Preds Prey: First Half Headlines

The Nashville Predators are just past the midway part of the season, and are sitting in a nice place in the standings despite the rough first half.

There are many headlines to choose from for the first half for this team, but here are the five that stood out the most, in no particular order.

Injuries to Key Players

The Predators were hit hard by the injury plague in the first half of the season, and it hit a lot of important players in the lineup. In the month of November, they were particularly hit hard with three key players heading to the injured reserve, some are back, but others are still waiting to rejoin the team. On Nov. 10, the team took its first hit with, forward Viktor Arvidsson being placed on injured reserve. Then three days later, defenseman P.K. Subban was injured and the team learned that he would be joining Arvidsson on the IR. The team thought they were in good shape, but on Nov. 30, Filip Forsberg was injured and placed on the IR. 

Arvidsson and Subban made their return to the lineup on Dec. 27 at home against the Dallas Stars. Forsberg is still on the IR, but is expected to return to the lineup sometime in January. They were just the three major injuries so far this season, but there have been plenty of other ones. Kyle Turris, Colton Sissons and Yannick Weber are currently out of the lineup with no exact date for a return to the lineup. 

Rough Times on the Road

The Preds started the season by going 8-0-0 away from Bridgestone Arena, but then mid-November came and they couldn't but a win on the road. They went 0-8-2 over their next 10 road games, but are somehow sit just two points behind the Winnipeg Jets for the lead in the Central Division. They ended a six game losing streak overall with a win against the Washington Capitals on Dec. 31. The win also ended a 10-game road losing streak. It seems like the road struggles kind of coincided with the loss of Subban and Arvidsson to injury.

During the 10-game road winless streak, the Predators only score the first goal of the game once and that was on Dec. 18 when they were facing the Chicago Blackhawks. During the eight game win streak on the road to start the season, they scored the first goal in every game except two. Another part of the road problem, has been Pekka Rinne, who is much better playing on home ice. During the eight game win streak, the Preds only gave up three or more goals a total of four times, but they did it six times during the winless streak. The opposition managed to score five goals in a game a total of four times, and that can't happen if they want to get some points and climb the standings.

Power Play Struggles

The Preds' power play has been anything but lights out this year. They have chances on the man advantage, but they can't seem to cash in on them. The team had 139 power play opportunities in the first half and only managed to score on 21 of them. They also gave up five shorthanded goals against, and finished the first half ranked 27th.

The Predators can get into the offensive zone and setup on the power play, but the problem begins after that happens. They tend to look for the perfect play and are really pass happy. If the shot is there with no one in the lane and some traffic in front then just get the puck on net because you never know that can happen. They need to stop looking for the pretty or perfect play and make the right one. The Predators have zero power play goals in 24 games played, one power play goal in 11 games played and have only scored two power play goals five times this season. 

Pekka Rinne

Rinne put up some solid numbers in the first half, but they could have been even better. In 29 games, he was 15-10-1 with two shutouts to go with a 2.25 goals against average and a .920 save percentage. He got off to a great start, but his numbers have slipped since then and a major reason for that was his play on the road. In October, he was 3-1-0 in give games with a 2.11 goals against average and one shutout. During November he was 7-3-1 with a 1.74 GAA and had another shutout. In 12 games during the month of December, Rinne was only 5-6-0 with a 2.87 GAA and zero shutouts.

Rinne has solid numbers at home this season, but has somewhat struggled on the road. The goalie's road numbers aren't terrible by any means, just not up to his numbers on home ice. In 16 games at home, he has a record of 11-5-0 with a 2.01 GAA and two shutouts. In 13 games on the road, he is only 4-5-1 with a 2.60 GAA. The team as a whole has struggled on the road and that played into his rough road record in the first half. Despite his poor road record, the team would not be in the race to win the Central Division again.

