Nashville Predators: October Awards for Predators
By Steve Cook
Worst Predators Game: October 28 vs. New York Islanders (6-2 loss)
Sometimes teams come out flat on the second night of a back to back. Especially when night one is on the road against their bitter rival. The Predators overlooked the Islanders on their way to a three-day rest and got humiliated as a result. Juuse Saros couldn’t stop the pucks and didn’t have much help in front of him. It was a bitter way to end the first month of the regular season. Perhaps it will serve as a reminder that Nashville still has miles to go before the ultimate goal.
Best Offensive Predator: Filip Forsberg
Forsberg set a franchise record with his eight goals in the month of October. This is quite the contract from his start to the 2016-17 season. Forsberg didn’t score until November 12th last season. If this is a sign of things to come, Forsberg should finally take his place as one of the NHL’s top stars this season.
He’s certainly separated himself from the rest of his teammates. Forsberg’s 1.5 offensive point shares rate 0.8 higher than the Predator with the second-most (P.K. Subban). He has five more goals to his name than the three Predators tied for second. It’s obvious who the star on offense is for Nashville. Now we need to know who’s going to help him.
Most Valuable Predator: Pekka Rinne
Rinne got off to a little bit of a rough start in his first couple of games. Opening Night was a bit of a disaster and the Philadelphia Flyers got on him in the Predators’ home opener. Since those starts, he’s been almost impenetrable. After one month, Rinne has a 5-1-2 record with 1.86 GAA (2nd in the NHL) & a .940 save percentage (3rd in the NHL).
With Nashville’s offense struggling to find a rhythm, Rinne has kept the Predators in nearly every game he’s played. This is nothing new, as it’s been Rinne’s role for most of his time in Nashville. When the Predators falter, Rinne is the rock they can fall back on.
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Except when he’s inconsistent. Which I always believed was a little overplayed until last year’s Stanley Cup Playoff run. He was the world’s greatest the first three rounds, then the world’s worst in Pittsburgh. Bad Rinne can rear his ugly mask from time to time. Hopefully when it happens, the Predators offense & Juuse Saros will be out of their slump.