Nashville Predators Come Out Sloppy, Unprepared in Loss to Toronto

It didn’t look like a team that was coming off an eight-day break and fighting for a playoff spot. The Nashville Predators looked unprepared from the start.

There was sadly just no sense of urgency from the start in this game from the Nashville Predators. They played like the season isn’t on the line, and more like this was just another exhibition game.

More so, there was also very little chemistry. Any time the Predators seemed to get into Toronto’s zone, a bad pass or players not being on the page would end whatever attack they had started.

The final score ended up being 5-2, but it felt more like a 5-0 beatdown in the back alley. The Predators showed some energy late in the game after making it 4-2, but at that point it was way too little too late.

This was also just another example of the Predators doing no favors for Pekka Rinne. He was left out to dry for at least three of the four goals Toronto scored. He made several really great saves to keep it from getting really lopsided on the scoreboard.

If you watched the game closely, it was lopsided anyway even if the score suggests it was closer than it really was. This team clearly didn’t correct the deeply-rooted problems it has over the All-Star break.

Proven veterans not stepping up

There’s a very telling quote given to Adam Vingan of The Athletic from head coach John Hynes regarding the play of some veteran players having to basically earn their ice time by playing better:

Seeing Ryan Johansen get barely over ten minutes of ice time is pretty eye-opening. A guy that for most of his time with the Predators has been a top-line center, but now Hynes is the new guy in charge and he’s holding everyone’s feet to the fire to play better.

Johansen got the fewest amount of ice time on the entire team last night, followed by Calle Jarnkrok and Austin Watson with each around 11:30 of ice time.

As usual, Roman Josi was the workhorse with 24:49 of ice time. As great as Josi has been this season, he’s nowhere near enough to carry this team out of the darkness of last place in the division.

Mikael Granlund scored the first goal to tie the game up quickly at 1-1 early in the game. It was actually a very gorgeous attack set up by the Predators, and Granlund had some outstanding stick handling to score his 9th goal of the season, with Matt Duchene and Filip Forsberg tallying the assists.

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After that, it was a disaster in every facet of the game. Very little defense, disjointed offensive rushes and Rinne being pushed to the limit to keep it from getting totally embarrassing.

The Predators tried to make a comeback after Viktor Arvidsson scored with a little over seven minutes remaining in regulation. The team showed some urgency that wasn’t there prior to that, which makes you even more frustrated. Why can’t this team show the effort and urgency for 60 full minutes?

I’m strongly thinking the Predators need to keep Yakov Trenin and Colin Blackwell in the lineup full-time, and possibly call up even another forward from the AHL.

As soon as GM David Poile decides they’re becoming sellers, give the AHL players that deserve playing time a chance and see what happens. At that point, the season will basically be lost anyway, so you might as well develop your talent from the AHL.

What’s up next

Now the Predators find themselves with their backs even further against the wall as the league’s best team is up next, the Washington Capitals. They beat the Capitals back in October, which feels more like years ago judging by how far the Predators have fallen since then.

This game will be the first of a back-to-back, as they’ll take on the New Jersey Devils the following night on Thursday. That will be interesting because it’s against Hynes’ former team that just fired him in early December.

As tough and unlikely as it may seem, the Predators need a sweep of this back-to-back. That would renew some of my hope if they can beat the best team in the league, and then turn around and beat Hynes’ former team.

It’s looking more and more like the Predators are going to be sellers at the trade deadline next month. There’s going to have to be patience involved in waiting for Hynes to make the changes he wants to make, and that most likely includes changing up the roster.