The Nashville Predators got a much needed win over the Arizona Coyotes to even their best-of-five Stanley Cup Qualifier series, 1-1, on Tuesday. But there’s no time to celebrate as the puck drops for Game 3 today at 1:30pm Central. Below are three things to watch for in Game 3.
PERIOD 1: Live and Learn
In Game 1, they learned how to lose. In Game 2, let’s hope they learned how to win. The Coyotes, for the most part, have been vanilla in this series. It’s the Predators who have won and lost games. Let me explain…
To kick off the Qualifier round, Nashville decided to throw a parade to the penalty box while also failing to execute little things like ensuring the puck gets out of their zone and not making dangerous cross-ice passes with no defensive safety valve. Essentially, they were the reason they lost, not their opponent. In the second tilt, they brought a more complete game, stayed out of the box and dictated the pace for 59 minutes. Put another way, they took control and didn’t let up until the result of a win was in the bag.
If the Preds can learn from both experiences and carry those lessons into Game 3, they should set themselves up for success.
PERIOD 2: A Little Consistency Can Go a Long Way
We have seen this team play inconsistently all regular season long. Even after the pause they played a great game against the Dallas Stars only to take a backseat to their opponent in Game 1 against Arizona only to then come back with a vengeance in Game 2. Enough is enough.
There have been very few constants for Nashville in 2019-20. Captain Roman Josi has shown the world why he’s one of the best all-around defenseman in the National Hockey League, the Nick Bonino, Rocco Grimaldi and Craig Smith line has been the only forward line you could count on to bring their A-game each and every shift and Juuse Saros has been a stalwart since John Hynes took over behind the bench in January.
That’s about it.
Normally a formidable player, Ryan Ellis hasn’t looked like his pre-2018 self, Ryan Johansen put together his worst season statistically since he was a sophomore in this league, Viktor Arvidsson dealt with injuries, prized free agent signing Matt Duchene has fallen well short of fans’ expectations and we may have witnessed the end of the legendary Pekka Rinne’s starting career.
Nashville hasn’t put together more than three wins in a row since October which speaks to the lack of consistency. Right now would be a perfect time to find some.
PERIOD 3: Goaltending
Juuse Saros has been great in this Qualifier round. The Game 1 loss wasn’t on him and he looked solid when he was tested in Game 2 (especially that three-save sequence just before Bonino’s goal in the first). A lot has been made that it’s a back-to-back situation between Games 2 and 3 but the reality is so many factors are different than the normal back-to-back situation we’re accustomed to seeing.
There’s no travel involved. The players finish their game, walk across the street to their hotel, and are in for the rest of the night until their game the next day where they, again, walk across the street and play. So while it’s not ideal for a goaltender to play twice in 24 hours, it’s not like Nashville is playing in Music City at 7:30pm and then getting on a plane afterward and flying to Colorado for a game at 7:30pm the next day.
Let’s put it this way: beer leaguers do back-to-back games all the time and these are NHL players — who have just had a five month break, by the way — in top physical condition. If Coach Hynes decides to go back to Saros, he’ll be fine.
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