The Silver Shield, Vol. 16: Predatory instinct

“The Silver Shield” is a column by Kasey Kazliner about the National Hockey League.

The prowling Predators

Coming off a disappointing 2022-23 season, the Nashville Predators are eager to return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. In a stacked Central Division, the Preds are very likely out of contention for the division title, but they’re still in the thick of the Western Conference’s highly anticipated Wild Card race with 84 points.

Nashville is 13-0-2 in its last 15 bouts and hasn’t lost a game in regulation since February 15. If the season were to end today, the Predators would face the Pacific-leading Vancouver Canucks in the first round of the playoffs.

Winger Filip Forsberg is on track to have the best season of his career. He leads Nashville with 74 points on 36 goals and 38 assists. Forsberg hasn’t suited up for a full 82 games since the Predators’ Stanley Cup-losing season in 2016-17 — but he’s played in all of Nashville’s games thus far this season — and has avoided major injuries.

The Swede is utterly clutch; he’s tallied a career-high nine game-winning goals this year and has helped the Preds win games they weren’t necessarily favored in. Forsberg scores when it matters most and is currently riding a four-game point streak, posting at least one in all but one game in March so far.

Blueliner Roman Josi may be a 13-year NHL vet, but, like Forsberg, he’s having a career year. Josi started the season off slow but has been on a tear as of late. He leads Nashville with 52 helpers and is making his case as one of the league’s top defensemen this year. Not only has Josi been one of the Predators’ main offensive catalysts, but he’s been dominant in the defensive end as well. Skating in a whopping 24:27 per game, Josi is resilient and highly skilled.

Winger Gustav Nyquist is another Nashville skater having a retro season. A bit of a journeyman, the 34-year-old joined the Predators in the offseason and already has tied his career-high in points, with 60 on the season. Nyquist has also avoided the penalty box and has used his speed and stickhandling to create chances.

Goaltender Juuse Saros was a popular name around the trade deadline, but Nashville decided to keep him for the ride. Playing in 55 games so far, he’s carried a heavier load than the average netminder, which likely explains his more modest numbers. But Saros is a winner; his 30-21-4 record is nothing to look down upon, and he’ll be heavily relied upon as the Preds march toward the playoffs. As he’ll be an unrestricted free agent in 2025, Nashville keeping him shows that it has faith in the 29-year-old to take the team on a run.

First-line center Ryan O’Reilly has 24 goals. He and Forsberg are the only Predators to have broken the 20-goal plane, but a handful of others are close to the accolade.

A top-10 prospect pool and a deep playoff run-hungry squad should be comforting for Nashville fans. With 13 regular-season games left on the calendar, the Predators haven’t quite punched their ticket to the postseason just yet, but their post-All Star break success certainly puts them in a position to contend for the Stanley Cup, which they’ve never hoisted.

The Preds will play an important game against the Florida Panthers on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. PST in Sunrise, FL.

What happened to Detroit?

Since winning six straight and causing drama in the Atlantic Division, the Detroit Red Wings have been flat-out lifeless. Losers of eight of their last 10 games, all in regulation, the Wings must’ve taken notes from the NBA team they share a home arena with, the 12-57 Detroit Pistons. All jokes aside, the Red Wings are now in serious jeopardy of losing their Wild Card spot.

Since the start of the calendar year, winger Alex DeBrincat has not been the goal-scoring machine he once was. While he has lit the lamp 23 times this season, which isn’t bad, he’s only done so six times since January 1. With only two points in March (both assists), he hasn’t helped Detroit get out of its depressing slump.

The absence of center Dylan Larkin, who’s injured, hasn’t done the Red Wings any favors either. Larkin hasn’t played since March 2 — but is expected to return soon — which would be huge for Detroit. At the time of getting hurt, Larkin led the Wings in goals and total points, with 26 and 54, respectively.

Without Larkin, the Red Wings have shown that, while they do have a significant amount of depth in their lineup, when missing a key player, they still struggle to fill the void on the top lines. As a result, they look like a completely different team without their captain.

Consistency issues between the pipes and on defense have also been a struggle. During Detroit’s recent seven-game skid, the team gave up at least four goals in every match, with as many as seven against both the Colorado Avalanche and the Buffalo Sabres. Lead goalie Alex Lyon has allowed an average of 3.1 goals per game this season and backup James Reimer isn’t much better at 2.98.

With a number of problems to fix, the Red Wings still own a playoff spot with 13 games to go. But with the Washington Capitals, New York Islanders and Buffalo Sabres all within five points of Detroit, the Wings will hope for a steady return of Larkin and a smooth rebound heading into the playoffs. The Red Wings haven’t made the postseason since 2016 and haven’t won a playoff series since 2013 when they weren’t even an Eastern Conference team yet.

Detroit will hope to take down the Isles on Thursday at home at 4 p.m. PST in a crucial game with playoff implications.

“The Silver Shield” runs every Thursday.