The Good, Bad and Ugly about Nashville Predators rocky start to season

It was always thought that this new-look Nashville Predators team was going to hit the bumps in the road before getting to the smooth sailing, but five-straight regulation losses is way worse than anyone could've imagined.

The Predators managed to stop the bleeding on Tuesday by beating a quality Boston Bruins team in shutout fashion with a 4-0 final score. Juuse Saros was able to turn in his first gem of the grinding season ahead, and the Predators avoided joining shameful history of only 12 teams to open a season with six regulation losses.

One impressive win isn't enough to reverse the negative vibes surrounding the team. A winning streak needs to arise from the Bruins win before we can confidently say this team is back on the track we expected it to be on after a offseason splash in free agency.

I like to end on a positive note, so let's start with the bad, and there's obviously a lot to cover. Then I'll look at what's just downright ugly. We'll finish off with the good, and believe it or not, there is some good to point out as well despite being 1-5-0.

The Bad about the Nashville Predators: Inconsistency, Not Finishing

The inability to hold momentum after scoring a goal has been very concerning. The Predators thankfully corrected this problem in the Bruins win, but it took some Saros heroics.

After Ryan O'Reilly put the Predators ahead on a power play tip-in goal late in the first period of Tuesday's game, the Bruins nearly tied it thanks to a lapse in defensive coverage. But Saros stood tall to make the clutch save, something he hasn't been able to do nearly enough in the five losses.

This is an area that can be corrected and has to be preached by both Head Coach Andrew Brunette and your veteran leaders like Roman Josi. You can't let up on the faceoff after scoring a goal and let the opponent push back immediately. Keep the pedal pushed in acceleration mode regardless of how far you're ahead.

Then there's the inability to finish on chances. Before the Bruins win, JFresh shared the team finishing metrics and the Predators were second-worst in the NHL at negative six goals scored above expected.

According to MoneyPuck, the Predators are still second-worst in Goals Scored Above Expected. That at least gives you a little hope that things will correct themselves out naturally and the bad puck luck will turn into better luck.

It's still very early in the season, so these excuses can hold water for a little bit because you're dealing with a newer roster. But eventually, these excuses are going to run dry and the Predators will have to dramatically improve in their finishing ability if they're going to live up to expectations and hang with the big guns of the league.

If it makes you feel better, the Stanley Cup favorite Edmonton Oilers have been the only team worse in the finishing category.

The Ugly: The Passing, the Indecisiveness, the Power Play

Maybe it's gradually gotten better through the six games, but even so the passing is still very hectic and there's not much that's smooth about it. It's pretty obvious that aside from the top line with O'Reilly centering Filip Forsberg and Gus Nyquist that there's a lot to work out.

I've been a proponent of not shuffling the lines so much from game to game, and instead give time to build on chemistry. Especially for the second line. The start of the Steven Stamkos era in Nashville has started off slow, and it didn't take long for Brunette to move from Tommy Novak at center. A big preseason storyline was if Novak could live up to that role.

Oddly enough, Novak has three goals on the season, but it's also about finding his best spot in the lineup, and maybe third line center with Luke Evangelista is a better situation for him to thrive.

In comes Colton Sissons as the second line center. Maybe not ideal because no one really thinks of Sissons as a top-six center, but again I think Brunette needs to stick with this for a few games at least to see if you can build upon it.

If the passing can get more crisp and the defensive zone breakouts are more decisive, you'll start seeing an increase in the high danger shot attempts. Yes, the Predators are putting a lot of shots on net, but many of them are not really test the goaltender and leaving easy saves.

Going back to MoneyPuck, their metrics say the the Predators are middle of the pack in High Danger Shots For at 15th in all situations. Better breakouts and more accurate passing will solve that.

Again to be optimistic, we should see the chemistry continue to build as the season progresses. We just can't let this hole in the standings get much deeper.

The Good: Shot Volume, Penalty Killing

It's not as if the Predators aren't generating shots. They're getting pucks to the net, which is a start. Now they have to find ways to get better quality shots to beat these goalies, especially the elite ones.

The Predators ran into two hot goalies to open the season with Jake Oettinger and Cam Talbot. They both outplayed the Predators goalies in Scott Wedgewood in the season opener, and Juuse Saros in the 2-0 loss to the Red Wings.

Even so, the Predators are leading the NHL in shots on goal per game at 36.5 shots. A massive number that will almost certainly come down over time, but that's fine as long as the quality of chances improves. Which there's reason to think they will.

Then there's the biggest strength of the team so far, and that's the penalty killing. They're third in the NHL at 89.5 percent kill rate.

Cole Smith has always stood out as an outstanding penalty killer while he usually puts pressure on the puck carrier breaking out. But how about Alexandre Carrier? He made a critical blocked up pass with an open net on the other side that would've beat Saros in the Bruins win.

I'd be lying if I said that the penalty kill was going to be the strength of this team, but early on it certainly is. And you're best penalty killer is often times your goaltender, and you have to think Saros will eventually get into a groove being the notoriously slow starter that he is.

Eventually the power play will start finishing on their chances, and if the penalty kill can remain top-10, then talk about a major strength to this team if it ends up being both special teams units. That's how you win playoff series when you're top-10 in both categories.

Still a lot of hockey left, and the Predators are showing encouraging signs that don't translate in the win-loss record. A little puck luck and some improvements in their passing and finishing ability will lead to many more wins and make the opening stretch of this season an afterthought.