The Nashville Predators’ season has not been impressive, but a big part of it is the lack of scoring. Not one player is performing at the level they can offensively this season and it has caused the Predators to be ranked 31st in points % and dead last in wins (7) despite strong goaltending by Juuse Saros.
The magic number for Nashville is four this season. The Predators have played 25 games and what do their losses all have in common? The team has scored three goals or fewer in every single one of them. In six of the seven wins, the Predators have scored four or more.
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The seventh instance came in the team’s second win of the season in game seven where Nashville won by a score of 3-2 in regulation against the Chicago Blackhawks. They had a chance to score in the empty net, but it just so happens that the Blackhawks are struggling just as much as Nashville in the goals department.
If the Predators were to have scored four goals every game, they would have outscored their opponents 11 more times. There are also two more games on top of that where the score would have been tied 4-4. That means the Predators have allowed five goals or more in five of the 25 games. It’s not horrible and every team has off nights defensively, but when you combine that with repeated poor nights offensively, the 2024-25 Predators are the result.
Nashville has lost six times in overtime this season of the seven times the team has gone past regulation. Every loss has finished at a score of 3-2. This has also happened three games in a row with losses to the Philadelphia Flyers, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Minnesota Wild.
The Predators are struggling and even though the team just made a backup goalie swap, that doesn’t help the lack of offense clearly needed to win games this season. I don’t expect Barry Trotz to be finished, but time is ticking and the Predators are no closer to the playoffs.
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