Early deficit leaves Predators mumbling
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – There’s no sense in getting too down about the Predators’ playoff-opening flop, because they were down enough for everyone in this town.
It’s one game, on the first night of the Stanley Cup playoffs, a 3-2 loss Wednesday at Bridgestone Arena to a Stars team that played better and deserved to win. Just like Winnipeg, Pittsburgh, Las Vegas and Presidents’ Trophy-winning Tampa Bay — the other losers on opening night — the Predators can do better than this. They should respond with appropriate desperation for Saturday’s Game 2 at Bridgestone, and if that produces the desired result, then it will be the Stars seeking answers as the series heads to Dallas.
Yet it was awfully gloomy around the Predators after this one. More than you might expect after 60 minutes of postseason hockey, no matter how disappointing the hockey. Peter Laviolette used the word “quicker” five times to describe the Stars in their takeover stretch — the second period and the first half of the third, when they turned a 1-0 deficit into a 3-1 lead — and he bristled at the suggestion that the Predators’ late push might offer some solace.
“We just lost the game 3-2,” Laviolette said. “We’re in our building. We came out the right way. And then we lost the way; we lost the game. So there’s nothing encouraging about tonight.”
Mattias Ekholm said the Predators “kind of left Pekka out to dry” after Nashville took six penalties and allowed Pekka Rinne to be screened twice on goals from Dallas rookie defenseman Miro Heiskanan, one on the power play. The third goal was a Ben Lovejoy shot, a big rebound and a putback for Mats Zuccarello, the only goal that was really on Rinne.
And when he was asked to describe the play after the game, he said, “Uh, they scored.”
Understand, folks: If Pekka Rinne’s
snippy, the Predators aren’t happy.
This is a guy who stands in patiently and answers every question in any situation, including last season’s Game 7 loss to Winnipeg in the same building. Laviolette pulled him early from that game, but he opened a vein afterward and took the blame. That’s who he is.
And on Wednesday he was down, in a hyper-rushed postgame scene in the Predators’ locker room in which four players were made available, one by one. The entire media throng was made to crowd around each player and ask a few quick questions before that player was whisked away. It’s an unusual postgame format for a professional hockey team, especially in the postseason.
In his mini-news conference, Rinne came about as close as he’ll ever come to laying any blame on anyone else, saying, “There was a few penalties that we killed, and then they scored as well. Those change the game sometimes a little bit. And second period, you know,
they were pressing hard and, I don’t know. Hard to say.”
This felt like a team coming to terms with what it is. The Predators’ 8-2-1 finish to the regular season to steal the Central Division carried over to the first period, but no further. The only regularseason item that carried over for the whole game was the feeble power play.
Nashville had good chances in the first period but could score on only one glorious effort from Roman Josi — a snaking, slicing mind-bender of a backhand in which he beat all five Stars skaters and goalie Ben Bishop by himself.
The first line had chances and couldn’t convert. The same with the second line, Kyle Turris pressing but not finishing. The celebrated third line of Nick Bonino, Colton Sissons and Austin Watson had a tough night. Everyone was outplayed after the first intermission, and Laviolette clearly was talking about effort, not just quicks, as he analyzed that stretch.
“Well, we came out with great effort,” he said. “We lost our steam somewhere along the way. There’s things we’ll talk about, we’ll correct, but I’ll probably address that with the players before I bring it out here.”
Told that Ekholm said the Predators played better in the first period because they played a “simple” game, Laviolette said, “I don’t know if it’s a more simple game or a game where you need more determination.”
It sounded like some interesting conversations would be had on Thursday and Friday around Predators headquarters. The fact that Nashville has lost five of its past six home playoff games does not need to be addressed. Nor does the fact that the Predators are 0-9 all time in the postseason when losing Game 1 of a series.
This is about performance. It’s about Laviolette reaching his team. And it’s about time all of this frustration turns to anger.