Predators Continue to Roll, Defeat the Jets 4-2

The Nashville Predators looked to continue their point streak with a stop at the MTS Center to face the Winnipeg Jets in their last meeting of the season. Both teams have won twice in their previous 4 contests.

The points streak would continue.

The Predators won a game that was at times sloppy and at times had elements of pond hockey before capturing a 4-2 win over the Jets.

Drew Stafford opened the scoring, poking a rebound past Pekka Rinne for a 1-0 Jets lead.

It looked like that score would stand at the end of the first period as the listless Predators had not much jump.

That would change as Craig Smith would pot his 17th goal of the season off a nice rush by the Predators potent second line. Smith banged home a rebound to tie the game at 1.

The Predators took a 2-1 lead off a fortuitous bounce off the stick of Colton Sissons. Sissons was trying to center the puck across the slot and it bounced off the skate of Ben Chairot and past a stunned Ondrej Pavalec to give the Predators the lead heading into intermission.

After a scoreless second period, Ryan Johansen tallied just as a Predators power play had ended to make it 3-1.

The Jets made it interesting as Jacob Trouba crashed the net and tapped home a rebound that Rinne could not control to make it 3-2.

Craig Smith would snuff out any momentum and thoughts of a win for the Jets as he took a sweet pass from Filip Forsberg and jammed the puck past Pavalec to make it 4-2.

The Predators would hold off the Jets attack with the extra man over the final 2 minutes to secure a big win and a much needed 2 points.

Some observations:

• Paul Gaustad was out of the line up with an upper body injury and Colton Sissons was called up from Milwaukee and centered the 4th line.
• Colin Wilson dropped down to the 4th line, while Miikka Salomaki took his place on the wing on the third line.
• Craig Smith continues his hot play, with his 4th goal in his last 5 games. Smith has been skating hard and driving the net and he has been rewarded with finding the back of the net. Smith tallied his 17th goal by going to the net and banging a puck past Pavalec. A goal from the hard area, which is what the Predators need from the Honey Badger. His second goal was a result of beating the Jets defender by driving the net. Consistency, Crazy Legs, consistency.
• A bit of puck luck for Sissons as his centering pass hits a skate and deflects into the net. Nice to see Sissons with the goal, and especially nice to see the Preds get some positive puck luck. Sissons has given up his number 84 that he has worn previously and donned number 10. If he can put up points like the previous owner of that number (Martin Erat) the Predators will benefit greatly.
• Viktor Arvidsson played with lots of jump and fiestiness to his game. Aardvark gets knocked around- a lot- but he is always hustling and has a great deal of hockey sense. He is always working and creating in the offensive zone. His speed and creativity is creating some good opportunities for his line and he has settled in nicely on the third line with Mike Fisher and now Salomaki. Arvidsson was one of the best players on the ice tonight for the Predators.
• Huge, HUGE, penalty kill on the major penalty to Austin Watson. The PK worked their tails off to limit the quality chances by the Jets. That could have been disastrous for the Predators, but they showed some real grit to kill off the penalty.
• I really don't think that Watson's hit was worthy of a match penalty, but the officials reacted to the downed Jet player. This is an area that I think needs to have a booth review by the war room.
• Ryan Johansen has been playing some good hockey for the Predators but has struggled to find the back of the net. Good to see him find the back of the net tonight.
• Colin Wilson showed up tonight with 2 assists. Good effort from Wilson, who has had a miserable season. It would certainly be good to see him start to heat up.
• Rinne was solid tonight, making some good saves including a nice push across the crease to stone Drew Stafford. The goal he gave up were when the Jets were crashing the net and poking at rebounds. Rinne has been solid of late. Not spectacular, but solid, and the team is playing with confidence in front of him. This is a very good sign for the Predators as the confidence and even swagger of this team starts from the net and flows out..
• The Predators power play was 0-5. Johansen scored just seconds after a power play had ended.
• The Predators PK was excellent. They killed all 4 of the Jets man advantage chances including the 5 minute major against Austin Watson. 

This was a game that the Predators could not lose. And they did a good job of battling back in a hostile environment to secure the win.

The Predators are showing a resiliency and push that they did not show at this time last season. Rather than limping into the end of the season- like last year- the Predators are building momentum and confidence.

And that bodes well for this team.

My three stars:

1. Craig Smith

2. Colton Sissons

3. Colin Wilson

Predators Can't Finish, Bombed by the Jets 4-1

Driving to the game tonight to see the Nashville Predators take on the Winnipeg Jets, I had to contend with lots of traffic.

That is something that Jets netminder Connor Hellebuyck rarely had to deal with as he stymied the Predators, turning away 43 of 44 shots on the way to a 4-1 victory.

The Predators threw 44 shots at the Jets netminder, but were content to fire away mostly from the outside, giving Hellebuyck the opportunity to make a  number of routine saves.

Drew Stafford scored two power play goals, Ben Chairot notched a horribly soft goal, and Alexander Burmistrov added an empty netter.

Colin Wilson got the only tally for the Predators long after the outcome had been decided.

