Predators Finding Ways to Win Games, But Can They Find Consistency?
A shootout win over the Colorado Avalanche had similarities to recent wins for Nashville, but can they turn inconsistent trends into a clear identity?
Nashville’s win over the Colorado Avalanche Tuesday night in the shootout may have surprised many across the NHL, but there were aspects of the 4-3 victory that looked similar to a string of recent wins for the Predators.
Goal scoring
In their recent wins over Detroit, Chicago, Calgary, and Florida the Predators scored 17 goals (they added two goals in their loss to the Jets on November 29). Goal scoring has been a challenge for Nashville who needed seven games to record 17 goals to start the 2025-26 regular season. Another slow start out of the gate offensively has slowly morphed into Nashville finding the back of the net more often in games regardless of the outcome. In the first eight games of the season the Predators averaged 2.38 goals per game, in their most recent eight outings the team has averaged 3.63 goals per game.
The source of those increased goals is worth noting as well. While players like Steven Stamkos, Filip Forsberg, and Ryan O’Reilly still often lead the team in individual expected goals for, players like Michael Bunting, Luke Evangelista, Nick Blankenburg, Erik Haula, Reid Schaefer, and Matthew Wood are finding the back of the net. Secondary scoring has been elusive for Nashville since the days of Ryan O’Reilly and his Swedish meatball line mates in 2023-24. In this league, scoring has to come from more than a team’s top players and Nashville is slowly finding some secondary support.
Goaltending
Nashville needed reliable goaltending to win five of their last seven games, and between Juuse Saros and Justus Annunen the net minders have combined for a .907 save percentage in that stretch. Good goaltending could easily be overlooked in wins over teams like the Flames or Red Wings who have had their own offensive struggles, but Saros’ .929 save percentage against the best offensive team in the league Tuesday night shouldn’t be dismissed.
Colorado has the most goals for in the league in all situations (113) and the best goal differential in all situations (+52). With his two assists last night, Nathan MacKinnon became the first player to surpass the 50 point mark this season. Martin Necas is fifth in the league in points and Cale Makar leads NHL defensemen with 36 points. Containing Colorado to three goals and giving Saros goal support were key to the win last night.
Brunette recognizes that how goes Saros, so goes the team right now.
“We’re going to need Juice every night to play like he did tonight,” Brunette said.
“That’s given us a chance to win.”
Penalty killing
Last night Nashville found themselves once again shorthanded too often. Penalties have been a hitch in the giddy up for this team all season, but the penalty killers showed up and held their own once again. Colorado went 1/4 on the power play with their special teams goal coming at the end of regulation on the power play with an extra attacker on as well.
“We took a couple of unnecessary penalties at the end of the second period,” Andrew Brunette said after the game against Colorado.
“Our penalty killing was huge, and we’re going to need to that be big.”
It’s no secret that the Predators have got to stop taking penalties. While the PK has been solid, the senseless hooking, holding, and delay of game penalties not only tax penalty killers like Ryan O’Reilly, Roman Josi, Michael McCarron, and Erik Haula while keeping play makers like Stamkos and Forsberg off the ice.
Inconsistency is still a big issue.
Winning five of seven games inched the Predators out of the absolute basement of the league, but what big wins don’t seem to do is convert into consistency.
“Hopefully we can develop a little bit of consistency,'“ Andrew Brunette said in the postgame.
“It feels like we’re getting close. We talked about this all year - it’s kind of the next game and how we prepare, where our mindset is, and how we’re going to play. That to me will be the test.”
It’s an issue the players recognize as well.
“What I would like to see from our team is more consistency,” Jonathan Marchessault said after Tuesday night’s win.
“I think there’s one thing we do is like we do a big game like tonight, after next game we don’t follow with consistency. I would like to see that from our group.”
Inconsistency from game to game has been a theme for the Preds individually and collectively. After a gutsy win in the first game of the Global Series, Nashville was shut out in a lackluster performance against the Penguins in the second matchup. After an overtime win over the Florida Panthers December 4th, the Predators were completely overrun by the Carolina Hurricanes. This Nashville team is the proverbial Forrest Gump box of chocolates - you never know what you’re going to get from game to game.
At some point, inconsistency becomes an identity.
Nashville has a unique chance to help change that narrative over the next several games. Tomorrow night they face the St. Louis Blues at home and then head on a two game road trip to face the Avalanche again on Saturday night and the Blues once more on Monday. A week from today they’ll face the Hurricanes who humbled the Predators on Saturday night.
There have been some things to like about Nashville’s game lately.
“We’re playing fast. When we’re connected, helping each other out, being available, passing the puck crisply, it’s a recipe for success for us,” Brady Skjei said Tuesday night.
The real question is whether this team can reproduce those positives with any regularity.
