The Nashville Predators regrouped early this week and ended their five game losing streak, but the joy didn't last long.
The Nashville Predators took the four days off early in the week to regroup and refocus after dropping their last five in a row. During the days off, head coach John Hynes made some changes to the Predators lineup.
The new look of the lineup paid off well against the St. Louis Blues on Thursday. Nashville finally put together a complete game.
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There was a palpable sigh of relief when the Predators got that divisional win over the Blues on Thursday. Among the excitement were a few questions about the new lineup and about the lack of ice time for young Cody Glass in the final period of the Blues' game. John Hynes explained his lineup and ice time decisions before Saturday's game.
Hynes kept the same lines to start the game Saturday night against the visiting Washington Capitals. While Juuse Saros played a strong game against Alex Ovechkin and the Caps, the rest of the team, and especially the power play, fell flat.
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The Predators have a few days to address some of the on ice issues before they take the ice for the first of their five road games beginning with Tuesday's matchup against the Edmonton Oilers.
Meanwhile, with the holidays coming up you may be looking for gift ideas for the hockey fans in your life. Last week the NHL and Adidas released the league's reverse retro jerseys, and this week I ranked the sweaters for your convenience.
Here is hoping the Predators can find success this week as they swing through western Canada so maybe Nashville fans won't be embarrassed to don the mustard cat reverse retro.