Ryan Johansen and Roman Josi

Johansen and Josi had to pick up the point pace with Forsberg, Arvidsson and Subban out of the lineup at the same time. Johansen finished the first half with 35 points including seven goals and 28 assists. The totals could have been higher if the Predators had any kind of power play in the first half of the season. Johansen can agitate the opposition and is good at face-offs winning over 53% of them taken.

Josi needed to step up his game with the loss of Subban due to injury. He had seven goals, 22 assists and 29 points in the first half of the season. The defenseman will join the play in the offensive zone and make the first pass to help his team get the puck out of their own zone. He added two game winning goals and averaged 25:24 of ice time per game. 

Preds Prey: Weekly Preview 11/12/17-11/18/147

The Nashville Predators are going to need to find a way to overcome some injury news. The team tweeted that they would be without defenseman Yannick Weber for the next 2-4 weeks, while forward Scott Hartnell will miss the next 3-5 weeks.

The Preds will start off the week by facing the Capitals at home and the game will be televised on NBCSN with the puck dropping around 8 p.m. Eastern Time. Nashville will then take on two divisional opppents in the Minnesota Wild and Colorado Avalanche. The Predators have been hot lately, but it still won't be an easy week.



The Predators need to get the first goal of the game against the Capitals and keep the home crowd in the game. Nashville could possibly have Nick Bonino back in the lineup tonight since he is off of injured reserve. The Preds will need to stop the duo of Evgeny Kuznetsov and Alex Ovechkin since they are the two leading scorers on the team. The Predators will need to stay out of the penalty box since the Caps have a dangerous power play. Nashville will need to get off to a solid start and have plenty of offensive zone time to keep Ovechkin playing defense and not offense. Nashville is going to have to be really good at even strength play.

The Capitals are going to need to get the first goal of the game to try to quiet the raucous home crowd of the Predators. Washington will need to stop the red hot Filip Forsberg and P.K. Subban since they are point generators for Nashville. The Caps will need to get plenty of traffic in front of the net because if Pekka Rinne can see it then he's likely stopping the puck. The Capitals will need to take advantage of a weak penalty kill of the Preds. Washington will need to set the tone early with some hits and goals.

The Preds are going to need to play a solid, defensive road game to have a shot at beating the Wild on Thursday night. The Predators will need to be aware of Jason Zucker and Jared Spurgeon when they are on the ice since they both haven't had a problem producing of late. Nashville will need to make good use of the stretch pass since the Wild like to clog up the neutral zone. The Preds will need to set the tone early in the game with either a goal, a big hit or establish some chances with a good forecheck and speed. Nashville will need to get the first goal of the game to take the home crowd out of it.

The Wild are going to need to find a way to contain the speed of the Predators. Minnesota will need to find a way to find Viktor Arvidsson and Roman Josi, who can both move the puck and have speed. The Wild are going to need to have a solid defensive game and limit their mistakes with and without the puck. The goalie will need to come up big for the Wild, and make some timely saves. Minnesota will need to take care of the puck because the Preds have a good transition game.

Nashville ends their week at home against another division foe in the Colorado Avalanche. The Preds will need to get pucks on net with plenty of traffic. Nashville will need to stop Alex Kerfoot, who is the leading goal scorer on the Avs along with Tyson Barrie, a defenseman who can really move the puck up the ice. The Predators will need to watch out the Colorado defensive corps since they can really move the puck up ice. Nashville is going to need to take advantage a weak penalty kill of the Avalanche. The Preds need to play a disciplined game and stay out of the penalty box since Colorado has a decent power play.

The Avs will need to get the first goal of the game and take the crowd out of the game. Colorado will need to make sure that it has a lead entering the third period since they don't have a come-from-behind regulation win when trailing in the third period. The Avalanche will need to get its road power play going since they will be up against a team that has a weak home penalty kill. The Ads will need to play a solid, 60 minute road game and eliminate the mistakes. Colorado will need to pay attention to the speed of the Preds and to the defensemen since they like to join the play in the offensive zone.