Predators Miss Out on Golden Opportunity, Get Blanked by Vegas

The opportunity was there for the Nashville Predators last night against the Vegas Golden Knights to get closer to that elusive wildcard spot.

It feels like the Nashville Predators might as well be 20 points out of a wildcard spot when in reality they’re so close. Every time it seem like they’re about to get over the hump, they suffer another setback like they did last night.

The latest setback comes in a 3-0 shutout to Vegas, which is another team that has dealt with their own set of struggles and setbacks. The Predators missed a great chance at beating a team that’s currently in a wildcard spot.

The Predators just couldn’t generate any offense for much of the game. When they did manage to get in Vegas’ zone, the shots weren’t of very high quality. Their season record in Nashville has now fallen to 11-11-4, and have just one home win since Christmas.

No offense from the Predators

The Predators managed just four high-danger chances in all situations last night against Marc-Andre Fleury, per NaturalStatTrick. They didn’t make him work very hard for his 19 saves and third career shutout against the Nashville Predators.

More from Predlines

Roman Josi led the team in shots on goal with five, but important players like Filip Forsberg, Nick Bonino and Ryan Johansen were held without a single shot on goal. Not going to get it done against a great goaltender like Fleury.

As for Vegas, they didn’t do anything particularly great, and they didn’t really have to. They just plugged away and managed to cash in when needed. It remained a scoreless tie going into the 2nd period despite the Golden Knights having 14 shots on goal to the Predators only having two.

It felt like the Predators were trailing by two or three goals for the entire game, but the game was there for the taking all the way until over halfway through the final period. When Vegas scored their second goal on a wrister from Nicolas Roy, the air was let out of the building for Nashville.

The Predators also wasted five power play chances as they came up empty on all of them. They looked completely disjointed in this area despite Vegas giving them numerous chances to tie the game back up.

Thanks Pekka

It’s always frustrating to see a great goaltending performance wasted, and that’s what happened in this one for Pekka Rinne. He hasn’t been particularly great as of late, but tonight was a gem as he gave up just two goals on 38 shots faced.

Rinne kept this game as interesting as it could’ve been going into the late stages. Without him making several key saves, the Predators would’ve had zero chance late in the game.

This loss isn’t necessarily the end of the world. The Predators realistically need to win two out of every three from here on out, and absolutely can’t suffer another losing streak. They’ve got to win two out of the next three again as they’re heading on a four-game road trip that begins in Winnipeg on Tuesday.

These next four games are all against Western Conference opponents that are all in the playoff conversation. Rinne and Juuse Saros have to keep showing progress in net for the Predators to have any chance at sneaking into a playoff spot.

Rinne’s save percentage has nearly reached the 90 percent mark again for the season after last night’s solid performance. He’s been below that number for a while now, but last night was an encouraging sign from the player that I consider the foundation of this franchise’s history of success.

Next. Predators Slotted Outside Top-20 in NBC's Recent Power Rankings. dark

It was a big win for Vegas as they moved into a top-three spot out in the Pacific Division. The Predators can leap frog Winnipeg in the standings on Tuesday night with a win. Needless to say the Predators can’t let this disappointing loss linger in their minds.

Home/Analysis