The roller coaster season of the Nashville Predators has finally come to a screeching halt at the hands of the Dallas Stars. Let’s pick up the pieces.
First and foremost, the Dallas Stars deserve a ton of credit for riding their hot streak from the regular season into the postseason. The Predators, on the other hand, failed to do the same after locking up a second-straight Central Division title. The series as a whole was really lopsided when you break it down without any bias. The Stars controlled the tempo most of the time and dictated the flow of the game.
The series did go to six games with glimmers of hope in Game 6. The Predators didn’t lie down and get destroyed in their elimination game. They had several opportunities to get this to a deciding Game 7, but just couldn’t solve Ben Bishop of the Stars. Sometimes you have to tip your cap to the other team.
Now where do we go from here? The Predators will be back again next season and in the conversation for another playoff berth. However, they seem to be going backwards now. We were crushed after a second round exit last season, and now they’ve failed to get even that far. A bad trend that needs to be reversed quickly. Here are some takeaways from their first round series with Dallas that ends in six games.