.jpg&w=244&h=193&zc=1 "Rinne successfully underwent hip surgery")
Game 2: Red Wings @ Predators Preview
The Nashville Predators and Detroit Red Wings face off for Game 2, Friday night in front of a "Sea of Gold" filled with Predators fans. The series is already heated up with the Shea Weber and Henrik Zetterberg incident. Smack talk between fans have commenced as the Nashville Predators are up in the series 1-0 with the win Wednesday night, 3-2. Puck drops at, special start time, 6:38 PM CT.
Be loud Smashville!
TV/Radio Coverage
Coverage in Nashville: SportSouth and 102.5 The Game
Coverage in Detroit: FS-D and 97.1 The Ticket
Coverage in US: CNBC
Coverage in Canada: CBC and RDS2
Playoff Series
| Game | Date | Away | Home | Result |
| Game 1 | 4/11 | DET | NSH | 2-3 NSH |
Line Up News
Starting Goalies:
| Name | W | L | OT | SV % | GAA |
| #35 Pekka Rinne | 1 | 0 | 0 | .946 | 2.00 |
| #35 Jimmy Howard | 0 | 1 | 0 | .885 | 3.05 |
Projected Predators Scratches: #75 D Hal Gill (Lower Body), #15 C Craig Smith, #22 W Jordin Tootoo, #23 W Brian McGrattan, #33 C Colin Wilson, #49 D Ryan Ellis and #37 G Chet Pickard
Projected Red Wings Scratches: #43 C Darren Helm (Forearm Laceration), #31 G Joey MacDonald (Back), #4 D Jakub Kindl, #15 C Riley Sheahan, #39 W Jan Mursak and #41 W Chris Conner
Injury Report
Predators: #75 D Hal Gill (Lower Body) is Day-to-Day/Questionable
Red Wings: #43 C Darren Helm (Lacerated Forearm) Out and #31 G Joey MacDonald (Back) questionable
Lines
Predators
| LW | C | RW |
| #74 Sergei Kostitsyn | #12 Mike Fisher | #10 Martin Erat |
| #46 Andrei Kostitsyn | #11 David Legwand | #47 Alexander Radulov |
| #57 Gabriel Bourque | #13 Nick Spaling | #27 Patric Hornqvist |
| #18 Brandon Yip | #28 Paul Gaustad | #24 Matt Halischuk |
| D | D |
| #20 Ryan Suter | #6 Shea Weber |
| #8 Kevin Klein | #59 Roman Josi |
| #51 Francis Bouillon | #38 Jack Hillen |
| G |
| #35 Pekka Rinne |
| #39 Anders Lindback |
| #37 Chet Pickard |
Red Wings
| LW | C | RW |
| #93 Johan Franzen | #13 Pavel Datsyuk | #44 Todd Bertuzzi |
| #51 Valtteri Filppula | #40 Henrik Zetterberg | #26 Jiri Hudler |
| #11 Dan Cleary | #8 Justin Abdelkader | #14 Gustav Nyquist |
| #20 Drew Miller | #48 Cory Emmerton | #96 Tomas Holmstrom |
| D | D |
| #5 Nicklas Lidstrom | #52 Jonathan Ericsson |
| #55 Niklas Kronwall | #23 Brad Stuart |
| #27 Kyle Quincey | #18 Ian White |
| G |
| #35 Jimmy Howard |
| #29 Ty Conklin |
Game 2, Red Wings Players to Watch:
| Name | G | A | +/- |
| #40 Henrik Zetterberg | 1 | 0 | -1 |
| #96 Tomas Holmstrom | 1 | 0 | -1 |
| #13 Pavel Datsyuk | 0 | 0 | -1 |
Thoughts on Both Teams
Red Wings: The Detroit Red Wings had a tough time against the Nashville Predators in Game 1, Wednesday night. Detroit wasn't disciplined, but neither was Nashville, but their penalties allowed the Predators to have six chances on the power play. Fortunately, the best aspect of the game for the Red Wings in Game 1 was their penalty kill. The PK squad killed all six power play chances for Nashville.
