Three Positives that Have Kept Nashville Predators Afloat with 30 Games Left

Anyone that has anything to do with the Nashville Predators, coaches, players, and fans, would be the first to admit that there has been plenty of bad this season, most recently in a lopsided loss to the Boston Bruins at home.

The team has heavily underperformed their expectations from the off-season when they added pieces like Kevin Lankinen and Ryan McDonagh.

Although there has been a lot of bad, there has been some things that this team has done good on the ice. While their record does not reflect it, it is mainly in part to their inability to score goals which has been a hot topic all season.

Let’s take a look at three areas where the Nashville Predators have thrived this season.

Superb Goaltending

Juuse Saros and Kevin Lankinen have been outstanding this season for the Nashville Predators. After coming off a 2021-22 season where the Predators had a mediocre backup for Saros in David Rittich, the new addition of Lankinen during the offseason has proved to be a good move by David Poile and the Predators organization.

Saros has been called upon to start in 40 games and Lankinen has gotten the start 11 times. The remaining game was the debut of up and comer Yaroslav Askarov on January 12.

With the tandem of Saros and Lankinen between the pipes, the Predators have given up 136 goals.

Saros, coming off his 2021-22 Vezina nomination, has posted a 2.79 GAA and .917 save percentage. Recent bad outings by the team around him has hurt his individual numbers, but we all know this isn’t primarily on him.

The confidence in Lankinen is something that the Predators have lacked in a backup goaltender since the days of the Pekka Rinne and Saros tandem.

Lankinen has played well this season as well, posting a .920 save percentage and 2.68 GAA. His 4-2 loss against the Arizona Coyotes was not vindictive of his level of play overall.

No matter which netminder the Predators go with in a game it can be assured that they are going to keep them in contention for a win. This is going to be pivotal down the stretch as the Predators have a run of 30 games in 56 days to close out the season.

Powerful Penalty Kill

The Nashville Predators are notorious for being a team that takes a lot of penalties. While they are not at a pace like they were last season, the Predators have taken 542 minutes of penalties, which is 11th-most in the NHL.

For what it’s worth, the Predators led the NHL in this category last season.

Nashville’s penalty kill has answered the call though. In 172 power play opportunities against the Predators have only allowed 35 power play goals against. In comparison the league average is 168 power play opportunities against and 36 power play goals against. T

The Predators penalty kill has a success rate of just over 80 percent, good for right in the middle of the NHL.

Penalty killers such as Yakov Trenin, Ryan McDonagh, Tanner Jeannot, and Jeremy Lauzon are who have made this penalty kill much improved from years past.

Trenin is like a human wrecking ball on the kill and creates shorthanded opportunities almost on a nightly basis. One thing that these killers have in common is they are willing to put their body on the line and block shots each and every shift.

Ferocious Face-Off

Although we didn’t see it against the Bruins in their most recent game, the Predators usually control the faceoff circle.

The Nashville Predators, known for their face-off ability, have continued that trend this season. There are seven players that have taken 30 or more faceoffs  with a 50 percent or higher face off win rate.

Ryan Johansen leads the team with a remarkable 58.8 faceoff win percentage. He is followed by Mark Jankowski, Colton Sissons, and Matt Duchene.

These players are relied on heavily in all situations to win the draw and create scoring chances in the offensive zone or gain puck control for a breakout in the defensive zone.

However, you can win faceoff’s all game long and if you cannot capitalize on those won draws you will still lose games.

That is what the Predators have done all season long. For instance, in the 4-2 loss to the Arizona Coyotes, the Predators won 69.4% of the faceoffs and still lost the game. In that game, Johansen was an impressive 70.6% successful in the circle.