For the first time in franchise history, the Nashville Predators were swept in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Despite a two-goal effort from Yakov Trenin and taking a 3-2 lead, their first of the series, the offense of the Colorado Avalanche proved to be too much for them. The 5-3 loss in Game 4 puts the final stamp on the Predators’ run for the Stanley Cup, but there’s no shame in losing to a team destined to make a deep run in this year’s postseason.
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The Predators were never supposed to contend for a playoff spot this season. Players like Matt Duchene and Ryan Johansen were coming off disappointing campaigns and left unprotected, only to go unclaimed by the Seattle Kraken. Pekka Rinne’s retirement opened the door to a new era of goaltending and a certain level of uncertainty about Juuse Saros‘ ability to take the team on his back and become the number-one goaltender they needed him to be. There were more questions than answers, and it didn’t paint a picture of a team that stood a chance.
Fast forward five months later, and a monumental season full of career years and single-season franchise records being broken put all of the doubts to rest. Captain Roman Josi registered 96 points, becoming a finalist for the Norris Trophy, and both Duchene and Filip Forsberg scored 40 goals, a feat never before accomplished by any Nashville player. Saros became an All-Star goaltender, and rookie Tanner Jeannot ended the year with the rookie lead in goals. It may have been a sour end to an otherwise wonderful season, but here’s one last takeaway piece on the Predators’ 2022 Stanley Cup Playoff run.
Decision Time For Predators and Forsberg
At the 3:58 mark of the third period, Forsberg registered his first goal of the series, giving the Predators their first lead in four games. Intercepting a puck in the neutral zone, Forsberg started the play by passing the puck into the offensive zone and finishing…
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