from Pierre LeBrun of ESPN,

Ho-hum, just another great start for the Nashville Predators, who improved to 7-1-1 with a 2-1 road win over the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday night.

You may remember the Preds opened last season 6-2-2 in October and improved to 16-5-2 through November, eventually finishing second in the crazy Central Division behind the St. Louis Blues, then losing to the Chicago Blackhawks in a hard-fought series in the opening round of the playoffs....

The time for Nashville to strike is now. I ask, though, whether the Predators have enough to make the Stanley Cup finals.

more on the Preds from the ESPN hockey writers...