If children’s author Judith Viorst had written a book about the Nashville Predators’ loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday, it would be titled “Andrew Brunette and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Game.
Predators’ Sluggish Start
Nashville’s head coach described the first period of the game as “our worst period of the year,” and it’s hard to argue with him. The Predators allowed three goals in the opening frame, each arguably more disappointing than the last. Despite earning the first power play of the game, Nashville was unable to capitalize on the man advantage – or even build momentum, for that matter – and instead allowed the penalized Ryan Strome to score on a partial breakaway right out of the penalty box.
Three minutes later, a tip went into the net off the skate of Predators defenseman Ryan McDonagh, and a late cross-checking penalty by Filip Forsberg resulted in a Mason McTavish power-play goal that gave Anaheim a 3-0 lead heading into the first intermission.
“It was a very poor start for us,” McDonagh said after the game. “Lack of urgency, lack of winning puck battles, and compete. Dig a hole like that, and it’s tough to come back.”
Too Little, Too Late
Things didn’t get much better for Nashville early in the second period, as Troy Terry extended Anaheim’s lead to 4-0 on a pass that deflected off Predators defenseman Dante Fabbro’s stick and into the net. Radko Gudas extended it to 5-0 at 3:16 of the third period on a wraparound after – you guessed it – coming right out of the penalty box.
The Predators were able to score three unanswered goals in the final 10 minutes of the third period, which might have been more impactful had it not been for their abysmal start to the game. Alexandre Carrier scored the first shorthanded goal of his career to get Nashville on the board and dashed any hopes for a Lukas Dostal shutout. Philip Tomasino stuffed in a feed from Michael McCarron at 17:02, and Denis Gurianov scored his first goal as a Nashville Predator in a net-front scramble to bring Nashville within two in the game’s final minute.
Denis Gurianov scores for the #Preds. 5-3 final pic.twitter.com/EsID5TRjfG
— Emma Lingan (@emma_lingan) January 10, 2024
“We can say we pushed a little bit, but that should happen when you’re in a huge hole like that,” McDonagh said. “Just a really poor start for us, and we’ve got to hold each other accountable and start better here.”
Predators Continue to Struggle at Home
The Predators have had trouble stringing together home wins of late, having gone 1-5 at Bridgestone Arena since Dec. 19. Even their Jan. 2 shutout win over the Chicago Blackhawks, the second-worst team in the league, could hardly be described as a dominant performance.
Related: Saros Makes 21 Saves as Predators Shut Out Blackhawks
“We’ve been really good on the road, and then we come here and we’re a different team off the start,” Tomasino said. “You’d think it’d be the opposite, that we’d be better at home… So it’s tough. Every point is really crucial right now so we’ve got to figure that out as soon as possible.”
Tommer with the whip from the circle makes it 5-2!@PredsNHL l #Preds pic.twitter.com/KRRIFBNGbg
— Bally Sports: Preds (@PredsOnBally) January 10, 2024
When asked to explain the team’s recent struggles on home ice, Brunette and his players alike were left scratching their heads. “I wish I had an answer,” Brunette said. “It’s just a recurring theme. It’s kind of the definition of insanity, doing the same thing over and over and over again.”
Mental lapses are almost certainly to blame in some capacity for a Nashville team that has lost five of its past six games at home.
“I don’t know if we just let the game come to us too much instead of trying to dictate,” McDonagh postulated. “It’s a mindset. We’ve got to be prepared. Get yourself ready all day. It’s a mentality. Like I said, it’s something we can control and there’s no excuses about it.”
A visibly frustrated Gustav Nyquist agreed that the type of loss that Nashville experienced on Tuesday was inexcusable, adding that the team should hold onto “this pissed-off feeling” as motivation to turn things around.
“To a man, we’ve got to look ourselves in the mirror and find a way to be better,” Nyquist said. “Everyone in this room. These are points we have to win at home if we want to be where we want to be. Not good enough.”
Is Juuse Saros to Blame?
The Predators’ recent struggles at home have raised some concerns surrounding the performance of goaltender Juuse Saros, who has gone 1-3-1 in his last five starts. He has an .834 save percentage over that stretch and was pulled in two of those five games.
The loss to Anaheim did little to help allay any unease about Saros, who finished with 22 saves on 26 shots for an .848 save percentage. But numbers don’t tell the whole story; three of Anaheim’s five goals were deflected past Saros off the skates and sticks of his teammates, so it’s not entirely fair to place the brunt of the blame on goaltending.
“I thought he was good at times,” Brunette said following Tuesday’s game. “We didn’t really give him a chance tonight to get his game going. We were sloppy. We were slow. We lost every puck battle all around him, all around our zone. Didn’t give him a chance. Didn’t give him a fair shake.”
Predators’ Identity Crisis
Perhaps one of the most maddening aspects of the Predators’ loss at home on Tuesday is the fact that it came on the heels of what was arguably their best game of the season – a gutsy, 4-3 road win over the Dallas Stars on Saturday (Jan. 6).
Related: Forsberg Scores Twice as Predators Edge Stars 4-3
It’s not the first time this season that this team’s performance has swung from one extreme to the other. Back in November, the Predators went 1-4 on a five-game road trip. Later that month, they embarked on a six-game win streak.
Nashville has spent the first half of the season oscillating between the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, and Tuesday’s game was no exception. There were a few highs in the game – the late, three-goal push and Nyquist notching his second nine-game point streak of the season among them – but the lows were far more concerning.
Bruno was not happy with tonight's performance as he spoke with @KaraHammer following the the loss.@PredsNHL l #Preds pic.twitter.com/negbiwg32O
— Bally Sports: Preds (@PredsOnBally) January 10, 2024
“We’re halfway through the season now,” McDonagh said. “We should have enough lessons learned. We know how good we can be and what’s expected of us and the way we want to play. It’s a matter of us finding that consistency here, because every game is going to be tough down the stretch and we need to be ready from the get-go to give ourselves a chance early on.”
There were a lot of question marks at the beginning of the season facing a Nashville team that had a new coach, a new general manager and a handful of other new faces. But the fact that Nashville hasn’t managed to find even an ounce of consistency yet is unsettling to say the least.
We have reached the halfway point of the season, and we aren’t any closer to knowing who this Predators team really is.