Nashville Predators Puck Drop: Still Lots Of Work To Do

Welcome to The Puck Drop, a weekly roundup of all things Nashville Predators. We look at news stories, social media posts, and everything else that has to do with, cue Paul McCann, YOUR NASHVILLE PREDATORS.

The Nashville Predators Puck Drop is back!

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The Predators continue to play a great brand of hockey at the moment and sit in 4th place in the Central Division standings with a four-point lead over the Chicago Blackhawks.

Nashville hit a bump in the road when they faced the mighty Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday. The Predators have yet to beat the Hurricanes this season and have just three more tries to do so.

With a possible first-round playoff meeting with the Hurricanes on the horizon, the Predators need to figure out how to beat one of the NHL’s toughest and fastest teams.

It’s now the point in the season where Predators fans everywhere will be doing some scoreboard watching to see if Nashville can get some playoff help from the other Central Division teams that could prove to be spoilers and end the playoff hopes of some rivals.

This week we look at some NHL firsts for a couple of players, another hat trick, and a new goalie in the system.

Tanner Jeannot Scores His First NHL Goal

With the 7-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Predators picked up two more points in the Central Division standings. Helping to reach that big seven-goal score was forward Tanner Jeannot.

Jeannot scored his first NHL goal in that game while also proving to be a formidable opponent on the ice. Along with his goal, Jeannot also registered five hits in roughly 12 minutes of ice time.

Welcome to the club, Tanner, and here’s to a bright future with the Nashville Predators.

Rem Pitlick Tallies His First NHL Point

Along with Jeannot’s first NHL goal, another “youth movement” player had an NHL first. Rem Pitlick registered his first NHL point.

Pitlick picked up his first point, an assist on a Colton Sissons goal that put the Predators up 1-0 in the first period of the game against Tampa Bay.

Welcome to the club to you as well, Rem. We look forward to many more points, and goals from you as your career with the Predators progresses.

Arvy With The Hattie

With the 7-1 victory on April 8 against the Detroit Red Wings, new dad and birthday boy Viktor Arvidsson scored a hat trick, the third of his career.

After having already scored two goals, Arvidsson drew a penalty on a breakaway resulting in a penalty shot goal and sealing the hat trick.

It’s good to see Arvidsson’s resurgence after his injury last season and his struggle to find the net in the first half of this season.

A New Goalie In Nashville’s System

On Thursday, GM David Poile announced that the Predators had signed goaltender Tomas Vomacka to a two-year, entry-level contract.

Vomacka just finished his junior year at the University of Connecticut, where he played in all 23 of UConn’s games last season. He ended the season with a 2.84 GAA and a .909 save percentage. He also registered a shutout.

Welcome to Smashville, Tomas!!!

And Finally, Great News For Predators Fans

The city of Nashville recently announced that it will allow a higher capacity of fans into Bridgestone Arena for events beginning on April 19. The new capacity level will be 33%, which equals about 5,700 fans for a hockey game.

This is excellent news as the extra crowd noise will be sure to motivate the Predators for the remaining home games of the season as they make their final push to get into the playoffs.