The backbone of the Nashville Predators has been off to a slow start this season too. It can be argued it’s a byproduct of the 4-9-1 start, but goaltender Juuse Saros is in a snafu too alongside his teammates.
Through 11 games Saros is 3-7-1 with a goals-against average of 2.85 & save percentage of .904.
Saros is the only goalie in the NHL with three or fewer wins (minimum of 10 GP) to have a .900 SV% or better.
His defense has left him hung out to dry in the meantime, which has inflated his statistics to be what they are. Saros’ numbers are not indicative of what his true potential is.
“With our system, everyone has to be on the same page. Once we’re not connected one guy is going & one guy is a little late,” Saros said. “That’s when teams expose us & those spaces open up for other teams. We really need to be on the same page to eliminate those.”
Through 14 games during five-on-five play, defensemen Roman Josi & Brady Skjei as a pair have allowed 11 goals. Then Jeremy Lauzon & Alexander Carrier sit at 10 goals against when on the ice.
Skjei is still adjusting to head coach Andrew Brunette’s system & it’s evident in his decision-making as well. He’s been seen biting too early going for hits or is more often out of position.
“We have to take care of the puck better & be nastier down low, we have to box out, we have to end plays,” defenseman Marc Del Gaizo said.
Whilst this is happening Saros has made the second-most saves (292) & has allowed the third-most goals (31) this season. His backup Scott Wedgewood has seen three games so far & has posted a 1-2-0 record with 13 goals against on 82 shots faced.
Not only has 31 goals found the back of the net when Saros plays. He leads the NHL with 37 rush attempts against in all strengths of play & has 31 against during five-on-five.
“We handle the rush okay when we’re connected,” head coach Andrew Brunette said. “Unfortunately we made, we talked about penalties, some big mental mistakes where we’re diving in or we lose our forward or we’re pinching at the wrong time. It’s really hurt us & it’s catastrophic when it happens. When we’re in layers or we’re connected we handle the rush really well.”
Simply put, the defense has not been adequate this season. The Vezina Trophy-caliber goalie has seen better days & so have the Predators.
Saros is seeing a high volume of quality chances & not building the ideal confidence a starter needs to steal games, which he’s been acting like a stalwart at since Pekka Rinne retired. He has one shutout against the Boston Bruins where he made 33 saves, but that was the fifth game of the season.
“You can’t pick your games, you might start a game with a breakaway or you might start with 10 shots from the blue line. As a goalie you prepare for anything,” Saros said. “The better quality chances they get it’s always harder for me. I try to be prepared for everything & do my job. If I could pick my games I’d ease into it.”
Nashville has allowed 72 high-danger shots to be fired at Saros. The Finnish goalie has stopped 55 of those pucks while permitting 17 to beat him.
To paint a further image of Saros’ workload, for goalies who’ve played in at least 10 games he’s made the fifth most saves per game with an average of 26.8.
“I feel like these teams are scoring all different kinds of ways,” Del Gaizo said. “I don’t think there’s one area you can pinpoint for us. As a defensive corps, we have to be nastier in front of our net & nastier in the corners to kill plays.”
Saros’ former backup Kevin Lankinen has made 229 saves (17th most) & boasts a 7-0-2 record this season for the Vancouver Canucks. At least Lankinen hasn’t needed to make too many high-danger saves but so far in Vancouver he’s faced 47 & stopped 39.
According to Natural Stat Trick, Saros’ former childhood teammate has also saved 7.19 goals above expected this season.
There’s a myriad of things the hockey team in Nashville has to improve on. Can they protect Saros while also providing him with more goals on offense?
“It’s a mix of a lot of things. When things are not going your way then it always gets a little harder,” Saros said. “We need to be talking & trusting that everyone does their job.”
Larget improvement yet to be seen & Nashville has a chance to start climbing back to who they are as the Utah Hockey Team is in town tonight.
Follow Nick Kieser on Twitter/X: @KieserNick
Photos courtesy of the Nashville Predators
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