The Nashville Predators hit snooze this weekend during a road trip to the city that never sleeps. Facing the New York Islanders, followed by the New York Rangers, they were outscored 11-4 and held scoreless Sunday night.
The little scoring provided against the Islanders came from some depth players, a nice luxury when everyone's chipping in, but a problem when your top players appear to be riding passenger. A word description Head Coach Andrew Brunette has used this season when he feels the team isn't playing as collective unit.
Defenseman Marc Del Gaizo provided his first career goal a few minutes after a pretty one-handed goal by Colton Sissons. Later in the third, Cole Smith tried to will his team back into the contest with his third and fourth goals of the year.
For much of the year, free-agent addition Steven Stamkos has struggled to produce for his new team. Finding himself on the longest point drought of his career, Stamkos looked dejected on the bench after Sunday's embarrassment at Madison Square Garden. Can the veteran find the motivation to finish an already-lost season strong?
Nashville Predators tied for last in NHL in Goal Scoring
This year's Predators have been shut out a whopping nine times. This number was seemingly impossible to many during the offseason when the news of goal scorers Stamkos and Johnathan Marchessault's arrival was announced. Fast forward to now, and Nashville sits second to last in the league in total goals for and tied for last in goals per game with 2.53 (GF/GP).
Lack of finishing has led to a lack of winning. With the playoffs so far out of site, general manager Barry Trotz has begun tinkering with his broken roster by shipping Gustav Nyquist to division rival Minnesota Wild. With no end in sight for their offensive struggles, it's likely more bags will be packed for Friday's trade deadline.
With 22 games remaining in the season, head coach Andrew Brunette's job appears to be on the line. If he can't show that he can coach this team to more goals, Trotz needs to replace him. With many of the same top players struggling to score still on longer-term deals, they will need to look to rebound next year with new leadership behind the bench.