Some observations:

• Yes, the Predators threw a lot of shots at the net. And Hellebuyck did make some very good saves. But the quality scoring chances by the Predators were belied by the vast number of shots. Many were from the outside with Hellebuyck totally unscreened. Rarely did the Predators get traffic to the net, and with the lack of finishers on this team, that is essential to their scoring efforts. Unless the Predators make that commitment to get to the dirty areas, the tough areas of the ice, this team is going to continue to struggle and will find themselves on the outside looking in when the playoffs roll around.
• The Predators offense has become very predictable. Teams are jamming the middle and forcing the puck outside. That is where many of the shots tonight came from, and there was rarely traffic in front of Hellebuyck. This made a lot of his saves very routine. It is apparent that we do not have shooters that can routinely pick a corner and score the "goal scorers" goal. So unless we get players that can finish their scoring chances or we get players that can create havoc out front, look for more of these types of games.
• I don't fault Rinne on the first two goals. The defense left Stafford alone in front on the first goal, and his second was a perfect re-direct. But that third goal that Rinne let in was absolutely brutal and killed any hopes of climbing back in this game. This team has to objectively look at Rinne and realize that they have a 32 year old netminder that has been elite but is now on the downside of his career.
• The Predators were out hit by the Jets, who were the more physical team tonight. Hits were 17-10 in favor of the Jets.
• The Predators have won only 2 games this season when trailing after 2 periods.
• The Predators PK was atrocious. They gave up 2 goals on 3 Jets power plays.

This team has shown no ability to build positive momentum. Win a game, lose a game (or 2 or 3). This is not a formula to get into the playoffs, and unless this team can gain some consistency and positive momentum, they will likely miss the playoffs.

Look, I love this team and will always support them.

But I am also a realist.

And the reality is that this team is at best average.

And average is not going to get you in the playoffs.

My three stars:

1. Drew Stafford

2. Connor Hellebuyck

3. Tyler Myers

Predators Wilt Under the Pressure From the Jets, Fall 3-1

The Winnipeg Jets continued the Nashville Predators recent misery, handing them a 3-1 defeat at the Bridgestone Arena for the Predators 6th consecutive loss.

The Jets opened the scoring when Andrew Ladd blew past Seth Jones and slipped a pass to Michael Frolik, who had beaten Cody Franson badly driving to the net. Frolik's shot was partially stopped by Pekka Rinne but it was not enough to keep the puck out of the net.

The Predators tied the game at 1 in the second period when a shot from the point by Ryan Ellis made its way through traffic and over the shoulder of Michael Hutchinson.

The elation of that goal was short lived, however, as Rinne kicked out a rebound of a Tyler Myers shot. Shea Weber lost track of Blake Wheeler and he pounded the puck home to give the Jets a lead they would not relinquish.

Drew Stafford added an empty net goal for the final margin.

Some observations:

• My view of this team is that they overachieved in the first half of the season and are now reverting to who they really are. Many pundits spoke of this team as elite. They are not. Not even close. They are most certainly a good team, but far from elite. When this team plays their game and limits mistakes, more often than not, they will win games. Right now, they are making mistakes and those mistakes are ending up in the back of their net. And they are certainly not playing their game- attacking the net and aggressively fighting for rebounds and position on the ice.
• The Jets gave the Predators fits all night. They trapped coming out of the defensive zone and in the neutral zone, sending two forecheckers after the puck carrier. This baffled the Predators all night and forced them into bad passes and turnovers. When the Predators could get into the offensive zone, once again the Jets pressured the puck carrier and disrupted the offense. The Predators puck support was terrible and they lost just about every battle for the puck along the boards. Part of this speaks to the effort of the Jets. More troubling is that the Predators didn't adjust and step up their game to match the intensity of the Jets. Elite teams adjust their game. The Predators did not.
• To that point, their were only two Predators that seemed to be able to consistently handle the puck against the Jets pressure. Filip Forsberg and Roman Josi could carry the puck into the zone against the trap. Rarely could any other Predator. This is going to be a serious problem in the playoffs.
• How stifling was the Jets defense? They held the Predators to 4 shots on goal in the first period and 7 in the third. The Preds got 10 shots in the second for a total of 21. The Jets had 26 shots on goal.
• I really like the play of Gabriel Bourque. He was physical and created some scoring chances. He certainly went hard to the net, including a scary first period collision with Hutchinson when he was forchecked into the Jets netminder by Adam Lowry.
• The defensive pairing of Seth Jones and Cody Franson looked out of sync all night. The Jets first goal was a direct result of bad plays by both. These two just look like they have no chemistry at all. 
• Franson took a knee on knee hit and crashed into the boards in the second period, and it looked bad. He left the ice with the assistance of the training staff and could put no weight on his left leg. Fortunately, he did return for the third period.
• It sure would be nice to see Mike Santorelli get his game going. Santorelli has been invisible since he was acquired from the Maple Leafs.
• Someone on the coaching staff please tell Mike Ribeiro it is okay to take the puck to the net and especially to shoot the puck. Ribeiro had a couple of open looks at the net but chose to try to pass instead. Never pass up a good shot at the net, Ribs.
• For the 11th straight game, the Predators gave up the first goal. Can we stop this trend? PLEASE! Remember early in the season when we were doing that and we were still winning games? Now the Predators are 19-18-3 when giving up the first goal. See my first bullet point above.
• Thankfully, this is the last time we play the Jets in the regular season. The Predators captured the season series 3-2.

No doubt this isn't fun for the team and the fans. As fans, we can just sit and stew and vent our frustration. Getting out of this funk is on the team. They are going to have to elevate their game to break this losing streak.

More importantly, they are going to have to play smart. They are going to have to play with heart and passion.

That is the only way out.

My three stars:

1. Blake Wheeler

2. Michael Frolik

3. Ryan Ellis