NHL Game Preview for Saturday March 3, 2012 – Nashville Predators @ Florida Panthers

Discussion in 'NHL General' started by UncleRico, Mar 2, 2012.

  1. UncleRico

    UncleRico Suspended

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    Online Betting Overview
    The Nashville Predators brought in former Buffalo Sabres’ forward Paul Gaustad at the NHL trade deadline to try and fill a need for a scrappy and determined center man. Gaustad is filling his role, but the Predators are still having problems finishing off games. Nashville is comfortably in the fifth spot in the Western Conference and it would take quite a colossal collapse for Nashville to miss the playoffs. What the Nashville Predators are most concerned about is the actual play in the playoffs itself. The toughness that Nashville lacked up front is one of the things that stopped its run in last year’s playoffs. With Gaustad on board, the Predators are hoping that it can make the run deep into the playoffs that it wanted to make last season.

    March Madness betting is getting a lot of attention in the state of Florida, which works out pretty good for the Florida Panthers because the Panthers are not playing well at all. In its last outing, the Panthers were hammered 7-0 by the Winnipeg Jets on the road. It is never a good sign when a division leader losses an important divisional game so late in the season. It is an even worse sign when that division leader gets hammered and shutout in the same game. The Jets have been playing very well lately and the Panthers are going to have to pick up the pace if it wants to keep the Jets in second place in the Southeast Division.

    Nashville Predators
    The Predators is 5-3-2 in the last 10 games and actually playing very despite a 4-3 loss to Carolina in its most recent start. On the road, Nashville is 16-13-2, which is a good sign for Predators’ fans that are hoping the team does well in the playoffs. The price per head bookie experts point out that the key to Nashville’s success is goaltender Pekka Rinne. In his last five starts, Rinne is 4-0-1 and has not allowed more that two goals against in any one of those games. With the addition of Gaustad, the Predators have a more balanced offense to go along with its strong defense. This could be a very interesting year for the Predators in the playoffs.

    Florida Panthers
    A bodog review of the last 10 games for the Panthers shows a good 5-4-1 record. But the 7-0 blowout at the hands of the Winnipeg Jets should raise some red flags for a variety of reasons. The Jets are a surging divisional opponent that is now only two points away from the first place Panthers. The Jets exposed a key weakness in the Panthers’ defensive game which is an inability to contain offensive speed. The Panthers’ problems in goal are something new for Florida fans to worry about, which is not a comfort at all for concerned fans. The Panthers are the best team in a weak division. Now that a team has finally shown the ability to win consistently, it has become a challenge to the Panthers’ divisional lead.

    The Bottom Line
    The Nashville Predators play a lot like the Detroit Red Wings in that they use a grinding offense backed up by excellent goaltending. It is a style of play that the Florida Panthers are not going to be able to withstand.

    Pick: Nashville Predators
     
    Last edited: Jun 22, 2012

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