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Preds Seek to Rebound Against Wild |
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The struggles continue for the Preds with the team dropping 3 of 4 at home and their first game on the road last night in Winnipeg.
The team will take on the Minnesota Wild tonight hoping to build upon the good of the first five games, while seeking to remedy the gaps in defense. The team is currently 1-4 record wise, but it is not as bad as that makes it out to be. Sure, there are some big issues that need to be remedied, especially in the transition defensively. But there is a lot of good to build off of as well. Connor Ingram is set to make his NHL debut tonight too.
The Good
The good has been the ability to create chances and the youth movement is getting the opportunities to learn on the fly and actually standing out within games and not simply getting by.
Tomasino has scored in two straight, doing exactly what he was drafted to do. The more he is in the lineup and excelling as he is, the more he will build his confidence and be able to overcome the slumps. This is great to see. As seen in his first career goal against the Rangers, it does not have to be pretty. Keep working and throwing pucks at the net and they will go in.
Jeannot is bringing back the core of Preds hockey, being gritty when he needs to and also producing solid chances and burying the puck when given the chances. Jeannot and Sissons are looking good together with Cousins being a nice addition on that line. The pass, pass, score from Cousins to Jeannot to Sissons for the first goal in Winnipeg was a great all around effort. Very similar to the goal Jeannot scored against the Kraken. This is how this team can succeed.
Josi is being typical Josi and dominating the game, but he is not able to do it all himself. I am enjoying Josi being paired with Fabbro still. Fabbro has been getting very unlucky with some bounces and is still holding the stick too tight as seen at the end of the Rangers game when he got fancy and backhanded the puck across the blue line to his right and out of the offensive zone. He's learning from and paired with one of the best in the game. I'm optimistic for his continued growth in this role.
Trenin, Granlund, and Duchene have really been standing out in their play. Taking chances and driving the net as a first option. The hard work that resulted in Granlund passing to Duchene point blank in the slot against the Jets is a perfect example. If only Duchene would have finished instead of putting it in the goalie's chest. But he knows that. Doesn't need me calling it out.
Saros is playing strong. The current system is to collapse and suppress shots. But when the shots are not suppressed and the transition is poor, Saros will get blitzed with multiple odd man rushes and he can only do so much. Many of the game-winning goals have resulted from this breakdown in transition.
The Bad
The bad has been a lot of small things that snowball into bigger ones.
Transition. Two perfect examples would be the second goal by the Rangers where Blais got behind the defense and passed over an easy tap in for Lafreniere and then the first goal against the Jets where Myers got caught on the pinch and simply could not catch Lowry and then missed the cross-ice pass for the easy back hand finish.
Lack of Shot Suppression. It's one thing to have a system that focuses on collapsing defensively and playing for the counter, but this type of system involves keeping the shots to the perimeter and not letting the puck get behind you. When these shots are not blocked and the puck gets below the circles, bad things can happen with point blank shots and easy tap ins. Need to get sticks and bodies in the shooting and passing lanes more.
Inability to Finish. The team continues to get solid chances, but the inability to finish these chances are this team's biggest downfall. Aside from the wide open Jets game where goals came at less of a premium, every game had been a one goal game until the very end. If any of these chances could have been finished earlier in these games, it changes the entire dynamic. A team focused on its defensive posture and counterattacks seems to grip the stick a little tighter and force things that leads them to get caught when they are constantly chasing the game. Chasing the game is not how this team can succeed. And it's proven so.
Forsberg and Johansen. Both have seemed non-existent. They've both had their moments but they are needed to be leaders on this team. Need to step it up. It's one thing to be making the right moves and the points just not coming. It's quite another to be consistently weak on the back check and getting the puck out of the defensive zone and being in the wrong places. They're both great players, so I believe they will turn it around. But the lack of production and simple mistakes are evident through the first five games.
What's Next?
Tonight will be an interesting game. Many former players from the Preds play on the Wild so they will undoubtedly have a chip on their shoulder, the likes of Hartman, Fiala, Gaudreau and Pitlick.
Although this is a short road trip, it will be good to see how the team responds tonight. Roadtrips like this always bring a team together. The issue is definitely not in the effort. The execution is simply not fully there. But their effort is abundantly evident.
They come back home for two games this week, San Jose and NYI, but then are gone for a two week road trip out to western Canada for three games and then three more games against division opponents, Chicago, Dallas, St. Louis, for 6 games in 10 days. I see the team tightening up and really showing their true colors on that road trip. Hopefully I'm proven correct. It's still very early in the season. We were all well aware that this season would welcome growing pains.
Nashville Predators Blogger • 
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