Three Things that Doomed Nashville Predators’ Ugly Western Road Trip
Nashville Predators are Making it Harder on Themselves
I hate to say this, but the Predators are often times they’re own worst enemy. Lapses in play, on both offense and defense, has reared it’s ugly face over the last two games of the road trip.
Even to the point that Head Coach Andrew Brunette gave the unfiltered response after the Flames loss that it was basically the worst loss of the season to date. He might modify that statement after the Jets loss two nights later.
It is clear that this team can play in spurts both in a positive way and in a negative way. The problem with that method is this team is nowhere near elite enough to get away with taking periods, or even chunks of periods, off.
Road Trip Recap
- 10/31: 5-2 Loss at Vancouver
- 11/2: 4-2 Loss at Seattle
- 11/4: 5-2 Win at Edmonton
- 11/7: 4-2 Loss at Calgary
- 11/9: 6-3 Loss at Winnipeg
You look at every loss on this road trip and there were plenty of opportunities in each game for the Predators to be right in the thick of it down to the end. But lapses and missed opportunities left the hole too deep for them to dig out of.
The Predators were up 2-1 on Vancouver at the 1st intermission, tied 2-2 with Seattle towards end of 2nd period, up 2-0 on Calgary and tied with Winnipeg at 1-1 before completely losing control for a short period of time to open the 2nd period and next thing you know, they’re down 4-1.
Also, a lot of missing the net on open shots. The Predators only forced backup Laurent Broissoit of Winnipeg to make 20 saves on 23 shots faced. Not going to get it done on that low amount of shots, especially when they begin taking on the premiere goalies in this league.
It may sound overused, but the Predators have to get back to the basics. I see a team that’s trying to score three goals at once when they fall behind, rather than simplifying the game and staying true to themselves.
Juice Doesn’t Look Like his Normal, Elite Self
We hold Juuse Saros to a very high standard. He’s one of the elite goalies of the NHL, but quite frankly, he hasn’t looked it on this road trip. The best goalie performance came from Kevin Lankinen in the lone Nashville win against the Edmonton Oilers.
This doesn’t mean that Saros wasn’t completely under fire and that the defense did their part, because that’s untrue. Against Winnipeg, Saros fell victim to some outstanding offensive trickery from Kyle Connor, while his teammates let the game get away from them in what turned into a parade to the penalty box for both teams.
The point is, Saros hasn’t been able to bail the Predators out like he has in the past. We’ve become spoiled to the point that we just expect on bad nights for the team that Saros will treat us to the win, but he hasn’t been able to deliver on that. He’s just been ordinary.
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Against the Jets, Saros finishes with one of the worst Goals Saved Above Expected you will ever see from him, coming in with -2.63 GSA. Really, really bad.
In the previous loss to Calgary, Saros kept the Predators ahead on the scoreboard and blanked the opposition as long as he could. Then the bottom fell out on him, and the team as a whole.
I have confidence that Saros will dig his way out of it and string together some outstanding starts and get back to what we know he is. However, I’m seriously thinking about getting Lankinen another couple of starts, maybe as soon as Saturday at home against the Arizona Coyotes.
Saros finishes 0-3-0 on the road trip with save percentages of .871 and .861 in the losses to Winnipeg and Seattle.
Youth, Inexperience, Growing Pains, Learning How to Win
Nothing comes easy in this league, and you have to bring it for 60 minutes every night. And even when you do that, you might still lose. The truly elite teams know how to finish games out when they have an opponent down, and also know how to respond to adversity when things go wrong.
For the Nashville Predators, this road trip was humbling and a hard reminder that they still have a lot of growing to do. This can turn out to be a valuable learning experience later in the season when this team starts figuring out how to win on a consistent basis.
We all wanted to see the youth elevate into the lineup, but the Predators decided to take the off ramp and retool the team rather than stay on the road ahead to a full rebuild. With that, you have a lot of growth that still has to occur, and the more established teams are taking advantage of that.
Take a team like the Winnipeg Jets. They know, for the most part, who they are. They have an established core and are in a window of winning now and going deep in the playoffs. The Predators are much further back in their journey.
3. 151. 6. 107. Final
You’re seeing the Predators’ frustration boil over a bit in the middle of games. They’re losing their composure, and this is causing them to press and make more mistakes. At least that’s the overall theme I noticed on this road trip.
I’ve seen instances when the Predators get too cute with their passing and are turning over the puck in the neutral zone. I’m seeing examples of the Predators being baited into bad penalties because their emotion are getting the best of them, and then you’re seeing the frustration rise instead of remaining locked in and poised.
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When things go wrong, and they will, this team has to learn to block out the outside noise they can’t control and play their game. Trust Brunette’s system and plug away. They hand chances to do that and win a couple of these games if they could’ve managed to not lose the mental edge.
When we look back on this time in Predators history and this young core becomes established veterans, we’ll remember the hard times. You hate to lose, but these are key moments in the growth for players like Luke Evangelista, Thomas Novak, Juuso Parssinen and Philip Tomasino.
The hope is the Predators don’t dig themselves too deep and they still have time to get hot and make a push. But mark this road trip as a moment to look yourself in the mirror and ask how you’re going to respond to the adversity from here on out.
The Nashville Predators return home for a five-game homestand at Bridgestone Arena, and will play nine of their next 10 overall at home. We can erase the horrible feeling of this road trip with a strong homestand.