Star a scratch:
On the same day that Alexander Radulov was named to the Young Stars roster as part of the upcoming All-Star festivities in Dallas, the Predators rookie was a healthy scratch against Columbus.
Trotz said he felt it was important to get Nichol in the game and he did not want to sacrifice any of his penalty killers as a scratch.
"I think (Radulov) could be a little better in his overall game," Trotz said. "He's not playing poorly, but we knew we were going to get their A-game and were going to have to grind it out so I made sure that we had more of the penalty killers, the grinders, in."
Radulov played 25 straight games before Saturday, collecting 18 points. Also on the bench was Darcy Hordichuk, who was a scratch for the third time in the last six games.