3 reasons the Nashville Predators will struggle in Round 1 of the NHL Playoffs

Juuse Saros hasn’t played like a franchise goaltender

Juuse Saros was supposed to be one of the NHL’s premier goaltenders, but he hasn’t played that way often in 2023-24. While it’s never fair to entirely blame a goaltender for their struggles since the blue line and hesitancy from some forwards to play sound defense often factor into inconsistencies in the crease, Saros is the type of netminder who we should count on to make saves in key moments. 

Judging from his basic stats, that hasn’t happened, as he finished the year with just a 0.906 save percentage, a 2.86 GAA, a 0.547 quality starts percentage, and three shutouts. These aren’t the worst numbers, but Saros’ overall standards should be better than this. 

This is a goaltender who finished in the top-six for the Vezina between 2021 and 2023. He hasn’t logged a quality starts percentage under 0.600 since 2018-19, and both his save percentage and GAA are the worst marks of his career in seasons that he’s played in 21 or more games. 

Vancouver is one of the last teams Saros needs to struggle against; if he and the Preds don’t bring their best game early, they’re either losing this series or “winning ugly.” The upside is that we know few will beat this team if they play the way they did throughout most of February and March, and Preds fans can only hope that will be the case.