Trending DOWN ⇓: We Gotta Score More!
We heard it since the beginning of last season but even more this summer and preseason. We have an uptempo style with more shots and more scoring. Coach Peter Laviolette’s style is a big departure from past Nashville Predators teams that always played defense first.
David Poile went out and signed Cody Hodgson as the third line center to add even more scoring. That will distribute opportunities and make the team harder to defense. So far, we haven’t seen it. This team has a grand total of seven goals and if you take away the two empty netters that takes us down to five goals in three games. An average of 1.67 goals a game. Most goalies would be very happy with that goals against average.
You can’t say that Coach Laviolette hasn’t tried things. He has moved players back and forth between the top three lines. Last night he even had Cody Hodgson on the top line for a while. The defensemen are moving up and taking their shots too. It just seems that we go back to that getting the lead and sitting back, especially in the second period instead of staying in attack mode.
Actually, if you take away the two Power Play goals that they have, the team has scored exactly three even strength goals in three games. That needs to change in a hurry before you play the upcoming schedule or Pekka Rinne is going to have to continue with his o.67 GAA average for us to win games.
Once again, it is a small sample and we haven’t lost a game yet, but we need to see some biscuits hitting the back of the twine soon.
Those are your trends after three games. We are hoping that this series gets to continue having more UP trends and keep away from the DOWN trends. The season is young and we are at the top of the standings. Let’s keep that trend all season long.
Next: PredLines Staff Predictions
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