Tough January road stretch telling for Predators' playoff plans
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- It's safe to say that the first half of the season has been quite a success for the Nashville Predators.
Although they entered the Christmas shutdown with a 5-3 loss against the Boston Bruins, Nashville's been on a roll throughout the majority of a tough December, winning six of its past 10 games. The holiday break, though, may come at the most opportune time for the Predators, as their schedule only gets bulkier up over the next six weeks.
The Predators' consistent schedule over the past handful of weeks has allowed them to hand over the majority of their goaltending starts to workhorse star netminder Pekka Rinne, who has led the way for them, and the league, with 22 wins in his 29 starts. Even with his 13 straight games between the pipes prior to Tuesday, backup Carter Hutton should be providing a fair amount of relief starting the first week of the new year.
At the start of January alone, the Predators have five games in a span of eight nights. Pair that with three sets of back-to-back games throughout the month and Nashville will play a total of 12 games sandwiched around an All-Star Game break that could see three or four Predators players participating in that as well.
And the schedule remains tough. While over half of December's games for Nashville have come against teams in playoff positions, they'll face nearly the same amount next month. What could make it more difficult for Nashville is meeting the majority of these teams on the road in January.
The Predators have one of the NHL's better home records at 12-2-1, and their road record isn't too shabby sitting at 10-7-1. Visiting the likes of Los Angeles, Anaheim, Detroit, and Montreal should provide an ample test of Nashville's ability to stay with St. Louis and Chicago in the Central Division. Speaking of the Blues, the Predators will also wrap up their season series with them on Jan. 29.
Taking all of this into consideration, Nashville could have a good feel of its potential playoff position entering February. No team can take any type of positioning too lightly, especially this early in the season. Yet, with Nashville nearly halfway to the finish line, every game and point matters going forward.
Historically, its success during December and January has been very telling toward Nashville's postseason probabilities. The Predators have never participated in the Stanley Cup Playoffs with less than 14 wins throughout December and January.
Vice versa, every season Nashville has made the postseason, it's had at least 14 wins in the same span. During the 2005-06, 2006-07, and 2011-12 seasons, the three best seasons in franchise history, Nashville recorded nine wins each year in the month of December. With only three games remaining in the 2014 calendar year, the Predators already have six wins and would have to win out the month just to replicate the same feat.
Winning a specific number of games in a span of two months, however, will not guarantee a trip to the playoffs. It could go a long way, though, to securing Nashville's first postseason berth in three years.
In the same respect, the Predators still have avenues of their game that have to be shored up to continue their unexpected success this year. Special teams is by far its struggling point at this point in the season, with Nashville's power play ranking second-to-last in the league, just better than Buffalo's. The penalty kill has seen a marked improvement since the beginning of the year, however it still sits in the bottom 10 of the league with room to grow.
Another interesting predicament that the Predators have to consider is how much time Hutton will play in their heavy schedule down the stretch. There's no question that Nashville will have to rely on its backup goaltender to a certain extent, but so far Hutton has yet to record a win on the year. With the loss against the Bruins on Tuesday, Hutton's record falls to 0-3-1 allowing nearly three goals per game in his outings. Rinne has participated in more than three quarters of a regular season twice in his six seasons for the Predators, both times he took Nashville to the Western Conference Semifinals.
Undoubtedly, there's still work to be done for Nashville. If their handful of minor issues can be addressed by the time February rolls around, the Predators could be steamrolling to one of their best regular season finishes in franchise history.
