Nashville doesn’t always have to be thrilled when it shows its work, but the Predators’ math is adding up nicely going into a home game Tuesday against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Predators carry a five-game winning streak into Tuesday’s game, including a 3-2 win at home Sunday against the Winnipeg Jets, and while that has served just to get them to .500, they’ll certainly take it.
“I think we’ve got a little bit of a recipe now of how we want to win games, how we want to prepare and approach games,” Nashville defenseman Ryan McDonagh said.
That includes being resilient enough to hold off opponents late. The Predators built a 3-0 lead Sunday, then had to hang on as Winnipeg got back to within a goal.
“It certainly wasn’t perfect at times (Sunday), and it hasn’t been perfect on the winning streak as well,” McDonagh said, “but you find ways to win games. That’s a great sign. We know we can be better, and we’ll keep improving, and it will, hopefully, lead to some more consistency.”
Defenseman Roman Josi moved into a tie for third on the team at 15 points with a goal and two assists against the Jets.
“Obviously, I want to produce, but if we’re winning and I don’t produce, then I’m totally fine with that,” Josi said. “(Offense) is definitely a part of my game. It’s been awesome, the whole system, I think. It’s been great and really fast.”
The other three top scorers for Nashville make up the line of Filip Forsberg, Ryan O’Reilly and Gustav Nyquist.
“They play off each other,” Predators coach Andrew Brunette said. “They’re always talking, always thinking, so I think they enjoy it. I think the joy level with that group is pretty special, and you can see it on the ice.”
For Pittsburgh, the joy level ebbs and flows along with the team’s success.
The Penguins have the same record as Nashville, but coming to .500 a quarter of the way through the season has been bumpy.
Pittsburgh held off the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday for a 3-2 win, one night after blowing a two-goal lead as the Buffalo Sabres scored three unanswered third-period goals to win.
“I think we defended a little harder (Saturday),” Penguins center and captain Sidney Crosby said. “We probably did a better job of just making decisions.”
Crosby has been perhaps the only example of reaching the high level of consistency Pittsburgh has been searching for. Even at 36, he leads the team with 13 goals and 24 points.
The win over Toronto came after the Penguins had lost two in a row and four of five.
The losses have come in a variety of ways, but one nagging problem is the power play. Pittsburgh has gone seven straight games without a power-play goal, an 0-for-18 drought.
The Penguins were able to overlook their 0-for-3 performance on the man advantage Saturday because of the other attributes they showed in coming back twice from a one-goal deficit and then holding onto a slim lead.
“I thought it was a great response from everybody,” Crosby said. “Hopefully, it’s something we can build off of.”
–Field Level Media
