The answer is an emphatic NO.
Why All The Complaining?
A competitive rebuild has appeared to transition into how many franchise records can be broken. Forsberg, Duchene, Josi, and Jeannot are having phenomenal years. Johansen is even showing his true colors up the middle. And the line of Trenin, Sissons, Jeannot has been great all around, always bringing a big play to get the team back into the game.
Not to mention the $8m salaries of Johansen and Duchene finally demonstrating that they aren’t two of the “worst” in the league anymore.
The team is most certainly in a better position than many thought the case would be at the outset of the season.
Those calling for Hynes to be fired or coming out of the woodworks to complain now that the team has hit a bit of a slump should simply go back to their hole. This is not an apologist take, but rather a realist one. This is professional sports in an extremely competitive league.
The irony in saying that this is a sport in which a team should make the playoffs and understand that anything can happen, i.e., a 1 seed being swept by an 8 in a 7-game series, yet complain and act astonished at a statistically superior team losing a single game to an “inferior” team can become comical at times.
Sure, I understand and completely share the sentiments that dropping games to Seattle and Buffalo (both meetings I might add) is not an ideal situation, especially this time of year. But that’s what makes April hockey so great. Trust me, I’ve shared my frustrations openly about the organization and the play.
What’s The Current Issue?
In my opinion, it’s clearly the defensive side of the game. Goals are coming in droves with all aspects of the lineup stepping up. Granted, the second line could definitely produce more but, frankly, that’s a minimal issue to have at this time with the Preds having had struggled with scoring since their inception. The physicality is remaining but that grit needs to be stronger at the start of games. Admirably, this group has been able to fight back when digging deep, deep holes for themselves. Look at the recent games against the Flyers, the Blues, and the Sabres. Being down multiple goals early makes it tough for any team as the playing style naturally changes a bit. Against all three teams mentioned above, the Preds came back to tie it but ultimately lost in 2 of the 3.
Saros has been regressing to the mean somewhat but the defensive side of the puck has been struggling and not providing much help regardless of your take on the goaltending. When things are not always going your way, the best option is to keep it as simple as possible and get back to the fundamentals. This is going to be a hot take, but I am still a fan of Jeremy Lauzon. He’s had a tough ride in his first few years in the league, getting that goal in Buffalo should relieve a lot of the pressure and hopefully let him fall into place a bit better. A new start and environment is good for players, so let’s see how it goes. Will he ultimately be in the lineup when the full group is back, I don’t know. But I would like to keep seeing him get a shot for the next few games. As for the others, we know the type of hockey they can produce. I anticipate the physicality ramping up tonight with Josi continuing to lead the rush out of the zone. This team shines when continuing to mix physicality and speed. The Preds are not the biggest or the fastest but they are a solid mix of the two.
To repeat, despite the somewhat downturn experienced in February and March, I see April being where the tides turn.
So…What Are We Looking At For April?
At the time of this writing, the Preds have a record of 39-25-4 for a total of 82 points through 68 games. Good enough for 4th in the Central and just sneaking into the first wild card due to 3 games in hand on Vegas (who also have 82 points but through 71 games) and Dallas who have one more regulation loss putting them just outside the wild card with 81 points through 68 games.
The Preds’ remaining schedule is definitely not an easy one, so in order to reach playoff hockey the team in gold will have to start a bit early this year. But this will only make the watching more enjoyable and the hockey an even more of a sit at the edge of your seat type. Everyone will keep saying the Preds have the 4th or 5th hardest schedule remaining, but any schedule in this league is tough. Take each game in front of you regardless of who is at the opposite end. I think the Preds play stronger against “better” teams anyways. So I say bring it.
There are 14 games left in the regular season with 10 of these at home and 4 on the road.
Wild
@ Senators
Panthers
@ Penguins
Sharks
Oilers
Blackhawks
Blues
Flames
@ Lightning
Wild
Flames
@ Avs
Coyotes
Tonight is a big matchup in Smashville with the Wild in town along with their new addition in goal, Marc Andre Fleury. The Wild have been on a massive run of late going 9-0-1 in their last 10. 2 points in regulation would be a big win for the Preds this evening. Any division or conference is all the more important this time of the year with each game being a 4-point swing. The grind begins tonight! I’ll be in attendance and watching attentively. I think tonight the Preds turn the corner and welcome the style of hockey needed for the playoffs.
Nashville Predators Blogger • 
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