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Out of the Garage, Into the Fire

Just a few notes as the Predators head into Calgary this evening (8:30 Central start, only TV in Nashville is Center Ice coverage):

1. Dan Ellis gets the start in goal; again, this looks like a clear indication of #1 status. No word about any other lineup changes.

2. There will be no suspensions for any of the parties involved in last night's nonsense at the end of the 6-2 beatdown by the Canucks. My take on the whole fracas can be found towards the end of my coverage of that game.

3. For a preview of the game from the Calgary perspective, check out Five Hole Fanatics, a Flaming great blog. There's also the boys at Battle of Alberta, with their pregame piece.

Obviously, the Preds need to come out with a tighter defensive effort tonight. Chicago, Phoenix and Columbus haven't quite given up the fight yet, and there's no time to allow Colorado, Calgary, Minnesota or Vancouver to pull ahead of Nashville and catch up later.

Perhap's it's time to dress Zanon again, and bench Ryan Suter for a game. It will also be interesting to see if Alexander Radulov keeps his top-line status and gets decent ice time in light of his two early penalties and generally sloppy play last night.
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