The Nashville Predators may be off to a 0-2-0 start to the season, but there’s 80 more games and a ton of time to get on track.
There were some big changes in the off-season, so a little bit of a rocky start to begin the season should’ve been expected. A two-game losing streak in the middle of the season wouldn’t be looked at too in-depth, but the start of the season always amplifies problems.
While the Predators are winless through the first week of the season, they aren’t the only team seen as a Stanley Cup contender off to a very tough start. Nashville is joined at the bottom of the standings by the Edmonton Oilers (0-3-0) and Colorado Avalanche (0-3-0), but the Vancouver Canucks are also winless through two games as well.
The Predators are the only one of the four contenders without a win in the Western Conference that actually has a trustworthy starting goalie or a healthy one. Not only that, Juuse Saros is locked in for eight more years after this season.
I expect all four of the teams to get on the right track soon as there is too much talent to go around for goals to not start going in.
Something interesting to note about the Predators, Oilers, and Avalanche is the teams rank 30th, 31st, and 32nd in PDO, which is the equivalent to luck in the NHL. It is the combined shooting percentage and save percentage of a team and not only are goals not going in for any of the three teams thus far, there have been a lot of goals against.
NSH has been weakest among them in expected goal share (EDM 3rd, COL 7th, NSH 11th) which is worth noting.
Through two games, the Preds haven’t penetrated the danger area as much… but that will come with more time. They were solid in that area last year (5th in xGF).
— Alex Daugherty (@AlexDaugherty1) October 13, 2024
Starts are just as important as any other point in the season for any NHL team. Every one of the 82 games can give a team the same amount of points and Nashville, as well as Edmonton, proved that a bad start can be turned around in a hurry and in a big way.
Nashville, Edmonton, and Colorado all rank in the top 11 so far this season in expected goals for. The Predators hold the 11th spot this season, but finished fifth in 2023-24, and with a worse roster.
With only three goals for in two games for the Predators, expect the puck to start finding the back of the net. With Saros starting the majority of the games, expect the constant Vezina contender to make lots of saves too.
Related: Why the Nashville Predators’ New-Look Offense Will Take Some Time to Click
There is much more to worry about in net with the Oilers, Avalanche, and Canucks than the Predators, in the short-term and long-term. Wins for Nashville will come, and maybe in bunches like last season’s impressive turnaround.
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