NHL Preview Roundup (Part II)
Continued from part I...
Nashville at Philadelphia (7.00 p.m. ET)
The unstoppable Nashville Predators will certainly look for stretching its winning streak to six as it travels to play Philadelphia Flyers, but the latter has got all the ability to stop the former’s winning run at the Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Philadelphia, however, has to be consistent in order to overcome Nashville, which is ranked fourth in the National Hockey League (NHL) Western Conference with 66 points after 51 games.
Philadelphia is placed at the same spot in the Eastern Conference with 64 points after 49 games.
Nashville will have a slight edge entering the game because it has maintained an impressive record lately by winning 10 out of its last 11 games.
The Flyers have not been consistent and have lost four out of their last three games.
Winnipeg at Tampa Bay (7.30 p.m. ET)
After winning five straight games, the surging Tampa Bay Lightning is all set to crush Winnipeg Jets at the Tampa Bay Times Forum, Tampa, Florida.
Lightning has recovered brilliantly after losing seven straight games and does not seem in a mood to end this winning run.
Tampa Bay won its last game during overtime (4-3) against Washington Capitals. Steven Stamkos is satisfied with how his team is performing and wants to build on it against the Jets.
"We just want to win games right now and we'll take them any way we can get them,” he said.
He added that:
"We're certainly not complaining that we gave Washington one point. We got to catch some other teams, as well."
After 48 points in 49 games, Tampa Bay is ranked at 11th spot in the Eastern Conference.
On the other hand, Winnipeg is ranked just ahead of Tampa Bay with 52 points after 51 games.
However, Winnipeg does not have a good record against better teams which gives an edge to Tampa Bay.
Minnesota at Colorado (9.00 p.m. ET)
Colorado Avalanche can get among the top eight teams of the NHL Western Conference by beating the visiting Minnesota Wild on Thursday at the Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado.
But Colorado is on a three-game losing streak, and the morale in the camp is not very appreciable.
The last defeat came against Edmonton Oilers (3-2).
“There wasn't enough (desperation),” Colorado’s coach, Joe Sacco, said after the recent loss.
He added that:
“This is playoff hockey for us right now and we need to have more urgency right from the start. You have to be ready to start on time in this league. This is a no-excuse business.”
Minnesota, which is hanging tight at the eight spot in the same conference, lost its recent game against Nashville Predators (5-4), but can turn the things around by beating Colorado.
However, if Minnesota loses, it will drop to ninth of 10th spot.
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