NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Ultimately, the Nashville Predators made too many mistakes. Too many near misses. Not enough star power from their stars. Too few power plays that could even find a way into the offensive zone – forget about moving anything inside it. And no home victory.
The Preds’ 2023-24 season began with low expectations for a playoff spot and ended in disappointment, as Andrew Brunette’s first Preds team raised expectations along the way. Friday’s 1-0 loss in Game 6 to Vancouver at Bridgestone Arena, yet another soul crusher for Nashville, resulted in a 4-2 series loss – a series the Preds really could have won 4- 1.
They have been outplayed in one game, their 4-1 win in game two in Vancouver. They did much of what they wanted to do – in hockey parlance, they “got to their game” – for large stretches of the next four games of the series. And lost three out of four.
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“It hurts,” Brunette said Friday night, hours after being named a Jack Adams finalist. “It’s hockey sometimes. Sometimes it’s inexplicable. …Hockey is cruel sometimes.
It was never more cruel than at the end of the game that will go down in Preds playoff infamy, Game 4 on Sunday at Bridgestone Arena. That saw a two-goal lead lost in the final 2:49 of regulation and just 62 seconds of overtime needed to bring them back to a 3-1 series deficit. Add to that 3:51 with the 12 seconds of the third period of Game 1 that saw a one-goal lead become a deficit, and you get 4 minutes and 3 seconds of hockey’s most costly and error-riddled that this franchise has played. .
That’s too much to overcome, in tandem with a power play that has been a disjointed disappointment, going 2-for-22, against a better team. Although the Preds have led the game with more consistency as the series has aged, the Canucks are much stronger up the middle and have gotten the pressure the Preds lacked – which is why Vancouver will face the Edmonton Oilers despite the loss of its two best goalkeepers due to injury. The predators.
🤝 @Canucks pic.twitter.com/ExExuEarZZ
– Nashville Predators (@PredsNHL) May 4, 2024
Nashville continued the franchise’s strange tradition of not being close enough at home in the playoffs. Friday marked the Preds’ sixth straight playoff loss at Bridgestone Arena, dating to Carolina’s clinching game of 2021. It also dropped Nashville to 7-16 all-time in playoff games — including 2-10 home. Take out the Preds’ 9-2 record at home in the 2017 Stanley Cup Final and you get too much fantasy atmosphere that wasn’t rewarded by the home team.
Preds fans were in their seats and preparing for a 6 p.m. local start Friday. Their energy, swelled by these standing ovations, did not disappoint. The deflation only came at 1:39 of regulation time, thanks to a sublime pass from one of the Canucks’ stars, Brock Boeser, to cut Pius Suter for the winning goal.
Pius Suter (18:21 of 3rd period)
Last decisive goal in #Canucks history pic.twitter.com/1c0EGaKyyf
– Sportsnet Statistics (@SNstats) May 4, 2024
That brings us to the Nashville Predators’ best players, how they played, and what that tells us about the future.
Filip Forsberg finished with two goals and four assists in six games, as well as playing a key role in the defensive zone miscommunication that ended Game 4 overtime prematurely. Roman Josi had a goal, two assists and a bloody ear in five games, and he was on the ice — all the way down the ice — when the Canucks tied Game 4 with 6.2 seconds left.
Both created opportunities in the offensive zone and put their bodies in the path of the Canucks’ opportunities in the defensive zone. They were desperate. They were good. They seemed to put away Game 4, with Josi creating a Forsberg goal in the rush, and Forsberg getting the assist on Josi’s power play goal in the third period in Game 5 to tie that game. They had moments.
But they needed another Friday and couldn’t find it. They weren’t “good players” and the first power play unit they inhabited together is proof of that alone, although Brunette said his best players were “outstanding” when asked questions about their production on the series.
Josi and Forsberg are certainly not the problem. And they still represent the timeline. They absorb a total of $17,559,000 of the Preds’ cap space for the next four seasons ($8.5 million for Forsberg, $9.059 million for Josi), with corresponding no-movement clauses in their contracts.
At the end of this 2027-28 season, if no clause is lifted and no contract bought out, Josi will be a 37-year-old free agent and Forsberg a 33-year-old player with two years left on his contract. Until then, can first-year general manager Barry Trotz build a team that Brunette can take on a legitimate run after the franchise’s first Stanley Cup?
Only if Forsberg and Josi get more help. They are the cornerstones, but not the ones that take a team this far. They need more around them. Ryan O’Reilly and Gus Nyquist proved to be brilliant veteran additions in Trotz’s first summer – although O’Reilly said he was “terrible” in the series after tallying just one goal and one assist – and their first line with Forsberg is a primary. reason this team made it to the playoffs.
Now, to move forward? There are other goalies on this list, starting with rookie Luke Evangelista, and the Preds have gotten some stellar performances from players who weren’t paid to score in this series.
But the players who will push the Preds closer to the league’s best aren’t on the roster right now. And that’s why goalkeeper Juuse Saros’ days may be numbered.
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That’s a comment on the state of the NHL and this roster, not his play – even if his .900 save percentage for the series wasn’t spectacular. It was also a bit disappointing, and Saros was terrific in the last two games of the series, stopping 46 of 48 shots.
He committed steals more than once in the second half Friday, then denied Suter a prime chance early in the third. He hit Boeser on a backhand try after 11 minutes of play in a period totally controlled by Vancouver. He was a star who played.
“Ifs and buts,” Saros responded when asked if he played his best in the last two games, immediately contrasting with how he played early in the series.
All around Saros in the disappointment of a season ending abruptly, of a flight to Vancouver for a Game 7 rendered useless, the guys who count on him were gushing about him.
O’Reilly: “He was incredible.”
Brunette: “He’s completely competitive – he’s awesome.”
Josi: “He is our backbone. »
Goaltenders are a force with number 74 in the crease. Saros’ final impression couldn’t have been much stronger. But giving him a long-term deal in the range of $8 million per year, up from the $5 million one year left with the AAV deal, still seems like an unwise course of action. judicious.
Gifted prospect Yaroslav Askarov is on the rise. Saros is 29 years old and, at 5-11 years old, is more reliant on explosive athleticism than his taller counterparts. Offensive firepower now matters most in this league. The Preds ultimately lost to a team that has more skill and depth in its forward group, and that shouldn’t be considered a coincidence.
Saros’ return may not be what Trotz would like, because as offensive skills have increased in value, franchise guards are proving less essential. But the cap space saved its own reward.
This season has also been rewarding. there is no doubt. To build on that immediately, with few prospects willing to step into key roles, Trotz needs to acquire and spend money.
(Photo by Juuse Saros: Brett Carlsen / Getty Images)