Not a huge surprise to Predators fans, but to many others, the Red Wings played a very physical game in Game 1. For some reason during the playoffs, the Detroit Red Wings have a switch that turns on to "physical". Detroit isn't very physical during the regular season, but only in the playoffs.
The Detroit Red Wings lost a key player for the rest of the playoffs, Darren Helm. Helm just returned from knee surgery but in his first game back in the lineup, he gets injured again. Helm is out for the rest of the 2012 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs with lacerated tendons in his right forearm.
Darren Helm hit Alexander Radulov on the penalty kill, as Radulov' right skate came up and got his forearm. Immediately after, Helm threw his stick and left glove on the ice as he raced towards the dressing room. Helm had surgery Wednesday night at Vanderbilt Hospital in West End.
In order to win for the Detroit Red Wings, they need to keep up the great penalty kill and continue to play a physical hockey game. The Red Wings also need to stay out of the penalty box and try not to retaliate to Shea Weber.
Predators: The Nashville Predators got Game 1, which is huge for the confidence in that locker room. The good news is that the Predators got the win while they didn't play well. The bad news is they could be without Hal Gill another night with a lower body injury.
Hal Gill did not practice Thursday, once again. Barry Trotz says he is day-to-day and could come back Friday if he skates with the team. Although, I am not buying that and I do think that the Predators will be without Gill again.
Shea Weber is now a "marked man" in the Detroit Red Wings dressing room and in the city of Detroit. And we all know that being a marked man in Detroit could be the worst thing ever, except maybe being a marked man in Compton, California. Anyways back to hockey...
Weber got away with a dirty hit on Henrik Zetterberg where he slammed Zet's head into the glass with around a second remaining in the game. There is no suspension for Shea Weber however, he was fined $2,500 for the hit. As a Predators fan, we will take that any day.
The Nashville Predators and the Milwaukee Admirals swapped goalies Thursday. Chet Pickard is back with the NHL club, while Jeremy Smith is back with the AHL club. Chet Pickard is really only here for the experience and an emergency back-up option.
In order to win for the Nashville Predators, they have to keep throwing pucks on Jimmy Howard and continue to play a physical game as well. The Predators have to stay out of the penalty box. Giving the Detroit Red Wings eight power plays is lethal. Also, Nashville has to stop throwing pucks out in critical areas such as the middle of their own zone. So often Wednesday night, the Predators threw the puck in very dangerous areas.
Here are some Quick Hits from the Nashville Predators.
PLAYOFF QUICK HITS
• This is the third Western Conference Quarterfinals series between Nashville and Detroit. The Red Wings have won both of the previous series – 4-2 in 2004 and 4-2 in 2008. Nashville has played more playoff games (13) against Detroit that any other teams in their seven trips to the postseason.
• Ten of the 13 postseason games between the Predators and Red Wings have been decided by two goals or fewer.
• Nashville is returning 14 players from last season’s playoff team – Erat, Fisher, Halischuk, Hornqvist, Klein, Sergei Kostitsyn, Legwand, Lindback, Rinne, Spaling, Suter, Tootoo, Weber and Wilson. Francis Bouillon was injured and did not play during the 2011 playoffs.
• Martin Erat is tied with Legwand for the most career postseason assists (12) in club history. He ranks second to David Legwand in points (19), goals (7) and games played (37).
• Mike Fisher led all Predators with six points (3g-3a) against the Ducks in the Western Conference Quarterfinals last year. He finished the 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs with seven points (3g-4a). Fisher leads all Predators with 35 career postseason points (17g-18a).
• Hal Gill – who missed Game One – ranks sixth among active defensemen in postseason games played. He has skated in 105 career playoff games, making him the most experienced Predator in the postseason. Sixty-nine of those games have come in the past four seasons.
• Legwand is the Predators’ franchise leader in every postseason offensive category; he has posted 22 points (10g-12a) in 38 postseason games with Nashville. Legwand posted nine points (6g-3a) during the playoffs last season, including a four-game points streak (4g-1a) to close out Nashville’s Western Conference Semifinals series with Vancouver.
• Ryan Suter (30gp) and Shea Weber (30gp) have each taken the ice in every Predators’ playoff game over the last three seasons – they are the only players to do so.
