Secondary Scoring Dries Up
The Predators have been a one-line team for a large portion of the season, and it finally catches up to them.
Scorers number 1, 3, and 4 are all on the same line. Top scorer 2 is a defensman. Team leader Filip Forsberg has 83 points. 5th place is Tommy Novak at 39 points. That's a 44-point swing between 1 and 5. Nobody on the team outside of the top four (Forsberg, Roman Josi, Gustav Nyquist, Ryan O'Reilly) has more than 15 goals.
The Predators' scoring has been spread out in a great way for the regular season. They've had twenty players suit up and score more than 10 points. 17 of them are on the roster now (Phil Tomasino and Jusso Parssinen are in the AHL and Yakov Trenin is on Colorado) but who are you expecting to score in a playoff game outside of the big line? Jason Zucker is pretty hot since getting traded to the team but he hasn't shown a lot of playoff success, Colton Sissons has already scored more than expected, do we really think it will keep carrying over?
Want a really scary stat? Other than Forsberg, O'Reilly, Zucker, Sissions, Nyquist, and Anthony Beauvillier (who has 1 point since being traded to the Predators) no other Predators forward has ever scored a playoff goal. Outside of those players nobody even has a playoff point, save for Kiefer Sherwood with a lone assist.