The fifth loss in six matches broke the camel’s back, and it wasn’t just any loss.
Nashville, which is still in the playoff race, collapsed last week in front of its own home crowd to Dallas with a score of 2-9. The loss was the ugliest in Nashville’s club history on home ice. This was enough by Andrew Brunette for the coaching team he leads.
Nashville was supposed to fly late Saturday night directly from St. Louis to Las Vegas, where it will not face the local Golden Knights until Wednesday. The team was supposed to go to see the concert of the well-known Irish band U2 in Vegas on Sunday, but the Dallas rain watered down the plans. The tour was canceled by the coaching staff and the team flew straight home from St. Louis on Saturday.
– GM (Barry Trotz) and the coach seemed to have made the decision together to fly straight home. And it wasn’t just about the Dallas game. There were a couple of other games below, where they played quite poorly, although they did not result in ugly losses. The energies haven’t been right after the star match break. Based on that, it was decided that the trip to Vegas would be missed, the team’s goalkeeper Juuse Saros times for Urheilu.
The HPK graduate did not regret the decision.
– Quite a self-inflicted thing. It would be nice to see U2 sometime, but if the game is not in order, considering the playoffs, I don’t think it’s very wise to go to Vegas for a couple of nights to swing.
Saros didn’t have much to report on the Dallas match for posterity. Saros started the game, but came out after the opening set at 0-4. To the credit of Nashville, the posture movement made by the group must be counted. Two days after the collapse, it clearly beat St. Louis, who was fighting for the same places away, 5-2.
– I can’t remember if I’ve been in a game like that against Dallas before in my career. That’s where everything went wrong, and then we got a really good deal about it. It was quite a humiliation. It also opened everyone’s eyes that we can’t play like that.
On a roller coaster
Nashville has even exceeded expectations. Although it has a few star individuals in its ranks, Saros, Roman Josin, by Filip Forsberg and Ryan O’Reilly as usual, few brought the country pump to the spring big dance. Despite the slow performances of the last few weeks, the team is only two points away from the last playoff spot in the Western Conference.
– Looking at the preliminary settings, we are in good settings, even though this season has been quite a rollercoaster. In November-December, a longer good streak was played, from which points were collected. We’ve known all along that we can play well, but on the other hand, it hasn’t come as a surprise to us.
If Nashville’s season has been a rollercoaster, Saros uses the same term for his own season. The goalkeeper had a sticky start to the season, but gathered his package and was one of the hottest goalkeepers in the league at the end of the year. Towards the new year, the grips have changed again.
The fluctuation is also visible in the statistics. For example, the save percentage in the previous 15 matches is a modest 90.3 for the top keeper Saros, and the average number of saves also climbs over three. Over the course of the entire season, Saros’ saved goals compared to expected goals are minus five goals. In the past season, Saros’ reading was plus more than 46 hits. The reading at that time was the best of the series.
– It has been a slightly different season. The start was slow, but then I caught up with the game. After Christmas, there have been few games like that where it hurts and all kinds of things happen. I’ve just tried to learn and work hard. At least I have learned to handle different situations, says Saros.
Saros cannot or does not want to think about the reasons for the fluctuations in the level.
– It is this sport sometimes. I won’t start making excuses for it, usually it’s the sum of many things. It always tries to do its job as well as it can. In the future, you just have to keep believing in what you’re doing.
Is the landscape changing?
At least as interesting as Nashville’s playoff rally is watching how Juuse Saros’s NHL transfer market goes. Nashville is in the middle of something of a rebuilding project and has top-level goaltending talent marinating in the AHL Yaroslav Askarovso Saros’s name has been thrown around in various transfer rumors throughout the season.
Saros’s five million contract with Nashville is quite cheap and lasts until the summer of 2025. It makes the Finn an attractive option for other clubs.
It is known that more than one club would be without a reliable goalkeeper for the spring. This has kept Saros’ name close to the surface. The deadline for transfers in the NHL is March 8.
According to Saros, the tone with GM Barry Trotz is clear on the subject.
– I have liked the way he communicates in my direction directly. He has said that I should not be the first to be traded, but if someone desperately wants to offer a big package, it would be stupid not to listen, Saros opens.
Right after, however, the Finn reminds of the joint will of the parties.
– Both parties have room for a new contract. That’s the first plan and that’s what he himself hopes for. I would love to continue here, but I haven’t thought about it any further yet. Anything can happen in this business.