After missing the playoffs last season the Nashville Predators finally played their first postseason game Sunday in Vancouver.
A pivotal 12 seconds shifted the momentum all over to the Canucks who took game one 4-2 with two goals from Dakota Joshua.
However, this game was lost in a few key areas for the Predators.
Goaltender Juuse Saros was not himself after playing his first playoff game since May of 2021 when Nashville fell in six games to the Carolina Hurricanes.
Against Carolina Saros went 2-4 with a .921 save percentage and goals against average of 2.78. Not a cataclysmic result for Saros who may have allowed 20 goals in that series but didn’t have the help in front of him to advance.
On Sunday he made 17 saves on 20 shots faced with one goal against coming 47 seconds into the second period. Defenseman Roman Josi was defending Elias Lindholm from the top of the left circle and he let a shot rip that appeared to surprise Saros for just an instance.
Juuse Saros has started 11 playoff games in his career. He’s allowed 3 or more goals in 9 of those games. For a player who will demand a raise soon, this is a pivotal series for the starter. #Preds pic.twitter.com/DoYhGCYZCB
— Nick Kieser🏒 (@KieserNick) April 22, 2024
Sportsnet’s Adam Vingan reported that Saros was screened on two of the three goals he allowed. In the regular season Saros had a .863 SV% on screened shots –– 63rd out of 72 goalies who started in 10 games.
Now Nashville has a day off before they’re back at it in game two on Tuesday evening.
“Let’s forget about it, let’s rinse it and get back to work,” head coach Andrew Brunette said after the game one loss to Vancouver. “It was a fun game. I think the emotions were high, it was physical, and we kind of relished in that. We kind of stepped on our toe a little bit. Give them credit they were resilient too. They took advantage of what we self-inflicted on our side. They played really hard and I was really proud of how we handled it early.”
The job wasn’t finished and for the locker room after the loss, both Ryan O’Reilly and Josi admitted the powerplay wasn’t at their best and that has to change moving forward.
“We had a couple of chances and if we score another one we have a two-goal lead,” Josi said. “It felt like we played a little slow there. The other powerplays couldn’t get much going so that’s something that needs to be better.”
O’Reilly scored the only powerplay goal in the second period as Nashville had the man advantage four times against the Canucks.
“We had some opportunities on the powerplay which a goal would have changed the game and given us more life,” O’Reilly said. “I wasn’t great on that. I was there for us but it’s making adjustments and getting back to our game.”
As it’s relative to Nashville’s first game in Vancouver the Predators are 0-13 in series after falling in game one all-time in postseason contention.
It’s not the be-all and end-all of a series but this is the case for the Predators and now they’ll have to write off that history if they’re to advance in the playoffs.
“It’s one game, in the playoffs things happen really quick. The next day you have to forget that game,” Josi said. “We still have a chance next game to get one here. When you’re up 2-1 you want to find a way to win and we didn’t do that but we have another chance.”
A response is needed from the Predators who have only won just four game two’s after falling behind to start a series.
They’ve not gone on to win those series but perhaps Brunette and this group can write a new narrative.
Follow Nick Kieser on Twitter/X: @KieserNick
Photos courtesy of Nashville Predators
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