .918--the first time it has been below .920 in recent memory. Fans have given a variety of the usual explanations: he's overworked, pressing, letting in too many soft goals.

A closer look at the numbers, however, shows his performance to be essentially identical to last season's, save for one aspect:

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The Predators beat a bad Ducks team at home tonight--thankfully--and with a little luck, could have done so more handily.

The Ducks didn't even register a shot on net through the first 14:57. In the meantime, the Predators had already put the puck in the net twice, to no benefit on the scoreboard. Colin Wilson had an early power play tally erased by an on-ice "distinct kicking motion" call that the situation room in Toronto felt distinct enough to let stand upon video review. Then Mike Fisher whacked a loose puck from Dan Ellis' glove, but was rebuffed by the infamous "intent to blow" rule.

Having thoroughly dominated so far, with nothing to show for it on the scoreboard, the Predators risked a real psychic collapse when the Ducks scored first, just 38 seconds in the second period. Andrew Gordon muscled Roman Josi to the ground in a board battle and Josi's hesitation getting up let Gordon cruise to the front of the Preds' net mostly unmolested and score.

The Predators, though, despite a few sloppy shifts, mostly kept the Ducks at bay. They finally broke through when Colin Wilson nicely hesitated on a breakaway and found Nick Spaling alone in the slot. Roman Josi drew the only defenseman on the Ducks' roster, Toni Lydman, out of the play, giving Spals a clear lane.

Nashville took its first lead of the night when Roman Josi scored his first career NHL goal on the Preds' third power play. Jordin Tootoo then gave the good guys the most dangerous lead in hockey, going coast to coast on a nice bank pass from Kevin Klein.

Francois Beauchemin brought the ducks within one after a hard-working forecheck late in the third period, but it was too little too late. Josi totally took Pekka Rinne out of the play on this goal with a nice shoulder to shoulder hit, further asserting that nothing of significance happens on the ice that Roman Josi doesn't directly cause.

highlights, notes & errata after the jump

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Despite being battered with shots, Pekka Rinne never waffled in net, and the Predators beat the Maple Leafs tonight in Nashville, 4-1.

The much-maligned of late Kostitsyn-Fisher-Erat line lead the way on offense, combining for seven points on the strength of two Marty party goals. Erat's first tally came 5:48 into the first off a lucky rebound that landed right on his stick. That lead would hold until a high-sticking penalty on Jack Hillen set up a Leafs power play, which John-Michael Liles converted on an extremely well-placed wrist shot.

The Preds retook the lead quickly, though, as Ryan Suter, supposedly in the midst of contract negotiations, strengthened his bargaining position with his fourth goal of the season. Suter's four goals matches his total from each of the past two seasons and gives him the ever-rare lead over his partner Shea Weber, who has netted just three so far. 

That would prove all the lead the Predators needed. Erat added another goal off a one-timer from Mike Fisher early in the third period, and the Preds characteristically fell back into a very conservative trap-style game. The Leafs had chances but, largely thanks to Rinne, the boys in gold bent but didn't break. 

Craig Smith had a chance to ice the game late, but the site of the vacated net painfully reminded him of his fallen mentor David Legwand, and stricken with grief, he flipped the puck over the glass. Matt Halischuk, however, secured frosties for all with his first David Legwand Memorial Empty Net Goal of the season.

Video highlights and errata after the jump.

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