Predators’ patience being tested by early-season struggles

WASHINGTON -- The Nashville Predators agreed their effort, if not the result, was better.

The issue for the Predators, though, is they haven’t had enough efforts this season like the one they put forth in their 3-2 loss to the Washington Capitals at Capital One on Wednesday. They’ve won just four of their first 13 games (4-8-1) and are 1-3-1 in their past five after they appeared to be getting on track with three straight wins.

This time, the difference was Alex Ovechkin’s goal -- the 861st of his NHL career and the 130th game-winner -- that broke a 2-2 tie at 10:25 of the third period.

“That effort and the work ethic, that’s the style of play that we want and probably one of the better efforts of the year,” forward Steven Stamkos said. “It’s tough when you don’t get rewarded in those games, but these are the games that hopefully you can build on.”

It won’t get easier for Nashville when it visits the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; FDSNSO, SCRIPPS), but this is the hole it has dug for itself. Expectations were raised when the Predators signed three of the biggest names on the unrestricted free market on July 1: Stamkos (four-year, $32 million contract; $ 8 million average annual value), forward Jonathan Marchessault (five-year, $27.5 million contract; $5.5 million AAV) and defenseman Brady Skjei (seven-year, $49 million contract; $7 million AAV).

But there has been an adjustment period that is testing their patience, particularly offensively. The Predators are averaging 2.38 goals per game, tied with the Edmonton Oilers for 29th.

“I just think we don’t have enough chemistry on all our lines,” general manager Barry Trotz told NHL.com. “Our penalty kill has been good. Power play, I would say, has been acceptable. Our face-offs are good. Our 5-on-5 play overall has improved defensively since the start of the year.

“But we haven’t scored a lot of goals.”

Stamkos, who had 1,137 points (555 goals, 582 assists) in 1,082 games in his first 16 NHL seasons, all with the Tampa Bay Lightning, has scored three goals in 13 games. Marchessault, who scored an NHL career-high 42 goals in 82 games with the Vegas Golden Knights last season, has two goals in 13 games.

Stamkos is showing signs of heating up, though, after scoring twice in the past three games, including his redirection goal that tied the score 2-2 at 15:34 of the second period Wednesday.

“I thought that was probably his best game,” Predators coach Andrew Brunette said. “I really thought he was on the puck, and he had the puck. He just seemed in sync a little bit. That's really good to see.”

Some adjustment period for the new players is understandable. Trotz believes the Predators haven’t changed that much from last season, though, when they qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs as the first wild card from the Western Conference with 99 points (47-30-5).

“I brought a couple of guys in to supplement some of the offense, but it’s still the same team,” Trotz said. “The older guys are going to have to carry the team for the next year or so and then we’ve got lots of prospects coming.

“There’s a whole vision of what we’re trying to do. It’s not changing.”

Nashville is trying to retool on the fly and buy some time for prospects such as forwards Fedor Svechkov, a first-round pick (No. 19) in the 2021 NHL Draft, and Joakim Kemell, a first-round selection (No. 17) in the 2022 NHL Draft, to develop. But following a disappointing 3-0 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Monday, Trotz suggested in a radio interview with 102.5 The Game Nashville on Tuesday, “If we don’t get it going, then I’m going to start our rebuild plan.”

Trotz explained that doesn’t mean he’s considering tearing the roster down and starting over. But he might speed up the clock on when Svechkov, 21, and Kemell, 20, will be called up from Milwaukee of the American Hockey League.

“Everybody’s thinking I’m blowing it up,” Trotz said. “No, it’s more that maybe we need a Svechkov or a Kemell or one those guys. Maybe they come in and we start looking at some of those guys and giving them some experience and start that retool or rebuild or whatever (word) we say.”

Whatever the term, the Predators aren’t at that point, yet. They’re still searching for answers, though, including for their hole at second-line center.

The Predators hoped Tommy Novak, who was a late scratch with an upper-body injury Wednesday, could fill that role. But the 27-year-old has four points (three goals, one assist) in 12 games this season after setting NHL career highs with 18 goals, 27 assists and 45 points in 71 games last season.

Much of Nashville’s roster has been snakebit. Against the Capitals, the Predators had two shots go off posts and one hit a crossbar in addition to defenseman Marc Del Gaizo’s potential tying goal at 12:13 of the third being wiped out for goaltender interference.

“At least we're getting those opportunities,” center Ryan O’Reilly said. “If you look at the game before, we weren't getting opportunities. We were doing a much better job of getting to the inside tonight and creating those looks and being more of a threat. It's still frustrating those aren't going in and putting ourselves in a position to take a lead, but that's the way it goes.”

The Predators believe they can work their way out of this this slow start, as they did after going 5-10-0 in their first 15 games last season. But they know they need to start stringing some wins together soon.

“Absolutely, we need results,” O’Reilly said. “This league's so tight. We need results, and we need them now. We have to stay with it. … We need that desperation, but we've got to keep working. It's not everyone go on their own, trying to go rogue. It's sticking together, relying on each other to get us out of this. We know we will.”