Observations XXVII

[ILikeItILoveIt]

Last night was just weird. Peks was awkward from the get-go. The time on the bench/illness, coupled with Saros playing well, has messed with his head. Once he let in that 2nd goal, his body language said it all. Slumping, head down. My heart was bleeding for him.

The 3rd period was textbook what-ever-can-go-wrong-will-go-wrong. Joey "not finishing" on that rush to the net followed by the Oil finishing on almost every shot, said it all. Trotz's "our best guys need to be our best guys" is not happening. We've been winning when only one or two of our best guys are even adequate.

All that said, it's one loss. Just like all the other blowouts. We win tonight and we're back in the drivers seat. While I hate to lose, and especially hate to get humiliated, I wonder what sort of loss is acceptable on the Board? Every loss evokes certain doom and final judgement. Newsflash: When we get mediocre-to-bad goaltending, we lose. When it's bad, we get blown out. When it's good, we win most of the time.

Rinne's downfall may be a blessing. We've all wondered if Juice could handle the daily grind of being a #1. Could he do what Peks did for us, most of the time, over the last decade. We're about to find out. Hines owes Peks nothing. Lavy would have played Peks anyway and let him play thru it. Hines is going with who's planned well since his tenure began. So we'll find out now. If Saros can do it (i.e. play every non-back-to-back game, and shine), we'll make the playoffs.

Once we're in, our win 3, lose 2 dance will serve us fine. Guys who have sucked will get one final opportunity to play up to their potential. Oh, and this wanting WC1 so we play the Pacific, ..... not so much. Oilers and Nucks own us. I'll take my chances with the Central.

 

[King Weber]

From LeBrun's Q&A with Poile:

Your future …

(Smiles). Yes?

Have you thought about it? I always think David Poile and Lou Lamoriello will still be GMs even after I retire (I laugh).

Well, let’s hope not, for everybody (laughs).

You may not want to answer, but I’m just wondering if there is any exit plan?

I’ve certainly talked to our ownership about the future of our team and our organization. Everything that I’m in charge of from our hockey ops to the coaching staff to our office staff, scouting, all the different layers in our organization and what have you. It’s been brought up. I think mutually we both feel that I can and should work for a couple more years. They’ve been really good to me. I really hope that it ends on a good note for myself and for the Predators. I’m certainly not going to be going anywhere else. I love living in Nashville. I love everything about the situation. Just got to make it a good transition whenever the time is.

 

[Predsanddead24]

Last night was just weird. Peks was awkward from the get-go. The time on the bench/illness, coupled with Saros playing well, has messed with his head. Once he let in that 2nd goal, his body language said it all. Slumping, head down. My heart was bleeding for him.

The 3rd period was textbook what-ever-can-go-wrong-will-go-wrong. Joey "not finishing" on that rush to the net followed by the Oil finishing on almost every shot, said it all. Trotz's "our best guys need to be our best guys" is not happening. We've been winning when only one or two of our best guys are even adequate.

All that said, it's one loss. Just like all the other blowouts. We win tonight and we're back in the drivers seat. While I hate to lose, and especially hate to get humiliated, I wonder what sort of loss is acceptable on the Board? Every loss evokes certain doom and final judgement. Newsflash: When we get mediocre-to-bad goaltending, we lose. When it's bad, we get blown out. When it's good, we win most of the time.

Rinne's downfall may be a blessing. We've all wondered if Juice could handle the daily grind of being a #1. Could he do what Peks did for us, most of the time, over the last decade. We're about to find out. Hines owes Peks nothing. Lavy would have played Peks anyway and let him play thru it. Hines is going with who's planned well since his tenure began. So we'll find out now. If Saros can do it (i.e. play every non-back-to-back game, and shine), we'll make the playoffs.

Once we're in, our win 3, lose 2 dance will serve us fine. Guys who have sucked will get one final opportunity to play up to their potential. Oh, and this wanting WC1 so we play the Pacific, ..... not so much. Oilers and Nucks own us. I'll take my chances with the Central.

