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Eight Games In - Where is this team?

October 23, 2017, 8:49 AM ET [3 Comments]
Paul McCann
Nashville Predators Blogger •Predators Radio Network • RSSArchiveCONTACT
After a tough loss at MSG on Saturday, the Predators are back home for Tuesday night conference matchup with Calgary, then finishes the week with a back-to-back, in Chicago Friday night, then back to Smashville for the first Saturday night home game of the young season. and the last game before the team takes off on their annual two week west coast trip. The next home game after Saturday will be November 11th against the Pittsburgh Penguins, a date that Pred Nation has had circled since late June.

Heading into the third week of the regular season, with 8 games under their belt, it is fair to ask… where is this team right now?



The team is certainly in a better spot that the same time last season, at 4-3-1 for nine points, the Predators stand fourth in the Central and in the first wild card position, only four points out of the top spot. Long time readers know that I like to quote the theory of playoff positioning by US Thanksgiving, but a lot of writers subscribe to the theory that you get a great idea of playoff participants by November 1. The Preds have three games to go before that milepost.

Offensively, this team has some work to do. 26th in the league in goals per game, while the JOFA seems to have not missed a beat and Scott Hartnell has seen a resurgence… secondary scoring has been OK but Ryan Johansen and Kevin Fiala has yet to tickle the twine. Add Calle Jarnkrok, Pontus Aberg and Freddie Gaudreau into the list… they will get on track.

Defensively the team has been fairly solid, 5th best in the NHL in shots allowed per game, 8th best in GAA. Stats are fine, but the eye test reveals some nasty giveaway tendencies at bad places. They are top ten in penalty kill at 84.2%, good for 8th in the league. PK Subban is off to a great start in the scoring department with a goal and 6 assists, Mattias Ekholm, Samuel Girard and Roman Josi with a goal and 2 assists each certainly help in the scoring department.

Between the pipes, both goaltenders have been solid overall… Pekka Rinne started off a little rough, but has rebounded nicely and sits with a 4-1-1 record, a GAA of 2.01 and a save percentage of .932 and is currently riding a five game point streak. Over the last four games, Rinne’s GAA has been 1.00 with a .965 save percentage. Juuse Saros has had a bit if bad luck in his two starts, in Pittsburgh and in New York. Saros is looking positionally sound and will be just fine.

On the injury front, it’s been a little rough, in their first 8 games the team has posted a total of 19 man games lost to injury. Ryan Ellis is on IR until the holidays, Nick Bonino has missed the last three games and was placed on IR prior to the Ranger game, reports have Bonino being out for at least another week or two.

Overall, the Nashville Predators are in a good spot after shaking off the post Stanley Cup Final hangover. They have survived injuries to key players and the “next man up” attitude from last season’s playoff run is certainly in effect. The early November roadie is always a good thing for this team, it certainly helps in the bonding process as being on the road for almost two weeks allows the team to focus solely on hockey and get critical team building time.

But before that... three games this week. Tickets are available for Calgary tomorrow night... use the code "dunkin" for $10 off...

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