Something has to change from game 1 to game 2 between Nashville and Winnipeg, and probably for both teams. The Predators played an efficient game in terms of the transition from defense to offence and generating shots but if you look at shot volume without considering location the full story is not told.
The Jets allowed a lot of shots but they also allowed Hellebuyck to see most of them and when he couldn't he managed the chaos in front of him quite well. The Predators need to change things but what exactly will they do?
One thing the Jets seemed to tolerate if not allow was the Preds defense coming down (read Josi) and circling behind the net looking to distribute the puck. The Jets countered by boxing out the chaotic forward movement and not giving Josi much to work with via puck distribution. He didn't even get it up the half wall well for shots, at least ones that were dangerous. Expect this to change, but not just that, the Jets have to change too.
The obvious change for Winnipeg has to be the speed/tempo with which they skated and moved the puck. They rarely dictated the play or at least the rate or pace of it. They did however control the high danger scoring chances and capitalized on them. That fact is no secret to the Predators and their coaches, they will be better prepared and aware come tonight. It will not be easy in front of Pekka Rinne for any Jets player.
The best kind of defense is getting the puck out of your zone fast and into the offensive zone. That was difficult for Winnipeg last game and like the Predators they have probably looked at film to figure out how to do it better. The biggest factor the Jets will likely have to contend with is constant pressure from the Preds as the did during game one. That likely comes back to skating and pace, they have to equal what the Preds did and will likely do again.
Here's one aspect about pace of play and skating that might get overlooked. The Preds were puck hungry and hard on the puck but the flip side was their voraciousness left them exposed if they went after the puck and did not retrieve it- the first two Jets goals were proof of that. The adjustment has to be to win those battles if you are engaging them or play back a little without missing assignments. See the last BLOG on how that happened.
The one thing that is interesting about the reactions after game one is many Preds players said if they keep playing like that they will win. This is likely true given the predictive value of shot attempts and the law of averages and regression with goaltending. What should be concerning is that they didn't really acknowledge some of the mistakes they made, and those mistakes cost them four goals. Go see the last article linked above on how that happened. The fourth goal was not being aware that Scheifele was going to chase down the icing. Awareness- it matters.
The Jets know they can play better and if they get their skates going and control a bit of the pressure better that shot attempt difference could decrease, and dramatically. Making this happen is another thing.
In the blog before the series began I said that goaltending was a wash. Hellebuyck outplayed Rinne last game but do we expect that to continue? The two are a lot alike in that after a poor showing they come back stronger the next game. Why would that trend not continue. In 4 appearances vs the Jets though Rinne has a .901 save percentage. Hellebuyck has a .882 mark in 4 games. Neither are impressive but so far Hellebuyck has improved first. Now lets see if it can continue to play at that level.