Well the Stars and Avs have owned us as well so I wouldn't want to face them either. Really the only team we've performed well against this year that we may play in the first round is the Blues, and they kick the physicality up a notch in the playoffs which we may struggle with. I don't relish any potential playoff matchup, but I still think I'd take my chances in the Pacific if I got to choose even with our regular season struggles against most of those teams.

 

[drwpreds]

Last night was just weird. Peks was awkward from the get-go. The time on the bench/illness, coupled with Saros playing well, has messed with his head. Once he let in that 2nd goal, his body language said it all. Slumping, head down. My heart was bleeding for him.

The 3rd period was textbook what-ever-can-go-wrong-will-go-wrong. Joey "not finishing" on that rush to the net followed by the Oil finishing on almost every shot, said it all. Trotz's "our best guys need to be our best guys" is not happening. We've been winning when only one or two of our best guys are even adequate.

All that said, it's one loss. Just like all the other blowouts. We win tonight and we're back in the drivers seat. While I hate to lose, and especially hate to get humiliated, I wonder what sort of loss is acceptable on the Board? Every loss evokes certain doom and final judgement. Newsflash: When we get mediocre-to-bad goaltending, we lose. When it's bad, we get blown out. When it's good, we win most of the time.

Rinne's downfall may be a blessing. We've all wondered if Juice could handle the daily grind of being a #1. Could he do what Peks did for us, most of the time, over the last decade. We're about to find out. Hines owes Peks nothing. Lavy would have played Peks anyway and let him play thru it. Hines is going with who's planned well since his tenure began. So we'll find out now. If Saros can do it (i.e. play every non-back-to-back game, and shine), we'll make the playoffs.

Once we're in, our win 3, lose 2 dance will serve us fine. Guys who have sucked will get one final opportunity to play up to their potential. Oh, and this wanting WC1 so we play the Pacific, ..... not so much. Oilers and Nucks own us. I'll take my chances with the Central.

I will admit, that game last night combined with all the other horrible moments this season, have just about worn me down so much that I don't have much optimism left at all.

But I have to say, as always your posts are always a breath of fresh air and very much welcomed- so keep them coming!!!

 

[drwpreds]

Oh, and this wanting WC1 so we play the Pacific, ..... not so much. Oilers and Nucks own us. .

Check out these numbers for Preds vs Oilers and Canucks this season:

0-6 record (all regulation losses)
15 goals scored/ 32 goals allowed
4+ goals allowed in 5 of the 6
5+ goals allowed in 4 of the 6
We scored 3 or fewer goals in all 6 games
Penalty Kill % in the 6 games? 32%- we allowed 15 power play goals in 22 chances (!!!!!!) That is just impossible


YIKES

 

[LCPreds]

All that said, it's one loss. Just like all the other blowouts. We win tonight and we're back in the drivers seat. While I hate to lose, and especially hate to get humiliated, I wonder what sort of loss is acceptable on the Board?

16-14-4: Home record thus far this season.

6-1-2: Home record through October.

10-13-2: Home record Nov until now.

10 wins
13 regulation losses
2 overtime losses
aka 10-15

It isn't about what sort of loss is acceptable, at least to me at this point. It's more than that. It's the fact that we have been brutally terrible at home where it hurts even worse if attending. That is specifically why I have been so down on the team this season. It is unacceptable.

 

[drwpreds]

16-14-4: Home record thus far this season.

6-1-2: Home record through October.

10-13-2: Home record Nov until now.

10 wins
13 regulation losses
2 overtime losses
aka 10-15

It isn't about what sort of loss is acceptable, at least to me at this point. It's more than that. It's the fact that we have been brutally terrible at home where it hurts even worse if attending. That is specifically why I have been so down on the team this season. It is unacceptable.

And what makes it all the more inexplicable, hard to believe, whatever label you want to put on it- as awful as we have been at home, we have been just fine on the road. Our road play/road record is one that would put us in the race for the division crown if we were just a decent home team.

Just like a million other things with this team, it makes no sense..

 

[BigFatCat999]

Oh Minny is going to get f***ed up next game.

I will say this again, all the emotions, Minny is going to get f***ed up tonight.

