Nashville Predators host Dallas Stars

April 4, 2012 |

Nashville, TN – Thursday night, the Dallas Stars make their final trip of the 2011-12 season to the Music City take on the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena. Nashville is 6-5-0 on home ice since the 2006-07 season and is 13-11-1 all-time against the Stars in the Music City.

The Predators and Stars last met on February 19th in the Lone Star State, as the Preds edged the Stars 3-2 to split the Dallas portion of the season series, 1-1. Gabriel Bourque opened the scoring for Nashville at the 15:39 mark of the first, tying the game at one goal apiece.

Brandon Yip has eight points (4g-4a) in nine career games against Dallas. Wilson has six points (4g-2a) in his last seven games against Dallas.

Nashville Predators Forward Mike Fisher

Mike Fisher – who missed the last game vs. Dallas – has nine points (5g-4a) in 15 career games against the Stars. He also took his first career penalty shot at Dallas on December 5th, 2001, against Marty Turco, and scored.

Patric Hornqvist fired a career-high/franchise-record 14 shots on goal on December 28th, 2010. He recorded his first NHL goal against Dallas (Turco) on October 15th, 2008, in his second career game.

With their 2-1 shootout win over the Minnesota Wild Tuesday night, the Predators eclipsed the 100-point mark for the fourth time in franchise history. Nashville’s first 100-plus point campaign came in 2005-06, when they notched 106 points on the year.

Nashville Predators Forward Patric Hornqvist

The following season, the Predators posted a franchise-best 110 points. The team last cracked the 100-point plateau during the 2009-10 season, when they notched 100 points on the year. Nashville’s 694 points since the beginning of the 2005-06 season is fifth-most in the NHL, just one behind New Jersey for fourth place.

Nashville is just one of five teams to make the postseason in seven of the last eight seasons – Detroit Red Wings, New Jersey Devils, Philadelphia Flyers, San Jose Sharks are the others. The team’s 46 victories this season are the fourth-most in franchise history, just one victory shy of tying the third-most (47) set during the 2009-10 season.

Nashville is one of three teams to post at least 40 wins in seven consecutive seasons – Detroit and San Jose are the others.

With the Predators’ victory over Minnesota on Tuesday, Head Coach Barry Trotz – the only man to hold the position in franchise history – notched his 501st career win, moving him into a tie with Pat Burns for 15th on the all-time wins list.

The win also pushed Trotz past Toe Blake (500) for third in wins with a single franchise.

Last Time Out

Predators 2, Minnesota 1 (SO) at Bridgestone Arena

Nashville Predators Goaltender Anders Lindback

Nashville went to the shootout for the 10th time this season – they improved to 5-5 in those contests.

Anders Lindback earned his fourth victory of the season in his first career shootout appearance. He stopped 25-of-26 shots in regulation and overtime, then stopped all three shooters in the tiebreaker.

It was the first time a goaltender not named Pekka Rinne won a home game at Bridgestone Arena since December 15th, 2010, when Lindback backstopped the Predators to a 3-2 victory over San Jose.

Alexander Radulov notched the game-deciding goal for Nashville in the shootout. It was his first shootout attempt since returning to the NHL last month.  He is now 5 for 15 (33.3 percent) for his career in the shootout. Radulov has tallied six points (3g-3a) in seven games with the Predators this season.

Nashville Predators Defenseman Ryan Suter

Gabriel Bourque scored Nashville’s lone goal in regulation. He has posted seven points (3g-4a) in his last nine outings.

Nick Spaling notched the assist on Bourque’s goal. Fifteen (7g-8a) of his 21 points (10g-11a) this season have come on home ice.

Nashville was outshot for the 53rd time this season; however, they lead the League in wins (31) in those situations.

As the Predators ready themselves for the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the defensive pairing of Ryan Suter and Shea Weber continues its all-star caliber play on the Predators blue line. The duo is the only defensive tandem in the NHL to post at least 45 points apiece this season.

Suter notched his 200th career assist against the Chicago Blackhawks last Saturday – becoming just the fourth player in franchise history to hit the mark. The Madison, WI, native is third among NHL blueliners in power-play points and assists (3g-22a-25pts), and ranks third in the League in average ice time (26:38), 20 seconds ahead of Weber (26:18), who ranks fifth.

Nashville Predators Defenseman Shea Weber

Weber is now just one point shy of cracking the 50-point plateau for the second time in his career. The Sicamous, B.C., native ranks sixth among blueliners with 49 points on the year (19g-30a), while his 19 goals are tied with Erik Karlsson for first among d-men. He is just one marker shy of becoming the fifth Predator ever to post 100 career goals.

Weber has already posted a career-high 22 power-play points (10g-12a) this season – he ranks among the Top 10 d-men in power-play points and leads all NHL d-men with 10 PPGs on the year, which ties his career high (2008-09). Weber is now plus-18 on the season – that ranks him sixth among defensemen with at least 40 points this season.

Quick Hits

• Nashville has posted a 28-12-4 record in its last 44 games, outscoring the opposition 133-105 (plus 28), despite being outshot 1,327-1,229 (minus 98).
• Nashville is one of only four teams to rank in the League’s Top 10 in both goals per game and goals-against per game – Boston, Detroit and Vancouver are the others.
• The Predators are 33-3-4 when scoring first – the League’s second-best winning percentage in that situation (.825).
• The Predators have scored 229 goals for the season – that is the fourth-highest total in club history – 272 (06-07), 259 (05-06), 230 (07-08).
• With 42 victories on the year, Pekka Rinne holds the franchise record and leads the League in the category. He also leads the League in saves (1,949), shots against (2,115), and ranks second in appearances (71). Nashville is 14-0-2 this season when Rinne makes 35 saves or more.
• Nashville improved to 32-15-3 with Roman Josi in the line-up – they are 14-11-5 when he has not dressed.

The Nashville Predators and the Dallas Stars hit the ice at Bridgestone Arena Thursday night at 7:00pm.

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