The Nashville Predators’ offensive has cooled off following a crushing loss to the Panthers.
The Predators have now dropped three of their last four games and have failed to score two goals or fewer in four of those contests. The Predators stumbled out of the start against the Panthers on Monday, and it was difficult for them to even get into the attacking zone.
The Predators’ annoying recurring pattern is their inability to have both Juuse Saros and the offense to have successful games on the same night. This time, Saros did his best to hold the fort until the explosive Panthers offensive onslaught finally broke through midway through the second quarter.
Lately, Predators’ Offense has evaporated, and the Forsberg Goal has been dry.
Even though Saros finished the game with 34 saves and a.944 save percentage, he essentially had no attacking help. Nashville was only expected to score 2.35 goals, but Florida really made an impression in the third.
Even the Predators’ lone goal of the game wasn’t very spectacular; plenty of net front bustle allowed the puck to pass Florida goalie Anthony Stolarz.
The fact that the Predators managed 27 shots on goal but just 2.35 expected goals suggests that the quality of the shots wasn’t particularly good, which made Stolarz’s night in goal quite simple. For both sides, it was actually a low event night in terms of high risk possibilities. The Panthers had ten, and the Predators had nine.
The Predators’ terrible inability to generate offense when it doesn’t come from the top line is beginning to show. It is five games without a goal for Filip Forsberg. It’s no accident that the Predators’ lackluster offensive performance throughout the same period of time.
The past five games have seen Ryan O’Reilly’s offensive production restrained as well. In his last five games, he has failed to score in four of them. Goals Scored Above Expected best capture the Predators’ offensive struggles. According to MoneyPuck, they rank 25th in the NHL in terms of converting their scoring opportunities, coming in below average at -12.57.
Fortunately, though, since the Panthers, who now sit second in the Eastern Conference, have the lowest Goals Scored Above Expected (-33.39) of any club in the league. Even elite teams might struggle in this region because the Oilers are also present.
Young Guns and Evangelista haven’t played a role in the offense.
The Predators need to acquire supplementary scoring from Luke Evangelista, Tommy Novak, Juuso Parssinen, and Philip Tomasino if they are to remain in the wildcard battle and not become irrelevant in the upcoming month. Though they possess tremendous offensive potential, these four guys represent the future; they are simply not performing at this time.
Thirty of the Predators’ 142 goals this season, or almost 21% of the total, have been scored by Evangelista, Novak, Parssinen, and Tomasino. These four offensively talented guys need to provide a larger portion of the scoring.
By contrast, O’Reilly’s trio, who runs Nashville’s top line, has scored 35% of the team’s goals thus far this season. You need the other four players to step up when they are held in check, which is going to happen and did happen against the Panthers.
Don’t misunderstand; I’m not arguing that Evangelista in particular or the other three have been total flops this season. I’m arguing that they are essential to the Predators’ hopes of qualifying for the playoffs and have a lot more to offer.
All evening, the Panthers intimidated the Predators away from the puck. Evangelista in particular struggled to use his skating skills to get out of tight situations and create attacking opportunities. Tomasino had 12:24 of ice time and 0 shots on goal, therefore he was likewise insignificant.
These are the events you must endure in order to learn. In order to inject some energy, the Predators may choose to activate players from Milwaukee, such as Spencer Stastney for the defense and Egor Afanasyev for the forwards. You definitely need to go out and make a statement for the two points in your next game against a poor Minnesota Wild club who punched you the last time you met them. I won’t label games “must wins” in January.