 

[wadesworld]

I will say this again, all the emotions, Minny is going to get f***ed up tonight.

This aged well.

 

[Kat Predator]

I was thinking about this morning how basically all of our highly-paid elite forwards as a group are extremely underwhelming. It is amazing really. I mean it is not shocking when a player has a down season; it happens all the time. But virtually all of your top tier guys? Crazy.

I think this roster was put together for Lavi, an offense-oriented coach. They put the defense through a wood chipper and apparently thought they were going to run and gun their way to lots of scoring, so it didn't matter how many they gave up. That didn't pan out at all. Maybe because the backbone of this team in recent years was the defense and a counter punching, opportunistic offense.

Hynes hasn't really found the right buttons to ignite the offense. Maybe a game here. A game there. But there have been a lot more 1 and 2 goal games. Can't say it's really looking that much better. Same rollercoaster riding team. No consistency. No chemistry. Throw the bag of flour in the air a few more times. Maybe an apple pie will fall out of the sky.

Assuming they give Hynes the reins, I would not be surprised to see him preside over a steady gutting of the team as they try to find whatever players might fit his systems. It seems they'll be starting out with some ping pong balls in the lottery machine at this point.

 

[Armourboy]

Part of me wants to dislike Hynes systems, but then the other part watches the play and realizes that no matter how good your system is if guys are turning the puck over, making bad passes and just in general aren't executing it's not really going to matter.

They've had more than ample opportunity to score goals in most games, but the coaches can't make you hit the net.

 

[sparkle twin]

Well damn. Same shit, different day.

They just played Hynes post game comments. He said he didn't like their first period. He said they talked about the third period EDM game and then came out and still played the same way in the first period and it cost them the game.

The players said yesterday they would learn their lesson, had to be hungrier and were eager to get back out there to play.

Players are all talk.

 

[101st_fan]

The buffer is gone when it comes to wild card contention.

 

[GeauxPreds1]

Staying optimistic and pessimistic at the same time.
Optimistic side of me- hey we’re not out of it, looks at the standings, a 3 or 4 game winning streak will get us back where we need to be

Pessimistic side of me- man we suck we should of sold at the deadline, looks at schedule, Dallas, Dallas, Habs, Leafs, jackets, wild, avs and flyers the next 8 games. We might win 2. Bright side we could be in the 6 or 7 spot in the draft after these 8 games

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

It's going to be season-low odds on making the playoffs after last night. The amplitude of the fluctuations is magnified by the proximity of the season ending, but we are probably looking at about 30% odds on most models now.

16 games left, we need at least 20 points and a little luck to get in. That's 10-6 bare minimum to get 92 pts. Although it might take a few more points than that depending on how the other teams do. 4 back-to-back games in that doesn't help... they all involve travel too. 7 home and 9 road is probably a bit of an advantage at this point.

I don't see much room for optimism... it's not like they are playing well and just need their luck to turn. They already got a pretty good shot of lucky points in the run-up to the trade deadline.

 

[Kat Predator]

Staying optimistic and pessimistic at the same time.
Optimistic side of me- hey we’re not out of it, looks at the standings, a 3 or 4 game winning streak will get us back where we need to be

Pessimistic side of me- man we suck we should of sold at the deadline, looks at schedule, Dallas, Dallas, Habs, Leafs, jackets, wild, avs and flyers the next 8 games. We might win 2. Bright side we could be in the 6 or 7 spot in the draft after these 8 games

Feeling the same. I really would love for some magic to happen and somehow we get in, get the motor started, and win it all for Pekka.

But then there is that flat, discombobulated team that goes on streaks of dysfunction on the ice. Can't score. Can't defend. Which makes me think Poile really screwed the pooch this year, and the Predators are on the cusp of following the Blackhawks, Kings, etc. into those nothing guaranteed, lean years of a major cap purge and rebuild. (And if I'm feeling super pessimistic, I'm not at all confident Hynes is the guy to lead a team through that transition quickly and back to the land of milk and honey.)

 

[101st_fan]

The Preds, Wild, Jets, and Flames are in a statistical dead heat based on points percentage right now. It's a four team fight for two spots where it may very well come down to tie breakers. The past two games aren't the death knell but we're at the point where the Preds need to start collecting points again to get back on that 60% points pace needed.

