The Nashville Predators saw several team-related streaks come to an end Friday night in their 3-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues. Gone are the Predators seven-game winning streak, their seven-game home winning streak, as well as the team’s six-game streak where they had scored at least one power-play goal.
The Predators came up empty in their five opportunities with the man-advantage Friday night, largely due to the stifling penalty killing approach of the Blues. St. Louis’ penalty killers did their best to stack up at the blue line preventing a clean entry for the attacking Predators. When Nashville did manage to penetrate the Blues zone, they were unable to set up their big shots from the point.
“That’s our first option, and if a team is overcompensating, then we try to get the pucks down low and we try to create from down low,” Steve Sullivan said. “Tonight, we really didn’t get a chance to look for either or. They did a really great job of taking away our flow.”
Entering Friday, the Predators had scored ten power-play goals in their last six games. Those ten power play markers accounted for more than half of Nashville’s goals scored in those games. In those six games, Nashville has been credited with 20 goals in that span, but two of those credited goals were a result of shootout winners.
What a difference a few weeks make. Not long ago, the Predators power play was more of a noun than an adjective, connecting at just 3.3 percent which put them not surprisingly last in the NHL at that time. With the recent run of power play success, the Predators entered Friday with the league’s 18th best power play of 18.9 percent.
“The power play has been really good the last little while, they have carried us,” Predators coach Barry Trotz said. “We had some chances, but we weren’t able to capitalize on some loose pucks. There are some nights they go in and some they don’t. Tonight they didn’t go in.”
An oft-repeated phrase in the hockey world is that your goaltender has to be your best penalty killer, but Blues goaltender Chris Mason did not have to be St. Louis’ best penalty killer on Friday. On the Predator’s five power plays, they only managed to get seven shots on the former Predator netminder.
“I really get up to play a former team, it’s emotional,” Mason said. “We knew they have been hot on the power play, and on their recent winning streak here their power play has been a big part of that. We took a few penalties, but the penalty kill did a great job today.”
The Predators may have an opportunity to right their power play ship quickly as the Florida Panthers come to the soon to be not named Sommet Center Saturday night. Entering Friday’s games, the Panthers were second to last in the NHL in penalty killing at 74.2 percent.
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