How the Predators Can Turn Good Performances Into Wins: Filip Forsberg
The Nashville Predators lost another competitive game last night against the Seattle Kraken despite a solid performance. What could be the difference between a good performance and earning two points? Filip Forsberg finishing.
The Nashville Predators lost the second game of their five game road trip to the Settle Kraken last night. The Predators have played several games like the one against the Kraken in which the team performed well statistically but couldn't come away with two valuable points. In games against the Edmonton Oilers and Tuesday night's loss to the Vancouver Canucks, the Predators had a statistical edge in things like Corsi for percentage, high danger chances, and expected goals for, but walked away with no points in the standings.
There is a gap between the Predators' performances in games like last night's loss to the Kraken and the results Nashville is getting. Of course, there are parts of their game the Predators can clean up from turnovers to generating second and third chances in front of the net, but perhaps the one player who could take potential and convert it into points is Filip Forsberg.
It isn't fair to say that points leader Forsberg is having a slow start to the season, but what the Predators have staked the offensive portion of their reset on is Forsberg's goal production. He is generating offensive chances and contributing with eight assists in the first ten games of the season, but Nashville needs him to find the back of the net. Nashville is getting offense up and down the lineup, but without Forsberg leading the charge in scoring, the Predators may struggle to close out games like last night's loss in Seattle.
When Forsberg starts to finish on the quality chances he is generating, the Predators will be able to close out games like last night's against the Kraken.