Despite goals by Matt Duchene and Colton Sissons and a visit by former Predator P.K. Subban, Nashville couldn't find a way to beat the Coyotes at home.
The Nashville Predators welcomed P.K. Subban and the Arizona Coyotes to Bridgestone Arena last night. While the crowd was thrilled to see former Nashville defenseman P.K. Subban, the fans were decidedly less pleased with the result of the game. In a matchup against an Arizona team that hadn't won a road game since November 25, the Predators couldn't get the win, dropping a 4-2 loss to the struggling Coyotes.
The loss to Arizona is another confusing turn for a Predators team that can't seem to put together consistent performances in a row. A run of three impressive wins over playoff caliber teams before the All Star Break is nearly forgotten in the wake of the post-break inconsistency. Here are three thoughts from last night's loss to the Coyotes.
If you have to have Juuse Saros in net to beat the Arizona Coyotes, you are not a playoff team - you're a team with a playoff goaltender.
The Predators dominated when it came to shots on goal in this game, but the Coyotes were able to get three goals past backup Kevin Lankinen who finished the game with an .833 save percentage. Let's be clear - Lankinen came up with some huge saves early, but defensive breakdowns, a penalty resulting in a power play goal, and a turnover in the defensive zone contributed to Arizona's scoring.
Could Saros have kept the Preds in this game better than Lankinen? Probably. Lankinen has been terrific for the Predators, but last night was not his best performance. But if Nashville has to rely on their Vezina caliber goaltender to bail them out against an 18-28-8 team with just 19 shots on goal in sixty minutes, the problem runs far deeper than your back up net minder. The performance in front of Lankinen last night had too many lapses to be a team that can compete deep in the playoffs.
Forsberg is out, but no one stepped up.
When Filip Forsberg went down against the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday, the Predators knew the loss would affect the team. Forsberg is the team's leading scorer with 19 goals and with #9 listed as day to day, the Preds needed someone to step up when it comes to offensive production.
Last night Roman Josi and Colton Sissons scored, and according to naturalstattrick.com Nashville recorded eleven high danger chances for, but the team could only find the back of the net twice. Head coach John Hynes pointed out in the post game press conference that two goals is not enough offense to win in this league.
"Obviously you needed three of four goals to win tonight," Hynes said. "And we didn't get it."
Finishing on offensive chances has been a problem for the Predators. In some games, it can legitimately be chalked up to running into a hot goaltender, but last night didn't require outstanding saves from Karel Vejmelka. None of the Predators top offensive weapons elevated their game enough to make up for the loss of Forsberg.
"Tough, tough loss for us," Mikael Granlund lamented after the game. "They were defending pretty well. I think we had the game kind of in hand, we were pressuring them and all that, but they got their three goals…we just couldn't find a way to get more than two tonight. Disappointing.”
"We had our looks, we couldn’t get any more goals than that. That’s on us.”
Last night marked the 2022-2023 season debut of young Phil Tomasino, a player who many in the Predators fan base believe has been a missing offensive weapon for the team. Tomasino recorded one shot on goal in last night's loss, but John Hynes felt his overall performance was solid.
Whether Tomasino can settle into a top six role and find chemistry with line mates quickly remains to be seen, but last night he wasn't the offensive answer many in the fan base believed he would be right out of the gate.
If this team can't beat a struggling Arizona team, what chance do they have against league best Boston Bruins?
This is perhaps the most frustrating question, because the answer is... who knows?
Nashville has lost games to teams in the Connor Bedard sweepstakes race like Arizona and Montreal, but this same Predators team can come out and beat the New Jersey Devils when they were the hot team in the league, Winnipeg when they were battling for a top spot in the Central Division, and the Carolina Hurricanes who have been and continue to be one of the most complete teams in the league. Nashville was less than a minute away from taking Central Division darling Dallas to overtime before giving up a late goal.
The most frustrating part of last night's loss is that this is a Nashville Predators team that can compete. After the loss to the Coyotes, it may seem the team is destined to be sellers at the trade deadline, but then again this roster could quite possibly play well enough to eke out a win over the Bruins. They certainly won't do it with a performance like last night's at Bridgestone Arena, but the talent is there. The consistency is not, and that is what is most worrying about the Predators this season.
Related Reading:
Phil Tomasino Returns to Nashville as Predators Face Coyotes
Predators - 2, Flyers - 1 (OT): Duchene Scores OT Winner But Preds Lose Forsberg to Injury
Predators Performance Against Vegas "Definitely Disappointing"