While Nashville’s start to the season has been overwhelmingly positive, some lackluster results on the power play and penalty kill have proven to be a downer.
Here’s more, from The Tennessean:
“It’s important,” Predators head coach Peter Laviolette said. “The whole time on the road we didn’t get a chance to work on it too much. It’s good to get an opportunity and get out and work on it.”
The Predators spent about a half hour working on special teams during the 52-minute practice.
The power play has improved as of late and is ranked No. 22 in the NHL at 14 percent. The penalty kill is No. 28 at 73.2 percent.
“We worked on it quite a bit,” defenseman Seth Jones said. “We know they’re not good enough right now, but they’re getting better.”
One thing worth mentioning is that Laviolette didn’t inherit a lousy PP. Nashville’s power play had some success under Barry Trotz -- interesting, given his reputation as a defensive-oriented coach -- with the unit finishing 12th in the NHL last year on the man advantage (19.2 percent); during the 2011-12 campaign, Nashville had the league’s best power play at 21.6 percent.
Another wrinkle? Nashville’s not getting many power play chances this year. Only three teams have had fewer than the Preds’ 43 man advantage opportunities.