by Zachary Harmuth
With all the pressure off, and Nashville cemented into the group of teams not headed to the playoffs, the last six games of the season don’t mean anything.
The Preds sit at 33-32-11. They earned 77 points this season. But they play in maybe the hardest division in all the NHL.
The Central division of the Western conference, in which the Preds stand last, could end up sending five of its seven teams to the playoffs. Besides the automatic bids for the top three in each division, two remaining teams from each conference with the best record fill out two wild card sports.
From the Central, besides St. Louis (109 points), Colorado (102) and Chicago (99), Minnesota (89 points) all but certainly will take one wildcard spot. And as of Thursday, Dallas, another Central team, sits in the last wildcard spot (85 points). Phoenix, in the Pacific division, also earned so far 85 points, but Dallas holds a tiebreaker.
The two remaining Central teams, Winnipeg (78 points) and the Preds, in a testament to the crazy competition in the Central division, both could still make the playoffs.
Granted, either team would need to win out and Dallas and Phoenix to hit a skid. But still. It says something that the last-place team in the Central division earned more points this year than five of the 28 teams in the league.
The Predators played well in the past week, beating Buffalo 6-1 last Thursday and Washington 4-3 on Sunday, despite losing to Dallas 7-3 on Friday. The loss to Dallas, though, hurt. The Preds gave up seven goals, with Rinne suit Rinne in goal. Obviously the star goalie still needs to brush off some of the dust that collected on him after being injured most of the season.
The biggest problem for the Preds this year was its goals given up. It gave up on average 2.9 goals per game. Much of this can be blamed on instability at the goalie position. The Preds started four different goalies this year at various points. But still, 22nd in the league in goals-against per game is no place a defense-first team should ever find itself.
Though of course, next year, no one would complain if the Preds made a move toward a more offensive style of play. Two red flags that something is not working on offense: when a defense-man leads your team in goals (Weber, 21) and when you trade away your assists leader (Legwand, 30). Those flags translate into the Preds scoring just 2.2 goals per game, 22nd least in the league.
Hopefully the Predators use the draft in the right way to help the team. The defensive side can probably be left alone. Next year, coming out with a healthy Rinne, the Preds should be right back in shape. But, if the team can send even an average offense onto the ice every night, it could turn ties into wins and losses into ties. The Preds do not even need an offensive star. Just someone on offense who can finish in the top-30 of scorers. Shea Weber, the defense-man who leads the team in goals, ties for 67th in the league. Probably, given that just five more wins would have put the Preds comfortably in the playoffs, a little improvement will make a huge difference over the course of a season.
Games coming up: @ Anaheim Friday 9 p.m.; @ San Jose Saturday 9:30 p.m.; @ Dallas Tuesday 7:30 p.m.
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