Ryan O'Reilly criticized himself after the Nashville Predators lost for the 10th time in their last 13 games.
It’s been tough sledding for the Nashville Predators as they picked up a 3-1 loss on Thursday night to the Philadelphia Flyers.
With that defeat, the Predators have lost 10 of their last 13 games this season.
While no member of the Predators organization will be happy about this start, no one has shown more frustration or self-reproach than center Ryan O’Reilly.
After the game against the Flyers, the veteran was fairly vocal and critical about his own performance.
“I know for myself, No. 1 center, and just turning the puck over everywhere,” O’Reilly told reporters after the game at Bridgestone Arena.
“I can’t make a six-foot pass to save my life. You’re not going to have much success if I’m playing pathetic like that. I’ve had one good year in my career,” he added.
Although O’Reilly was extremely harsh on his own play and took a lot of the blame for Nashville’s loss, his performance wasn’t as bad as it sounds when looking at his numbers from the contest.
For one, he scored the Predators’ only goal, opening the scoring in the game, even if it was a funny bounce.
In addition, according to NHL.com’s box score of the outing, O’Reilly didn’t register a single giveaway, despite his suggestions of turning over the puck several times.
He also recorded four shots on goal, one block, one takeaway, and a 56.3-percent win rate in the faceoff dot.
Later in the media scrum, O’Reilly touched on his play over the last few games.
“I know the last few games I’ve been making mistakes left and right that I don’t normally do,” the 34-year-old said.
O’Reilly has appeared in all 16 games for the Predators this season and has scored six goals and 10 points. He’s tied for the team lead with right winger Filip Forsberg in goals and is second on the team in points.
Furthermore, among players who have taken at least 130 faceoffs this season, O’Reilly has the sixth-best faceoff win rate at 58.2 percent. He only sits behind Tomas Hertl, Auston Matthews, Bo Horvat, Jordan Staal and J.T. Miller in that category.
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