Slow Start for the Nashville Predators

The Nashville Predators had an explosive offseason by extending Juuse Saros and signing big names such as Steven Stamkos among others. With this came big expectations of the Preds to be a top competitor in the league, but they have very noticeably not won a game yet. They aren’t the only potential contender off to a slow start as the Edmonton Oilers just got their first victory in an overtime 4-3 win against the Philadelphia Flyers. The Colorado Avalanche are also in the exclusive zero-wins club along with Nashville, San Jose, and Vancouver. So what’s happening in Smashville?

The first game of the season was on October 10th at home against the Dallas Stars. After a strong first period, Nashville lost control after a handful of odd-man rushes by Dallas, resulting in a 1-4 deficit after the second. The third period saw Nashville push back, especially late in the period, but the final score was 3-4.

Game two happened on October 12th in Detroit against the Red Wings. A similar story in the first period with an early goal by Detroit in the second. Nashville threw plenty of shots at Cam Talbot, but in a similar theme as last year’s playoff first-round exit, the Predators could not find their puck luck and left Hockeytown being shutout 0-3.

Game three was on October 15 at home, the first of a four-game home stand. The Seattle Kraken and Predators both came in after being shutout in their previous games and immediately hopped on the board with a two-goal lead after more odd-man rushes allowed by Nashville. The score was tied at three heading into period three, where Seattle completely dominated the play, ending the game 3-7, leaving Nashville 0-3-0 to start this season.

To start, there are a lot of new faces with locker room chemistry needing to be formed. Stamkos is entering his first new locker room since his rookie season in 2008, along with other new faces Jonathan Marchessault, Brady Skjei, and Scott Wedgewood still finding their rhythms. This also means new line combinations need to be formed. We saw this last season as Ryan O’Reilly, Gustav Nyquist, and Luke Schenn all needed some time to find the right combinations before they exploded in their roles. It can be a slow process, but as they continue to play more games together, things should become more solidified.

Another issue that is prominent is the amount of odd-man rushes being allowed. Head coach Andrew Brunette has discussed wanting to be an explosively offensive team, but so far, that has meant leaving Saros and Wedgewood more exposed. Some slight adjustments need to be made, but this could also be a symptom of the team still finding that much-needed chemistry together.

The good news is the team continues to have a solid penalty kill. They have taken nine penalties over their three games and have only let in one goal during the Dallas Stars game for an 87.5% penalty kill which is tied for 8th in the league.

The bad news is the team is struggling on the power play. During the 12 power play opportunities they have had, the Preds have only scored one PP goal which was by Filip Forsberg for the first goal of the season. That is a 9.1% power play making them 26th in the league. Although they are ranked 9th in the league for shots with 111, they have an abysmal 5.4% shooting percentage ranking them at 32nd in the league.

Time is what the Predators need to continue to figure out their game this season. With scoring powerhouses like Forsberg, Stamkos, and Marchessault, points will eventually come with more chemistry. It seems to be a Nashville tradition to have slow starts are exciting finishes the past few seasons, but hopefully, they can start winning some games before the hole becomes too deep to dig themselves out.