CALGARY
Adidas Jaroslav Halak Jersey , Alberta — The Nashville Predators are struggling on the road and they will try to get their act together Saturday to
fix the problem.The Predators have lost four straight away from home entering
Saturday’s game against the surging Calgary Flames.Nashville gave up four
straight goals and couldn’t complete a comeback Thursday in a 5-2 loss to the
Vancouver Canucks. Article continues below ...“It’s tough, but we’ll bounce
back,” Nashville’s Colton Sissons told reporters in Vancouver. “We’ll be just
fine.”Calgary may be without captain Mark Giordano, who faced a disciplinary
hearing Friday for a knee-on-knee hit with Minnesota Wild captain Mikko Koivu on
Thursday. The hit drew a minor penalty for tripping.The Predators are 6-4 in
their past 10 games and had been caught by the Flames and Colorado Avalanche for
first place in the Western Conference through 29 games.The Predators are
hurting. Four of their mainstays are out with injuries and coach Peter
Laviolette told the Tennessean on Thursday that they all will remain out for at
least one more game.“There’s nobody coming back tomorrow,” Laviolette said
Thursday. “I don’t have the answer to that. You’re not going to see anybody in
Calgary. Those guys are on the mend right now.”Filip Forsberg, Viktor Arvidsson,
P.K. Subban and Kyle Turris are all on injured reserve.Subban has missed the
past 11 games with an undisclosed injury. Forsberg, the team’s leading scorer,
was placed on injured reserve Dec. 1, also with an undisclosed injury. Arvidsson
is out until January with a broken thumb and Turris went on IR on Nov. 25 with
an undisclosed injury.Calgary is waiting for Nashville after a 2-0 win over the
Minnesota Wild on Thursday that leaves the Flames 8-1-1 in their past 10 games.
Thursday’s game likely was costly for the Flames after second-line center Mikael
Backlund was injured in the final minute with a possible concussion. He was
leveled by Wild defensemen Matt Dumb with a stiff open ice shoulder check that
didn’t sit well with the Flames. Ryan Lomberg skated the length of ice and
jumped Dumba. A recent call-up from the American Hockey league
Adidas Steven Kampfer Jersey , Lomberg was handed a one-game suspension Friday for instigating a fight in the last five minutes of a game.Coach Bill
Peters drew a $10,000 fine for sending Lomberg on the ice for the purpose of
instigating a fight.Elias Lindholm scored his 14th and 15th goals for the
Flames. Mike Smith stopped 31 saves for this second shutout of the season and
appears to have gotten back on track after a horrible start to his season that
prompted calls for him to be dropped to No. 2 behind David Rittich.“I think the
guys have bailed me out a lot this year, so I think it’s nice to make some saves
and contribute on the team’s success,” the 36-year-old Smith told
reporters.Lindholm was Calgary’s key acquisition in the summer, coming over from
Peters’ former team, the Carolina Hurricanes, in the Dougie Hamilton trade. He’s
second behind Sean Monhanan’s 17 goals on the team.“Lindholm does a good job; he
gets it on and off his stick quick. He’s been shooting the puck really well and
played great on the penalty kill,” Peters said. PITTSBURGH (AP) Having home ice
is supposed to be an advantage in the NHL. So far in the 2018 playoffs, the only
guarantee to playing at home is a monochrome backdrop provided by fans in
team-specific T-shirts.Consider the following:– The Pittsburgh Penguins finished
with the second-worst road record among the 16 playoff teams. Then the two-time
defending Stanley Cup champions ripped off three wins in Philadelphia to
kickstart their pursuit of a three-peat and backed it up with another victory in
Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series in Washington.– The Capitals
dropped Games 1 and 2 at home in overtime against Columbus in the opening round
only to beat the Blue Jackets three times in Columbus on their way to advancing
to the NHL’s final eight for the fourth consecutive year.– Winnipeg posted an
NHL-high 32 wins on home ice. One of their seven regulation home losses,
however