 

[Scoresberg]

I think that game does it for this nightmare of a season.

 

[drwpreds]

We have about a million issues right now, you can take your pick of many.

But one thing continues to be one of our biggest problems and that is we simply cannot score.

Since Hynes took over:

We are averaging 2.56 goals per game- for a full season that would put us 28th in the league
We have scored 2 or fewer goals in 15 of the 25 games under Hynes.
We have scored 3 or fewer goals in 19 of the 25
We have scored 4 goals in a game 6 times in 25 games
At home, it is even worse- averaging 2.38 goals per game and have scored 2 or fewer in 8 of 13 games at Bridgestone.

Before the coaching change, we were averaging 3.43 goals per game- top 5 in the league. So we are down almost a full goal per game under Hynes.

2.5 goals per game is not going to cut it even if you have good goaltending and defense- but if you have bad defense and goaltending like we have had most of the year, you have absolutely no chance to win.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

We have about a million issues right now, you can take your pick of many.

But one thing continues to be one of our biggest problems and that is we simply cannot score.

Since Hynes took over:

We are averaging 2.56 goals per game- for a full season that would put us 28th in the league
We have scored 2 or fewer goals in 15 of the 25 games under Hynes.
We have scored 3 or fewer goals in 19 of the 25
We have scored 4 goals in a game 6 times in 25 games
At home, it is even worse- averaging 2.38 goals per game and have scored 2 or fewer in 8 of 13 games at Bridgestone.

Before the coaching change, we were averaging 3.43 goals per game- top 5 in the league. So we are down almost a full goal per game under Hynes.

2.5 goals per game is not going to cut it even if you have good goaltending and defense- but if you have bad defense and goaltending like we have had most of the year, you have absolutely no chance to win.

Is it possible that Granlund (11) and Smith (8) are our two leading goal-scorers in that time? (And are potentially leaving as UFAs).

Is it possible that Filip Forsberg has now gone 16 games without a goal in this most-crucial stretch of our season? And Matt Duchene has 1 goal in those same 16 games? And Ryan Johansen has 2 goals. That $22M cap hit isn't justifying its existence very well...

 

[Montross]

Is it possible that Filip Forsberg has now gone 16 games without a goal in this most-crucial stretch of our season? And Matt Duchene has 1 goal in those same 16 games? And Ryan Johansen has 2 goals. That $22M cap hit isn't justifying its existence very well...

Simply unacceptable. And like I said before, head-scratching as why all of these guys went ice cold at the same time.

 

[drwpreds]

Is it possible that Filip Forsberg has now gone 16 games without a goal in this most-crucial stretch of our season? And Matt Duchene has 1 goal in those same 16 games? And Ryan Johansen has 2 goals. That $22M cap hit isn't justifying its existence very well...

Those goal scoring numbers from our supposed top guys are just mind boggling- one of the most inexplicable things I have ever seen in sports

In over a month's time, those 3 guys have a combined 3 goals???? Draisaitl had more goals in 2 1/2 periods Monday than those 3 had combined in over a month.

Incredible

 

[Bringer of Jollity]

Simply unacceptable. And like I said before, head-scratching as why all of these guys went ice cold at the same time.

Obviously they dislike the new coach and his "accountability"--it hurt their fee-fees.

 

[BigFatCat999]

This aged well.

Like Rinne and Hamhuis.

OK, the Preds just....I just....wow

 

[Bringer of Jollity]

Is it possible that Granlund (11) and Smith (8) are our two leading goal-scorers in that time? (And are potentially leaving as UFAs).

Is it possible that Filip Forsberg has now gone 16 games without a goal in this most-crucial stretch of our season? And Matt Duchene has 1 goal in those same 16 games? And Ryan Johansen has 2 goals. That $22M cap hit isn't justifying its existence very well...

Beyond whether we want to keep both or either, how much interest do Granlund and Smith even have in re-signing for this mess? That's 2 of our top 4 goal scorers this season (with Bonino, tied for the team lead, gone the following season).