Tonight’s broadcast schedule

#7 Nolensville vs. #5 Franklin - 6:25 PM pregame, 6:30 PM faceoff BROADCAST LINK
#3 Page-Summit vs. #2 Montgomery Bell - 8:10 PM pregame, 8:15 PM faceoff BROADCAST LINK

Previewing tonight’s games

The games that MTSN will be broadcasting are in BOLD.

Predators Cup - both games will be played @ Centennial B
Winners’ Bracket Final
#7 Nolensville vs. #5 Franklin - 6:30 PM
How they got here
Nolensville:
-defeated Montgomery Bell 2-1 on February 4 in the first round
-defeated Page-Summit 4-1 on February 11 in the Winners’ Bracket Semifinals
Franklin:
-defeated Hendersonville 5-4 on February 3 in the first round
-defeated Station Camp 6-0 on February 11 in the Winners’ Bracket Semifinals
Regular season meeting: Nolensville won 4-2 on October 20
So, I don’t think that anyone would’ve predicted this matchup for this particular game; maybe you would’ve had Nolensville going up against the likes of Ravenwood or MBA or even Hendersonville, but not Franklin. In the Knights’ most recent game against Page, I noticed that head coach Ty Johns had spread his scorers across his Top 2 lines, mixing them with younger players. I like this move, because it helps the younger players’ development speed up a bit, and helps address the lack of depth further down the roster. Still, five of their six goals so far this postseason have been scored by two of their big guns: Spencer Kern (three) and Jackson Malleus-Mayer (two; the other goal, which Page put in their own net, was given to Bingston Soundara). At this point of the postseason, it doesn’t matter who’s scoring for you, as long as you’re getting scoring, and it’s helping you win games. It also helps that Bingston is looking like the Bingston from the last two postseasons. Meanwhile, with a change in coaches, Franklin’s playing style is drastically different. They’ve definitely toned down on the aggressive play off the puck, and have been more careful about taking unnecessary penalties. It’s served them well, as they shut down a Station Camp team that clobbered them nine days before, then went on to beat Ravenwood in the opening round of the Preds Cup. They’ll get a big boost tonight, as Aidan Murphy will finally return to the lineup, having served his five-game suspension for his actions at the end of the game against Ravenwood on January 5; unfortunately, there is a trade-off in this regard, as Michael Mannion will be suspended tonight, due to being called for two ten-minute misconducts at once during the recent Station Camp game. Ryan Mannion has become the Admirals’ breakout star during these playoffs, scoring five of their eleven goals. Soundara will be seeing a lot of him tonight. Who will Franklin go with in goal: will they go back to Grayson Butters, or will they stick with Teague Spencer, who got a shutout against Station Camp last time out? No matter who it is, they will certainly see more than 13 shots, which is all they allowed the Bison to get. I really think that Nolensville have found their postseason groove, so, I’ll go with them.

Game prediction: Nolensville

Consequences of this game’s result: The winner will take the first spot in next Monday’s Final @ 8:15 PM @ Bellevue-Crisp, while the loser will play the Page/MBA winner in Wednesday’s Losers’ Bracket Final @ 8:45 PM @ Centennial A

Losers’ Bracket Semifinal
#3 Page-Summit vs. #2 Montgomery Bell - 8:15 PM
How they got here
Page:
-defeated Ensworth 3-1 on February 4 in the first round
-lost 4-1 to Nolensville on February 11 in the Winners’ Bracket Semifinals
-defeated Hendersonville 4-3 last Wednesday in the Losers’ Bracket Quarterfinals
Montgomery Bell:
-lost 2-1 to Nolensville on February 4 in the first round
-defeated Ensworth 4-3 in overtime on February 9 in the Losers’ Bracket first round
-defeated Station Camp 5-4 in overtime last Wednesday in the Losers’ Bracket Quarterfinals
Regular season meeting: MBA won 3-2 on January 5
The Spartriots bounced back from a tough loss to Nolensville with an epic final-minute victory against Hendersonville. More importantly, they finally got goals out of players other than Hudson Halters and Madden Chandler, with Aiden Meyer and Brayden Owen putting the puck into the back of the Commandos’ net. Meanwhile, the Big Red avoided being knocked off by 8 seed Station Camp with another overtime thriller, and something I’ve been saying the Big Red needed in a big game came to light: Someone other than Trace Graham and Matthew Moore stepping up to score when they can’t; freshman Conner Mazzoni’s hat trick against the Bison saved MBA’s season, no question, as the second and third goals on it were the game-tying and game-winning goals, respectively. That needs to continue, but it doesn’t have to be Mazzoni alone; Duke D’Alba, Ethans Moore and Sides, Abe Lasher (returning tonight after being suspended for Wednesday’s game), anyone of those guys and more need to start contributing to the goal-scoring as the Big Red get deeper into the postseason. The January 5 showdown between these two was defined by two very early power play goals by MBA within its first five minutes (no guesses who scored those goals); Page tilted the ice in their direction in the second period and tied the game, only for Graham to score the game-winner just 39 seconds later. So, the Spartriots need to stay out of the box, especially early, and they need to shoot more: in the January game, they were outshot 33-15. The winner of this game will be the last Top 4 seed standing when it ends; I’ve got a feeling that it’s going to be the Big Red.