Adidas Zach Bogosian Jersey , was a wild 6-5 setback at the hands of Nashville in February. The Predators‘ triumph helped them win the Presidents
Trophy and guarantee home ice through the playoffs. The Jets, of course, won the
series opener in Nashville to steal that advantage.Home teams are just 26-26 so
far in the playoffs heading into Tuesday, when Pittsburgh hosts Washington (7:30
p.m. Eastern, NBCSN) and Winnipeg welcomes the Predators (8 p.m., CNBC). Both
series are tied after the visitors claimed their respective openers on the
road.Asked why the games have become a coin flip regardless of venue, Penguins
coach Mike Sullivan – whose team was outplayed at PPG Paints Arena by
Philadelphia in Game 2 and Game 5 in the opening round – admits he can’t really
come up with a reason.”I don’t know if I have answer for you that makes sense,”
Sullivan said Monday. ”Sometimes when teams go on the road, they have tendency
to simplify their game … I know our team historically has been very good at home
and I believe we will continue to do that.”If Pittsburgh wants to become the
first franchise in 35 years to win three straight titles, it doesn’t really have
much of a choice. Though Sullivan is right in that the Penguins are pretty good
at PPG Paints Arena
Joakim Nordstrom Jersey Womens , they’ve only been so-so when facing the Capitals. Washington won Game 3 and Game 6 in Pittsburgh during the 2017
postseason and wrapped up its third straight Metropolitan Division title with a
3-1 win there on April 1.”You’ve got to create your own momentum, but it gives
you good memories,” Capitals coach Barry Trotz said. ”If you have to go back
into the memory bank, at least we have one. Those are things that you can bank
on maybe for some positive feeling going forward.”Predators forward Nick Bonino
couldn’t offer up any specifics about Nashville’s victory in Winnipeg even
though it happened all of two months ago, saying only ”I’m sure we played a
solid road game.”The road does offer the visiting team a sense of routine. There
aren’t as many friends or family around. No kids waking up in the middle of the
night. No traffic to deal with in most places. Just wake up, suit up and go
play.”You go out to dinner, there’s not really any distractions,” Bonino said.
”You’re there for hockey.”And the hockey in both series has been spectacular.
Nashville avoided heading to Canada in an 0-2 hole with a thrilling
double-overtime escape in Game 2. Washington responded after blowing a two-goal,
third-period lead in Game 1 by winning a predictably chippy Game 2.That
chippiness included a questionable hit by Washington’s Tom Wilson to Pittsburgh
defenseman Brian Dumolin’s head in the second period that sent Dumolin into the
concussion protocol. Dumolin skated with his teammates on Monday and his status
– much like the status of star center Evgeni Malkin (lower body) and Carl
Hagelin (upper body) – won’t be determined until Tuesday.Wilson was not
penalized for the hit and received a pass from the league when it opted not to
schedule a disciplinary hearing to review the play. While Dumolin said he didn’t
see Wilson coming because he was bracing for a hit by Alex Ovechkin, Wilson
claimed Dumolin turned his head just before impact leaving Wilson with no time
to react.”He stops and turns and I’m kind of right there as (Ovechkin) is coming
in pretty aggressively
Christopher Tanev Jersey ,” Wilson said. ”It’s a collision.”Pittsburgh star Kris Letang wasn’t surprised Wilson’s hit wasn’t deemed illegal. Why?”Because we
don’t know anymore (what’s legal and illegal),” he said.And we don’t know what a
given night is going to bring anymore either. Home teams get to sleep in their
beds. They get the luxury of the last line change before faceoffs, allowing them
to get the matchups they want. And so far it has made zero difference in the
result.”It doesn’t have to be pretty always on the road,” Predators defenseman
Matt Irwin said. ”I think we embrace that.”—AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno in
Washington, D.C., and AP Sports Writer Teresa Walker in Nashville, Tennessee,
contributed to this report.
