The Nashville Predators’ start to the season has not gone as expected as the team is 0-3-0 with six goals scored and 14 goals against.
It is going to take some time for the new Predators and the team as a whole to get into a rhythm, but they can’t be taking as long as last season to turn things around.
While there is no worry Nashville can figure it out well before the halfway point of the season, the six goals scored by five different players on the Predators looks bad when compared to the one goal by the starting goalie in Minnesota.
Rival Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson scored the 15th goalie goal in NHL history against another division rival, the St. Louis Blues. He is the first member of the Wild to accomplish this and with that goal, he has more this season than every member of the Predators except five.
The only players to have scored so far for Nashville in the three games include Tommy Novak with two goals, and Filip Forsberg, Ryan O’Reilly, Brady Skjei, and Michael McCarron.
The offense, and defense for that matter, has not been good enough for the Predators who should’ve started on the right track. While the Dallas Stars pose a great threat every time the Predators play them and a loss without Juuse Saros starting was acceptable, getting shut out by the Detroit Red Wings and allowing seven goals in a loss to the Seattle Kraken isn’t.
The 1-11 power play hasn’t helped the Predators get on the board as much as they should have to this point. With all the cooks in the kitchen on that top unit, there is going to be a little bit of an adjustment. Not only is Forsberg the shooter on the power play, Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault each scored 40 goals last season too and will also fire the puck.
Gustavsson’s goal lead on 14 of the Predators players who have played games won’t last, but the players on Nashville have to start scoring, and it needs to start against the 1-3-0 Edmonton Oilers who have given up 18 goals in four games.
Related: Predators Haunted by Defensive Woes in 7-3 Loss to Kraken
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