When you’re on a scoring slump, Henrik Lundqvist is probably the last guy you want to see in the other team’s net.
Those fears were founded, too, as the New York Rangers blanked the Nashville Predators 3-0 on Monday.
With that, Nashville has now been shut out of three straight games for the first time in franchise history.
The numbers are all-around disturbing for the Predators, who really can’t afford this to go much longer in the absolutely brutal Central Division.
#Predators scoring drought: 213:47
— Darren McFarland (@dmac_nashsports) November 24, 2015
Previous record: 176:18
Fall to #NYR 3-0 on @1025TheGame
Never been shutout in 3 consecutive games.
They lost some company in their misery, as well.
streak ends at 167:54 ,,,
— Tim Panaccio (@tpanotchRET) November 24, 2015
Nashville showed some frustration in this one, too, with James Neal losing his cool and Mike Ribeiro taking a game misconduct for a second straight contest.
Meanwhile, the Rangers won their ninth game in a row at Madison Square Garden while Lundqvist continues to climb historic ranks.
Most wins w/ 1 franchise:
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) November 24, 2015
M. Brodeur (NJ) - 688
T. Esposito (CHI) - 418
T. Sawchuk (DET) & @HLundqvist30 (NYR) - 351 pic.twitter.com/Gp1j4TpMqv
Reason for hope
OK, before you bury the Predators and Peter Laviolette, note a few things.
- Nashville out-chanced the Rangers by a significant margin in this one. Here’s the Natural Stat Trick chart to drive the point home:
- They’ve heavily out-shot their opponents in two of the three games during this slump.
- Beyond that, the Predators are a good-to-great possession team.
- This isn’t really in Nashville’s favor as much as it provides context: this skid comes during a road trip, with two more away games to go.
Long story short, these slumps happen. The Predators get a chance to get things going offensively against the Sabres in Buffalo on Wednesday.
If they don’t score then, things will get tenser, if nothing else.