Nashville Predators: Final Countdown, Injuries Continue
By Nick Kieser
The final stretch of games is here for the Nashville Predators, 8 of the final 10 contests being current playoff teams to wrap up the 2022-23 season.
After a 3-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday another injury was confirmed from the Predators. A Dante Fabbro slapshot hit forward Matt Duchene‘s left hand in the second period. Duchene played 7:52 before exiting with just one shot on Joseph Woll.
Head Coach John Hynes said the Predators’ second-highest scorer on the roster is “week-to-week” after the game. He joins Mark Borowiecki, Filip Forsberg, Ryan Johansen, Juuso Parssinen, Alexandre Carrier, and Roman Josi on the injured list.
Predators General Manager David Poile joined 102.5 The Game on Tuesday and had a small but positive update on the injury front.
“No, Josi is on the trip but will not play tonight. He’s the closest to returning,” Poile said when asked about any injury update.
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Nashville’s seven current injured skaters amounts to $35 million not being accounted for in the lineup.
As the season winds down Nashville sits five points back of the Winnipeg Jets for the final Wild Card spot with a 4.6% chance of making the postseason. The Jets have a 78.6% chance of making the 2023 postseason with 3 of 8 games remaining against current playoff teams. They’ll play San Jose twice and only three games will be on the road for Winnipeg.
The Nashville Predators’ route is not only more difficult but when taking a look at the odds of each game they’re favored in one matchup vs. St. Louis on Saturday (60.6%). Aside from the Predators matchup against the Bruins, Nashville’s lowest odds of winning a game is 4/1 at the Calgary Flames (30.3%) and 4/3 on the road against Dallas (38%).
Despite the slim odds this season the Predators playoff pedigree still is quite commendable. In the last 10 seasons, Nashville has made it to the postseason 8 times.
Nashville is one of three teams whose playoff streak will likely come to an end this spring. The Pittsburgh Penguins, who lead the NHL, have made the playoffs for the last 16 years while the Washington Capitals have also clinched a playoff berth in the last 8 years.
This makes the Toronto Maple Leafs the new leader in the NHL with 7 consecutive playoff berths since 2017. Tampa Bay and Colorado are right behind with 6 straight postseason appearances.
The good news for the Predators is that the Winnipeg Jets have mirrored the Predators record since last Sunday going 2-3-0.
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On the flip side, the Nashville Predators are facing a tough Bruins squad that has won the last five in a row, and Pittsburgh who is 2-2-0 in the last week. Not to mention St. Louis has been hot as well lately going 3-1-0 since March 19 despite being out of the playoff race.
Jordan Gross was placed on waivers on Monday and Nashville subsequently announced that forward Michael McCarron and defenseman Kevin Gravel were recalled prior to Tuesday’s game in Boston.