The Nashville Predators earned a 2-1 win over the Calgary Flames last night. Here is what those sixty minutes of hockey reveal about the current state of this Preds team.
After dropping tough losses to the Montreal Canadiens and the Buffalo Sabres, the Nashville Predators earned two very valuable points as they work to climb into the wildcard hunt. The win over the Flames was a step in the right direction as Calgary is a team the Preds will likely compete with down the stretch to get into the postseason.
Nashville got two goals in the first period from Roman Josi and Juuso Pärssinen, and then Calgary answered back in the second period as Nikita Zadarov made it a one goal game. Juuse Saros managed a third period 21 shot barrage to earn the Preds an important win at this point in a precarious season.
Three Takeaways
The youth are making an impact.
Cody Glass and Juuso Pärssinen played standout games in last night's win. Glass didn't get on the scoresheet, but he was last night's 1C between Filip Forsberg and Matt Duchene and showed he is ready for top line responsibilities on both ends of the ice.
Juuso Pärssinen scored the game winning goal for the Preds on a greasy goal in front of Jacob Markstrom in the first period. Pärssinen's goal extended his point streak to seven games, which ties Filip Forsberg for that rookie record.
After the game head coach John Hynes talked about what is going well with both Glass and Pärssinen.
Nashville is generating offense, but they need to finish those chances.
The Predators dominated time of possession in the first two periods and generated eleven more high danger chances over the course of the game than the Flames. Nashville finished with 3.04 expected goals for compared to Calgary's 1.57, but this was a nail biting one goal finish.
naturalstattrick.comWhile shot generation is good, the Preds have to be able to finish those chances. Forsberg and Nino Niederreiter each had three shots on goal while Matt Duchene and Mikael Granlund had two last night. The big guys need to find a way to finish on quality shots because two goals in a game won't win all the games the Preds will need to win down the stretch.
Consistency is still a concern.
Of course there are ebbs and flows in games, but Nashville played two dominate periods and then struggled in the third. Without the play of Juuse Saros in net, this is a game Nashville could have lost in the final twenty minutes. It seems like when this team faces a challenge or setback - penalties or a goal against - they struggle to recover quickly and reestablish momentum.
Consistency - whether talking about win streaks or brief pockets in individual games - has to improve for Nashville as they hit the midseason mark and find themselves already under pressure to stay in the playoff conversation.
The Preds will have a chance to show that consistency when they play their second game in this back to back tonight against the Columbus Blue Jackets.