The Nashville Predators had some time off in January. When they were active, they took advantage of the opportunities but were not immune to the lows.
When you consider the obstacles the Nashville Predators faced in January, you have to say they had an outstanding month. An eight-game point streak kept Nashville among the best teams in the Central Division & in good position for the playoffs. The Predators’ 6-2-2 record was good for seventh-best in the National Hockey League.
The only problem was that everybody else in the Central had a productive month. That 6-2-2 record was only the fourth-best among Central teams. The Colorado Avalanche came out of nowhere to post a ten-game winning streak & went 8-2-1 in January. The Winnipeg Jets won one more game than Nashville to maintain first place. The Minnesota Wild tied Winnipeg while the St. Louis Blues added the same number of points to their total that Nashville did.
Ten points separates six teams in the Central Division. The Chicago Blackhawks might be in seventh right now, but their win in Nashville to close the month shows they aren’t dead yet. The good news for the Predators: They’ve played three fewer games than Winnipeg & four fewer than St. Louis.
We’ve got a crazy couple of months in front of us. Before that, let’s look back at the month that was.