Game prediction: MBA

Consequences of this game’s result: The winner will play the Nolensville/Franklin loser on Wednesday in the Losers’ Bracket Final @ 8:45 PM @ Centennial A, while the loser is eliminated

Henry Hine Cup - both games will be played @ Bellevue-Crisp
Winners’ Bracket Final
#2 Independence-Centennial vs. #1 Father Ryan - 6:30 PM
How they got here
Independence:
-defeated Clarksville Kings 9-2 on February 9 in the first round
-defeated Tennessee Outlaws 4-2 last Tuesday in the Winners’ Bracket Semifinals
Father Ryan:
-defeated Rutherford Rampage 4-1 on February 5 in the first round
-defeated JPII-MLK-GCS 6-3 on February 12 in the Winners’ Bracket Semifinals
Regular season meeting: Independence won 2-0 on September 29
This is the matchup that was expected for this particular game; Indy are the only team who can realistically stop Father Ryan from winning the Hine Cup at this point (I’d say Brentwood, too, but they need to keep winning, and hope they get Ryan in Thursday’s Losers’ Bracket Final to make that happen). Hank Walker put the Eagles on his back against the Outlaws last week, notching a hat trick, and having the lone assist on Nick Claas’s game-winning goal. Meanwhile, the Irish haven’t played for 12 days, their last game coming against JPII, where Gage Hart had a first period hat trick, but goals became a bit harder to come by, as Ethan Hickerson settled down in net for JPII, allowing two more goals across the remaining two periods, then being pulled in favor of Cade Garrett, who gave up the sixth Irish goal. The meeting between these two nearly five months ago was a goaltending showdown between David Busby and Zach Fonnesbeck, with Busby coming out on top, thanks to goals from Bryson Patton and Claas, with Patton’s coming very late in the second (just 20 seconds left, in fact). If Ryan head coach Kyle Dora continues to rotate his goalies for each game, then it should be Fonnesbeck in goal for this one, as Jack Karpynec played last time out against JPII. I would not be surprised if this game was low-scoring like the September one, simply because of the goaltending matchup. An early goal could be a back-breaker. This game could go either way, but Indy seem kind of dangerous at the moment (watch me be wrong, that’s just how my predictions have gone this season).

Game prediction: Indy

Consequences of this game’s result: The winner of this game will take the first spot in the Final next Monday @ 6 PM @ Bellevue-Crisp, while the loser will play Brentwood, Mt. Juliet, or JPII in the Losers’ Bracket Final on Thursday @ 7:30 PM @ Antioch-North

Losers’ Bracket Quarterfinal
#6 Brentwood-BA-USN vs. #4 JPII-MLK-GCS - 8:15 PM
How they got here
Brentwood:
-lost 5-3 to the Tennessee Outlaws on February 9 in the first round
-defeated Clarksville Kings 6-3 on February 11 in the Losers’ Bracket first round
JPII:
-defeated Mt. Juliet 6-5 on February 9 in the first round
-lost 6-3 to Father Ryan on February 12 in the Winners’ Bracket Semifinals
Regular season meeting: JPII won 3-1 on December 5
The Bruins were put on upset alert against the Kings, trailing 2-1 after the first, before running off with the game as it went on, while JPII got too far down too early against the Irish to come back. The status of Collier Owen remains questionable, however, and a decision will not be made on whether or not he’ll play sometime today. That makes this game harder to gauge. Other than the loss to the Outlaws, Brentwood have played pretty well these last couple of months, and it started not long after the December meeting between these two; meanwhile, JPII’s tournament-opening win over Mt. Juliet is the only win in their last six games. Let’s say Ethan Hickerson has to go in net again for the Knights; after the Gage Hart first period hat trick last time out, he settled down and only gave up two more goals. You know what Brentwood don’t have? A Gage Hart, a guy who can just score at will like he can. That’s not to say they won’t have one in the future, just not right now. He seems due for a win, and I think he’ll get it tonight.

Game prediction: JPII

Consequences of this game’s result: The winner will play Mt. Juliet in the Losers’ Bracket Semifinal on Wednesday @ 7:10 PM @ Centennial A, while the loser is eliminated

Brackets

Predators Cup

Henry Hine Cup

The rest of this week’s schedule

MTSN is planning to broadcast all of these games.

Wednesday
Both games will be played @ Centennial A.
Henry Hine Cup Losers’ Bracket Semifinal
Brentwood/JPII winner vs. #5 Mt. Juliet-Wilson Central-Lebanon - 7:10 PM

Predators Cup Losers’ Bracket Final
Nolensville/Franklin loser vs. Page/MBA winner - 8:45 PM

Thursday
Henry Hine Cup Losers’ Bracket Final
Brentwood, Mt. Juliet, or JPII vs. Independence/Father Ryan loser - 7:30 PM @ Antioch-North

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