Devils, Predators each stand at crossroads with trade deadline looming
Two teams caught in the crossroads of mediocrity, the Nashville Predators and the New Jersey Devils need to figure things out fast with the NHL trade deadline approaching.
The Devils already began their parting of pieces on Tuesday when they dealt veteran forward Ondrej Palat and draft picks to the New York Islanders in exchange for Maxim Tsyplakov.
The Predators, losers of four of their past five (1-3-1), will be eyeing an opportunity to get back on track when they travel to Newark, N.J. to face the Devils on Thursday.
After collecting a trio of wins, New Jersey has now fallen in two consecutive contests itself.
Consistent stretches of winning hockey has been hard to come by for the Devils, playing to a 5-5-0 record over their past 10 games, most recently losing to the Winnipeg Jets 4-3 on home ice Tuesday.
The Devils were trailing 4-1 late in the second period before Jesper Bratt buried a power-play goal. That was followed by captain Nico Hischier's third-period goal to make it a one-goal game with 1:46 left.
Unfortunately for New Jersey, time ran out before the Devils could find an equalizer.
"Disappointment," Hischier responded when asked what he takes from Tuesday's failed comeback effort. "I think it's more disappointing the way we played in the second. Some old habits were there again and that cost us the game. We gave up way too (many) easy chances for them."
Bratt also picked up an assist on Hischier's late tally, while Jack Hughes brought his season total up to 36 points (12 goals, 24 assists) across 35 games with a two-assist performance.
After a 17-8-0 stretch which firmly implanted the Predators back into the playoff race in the Western Conference, they have sunk back into the proverbial no man's land with their recent string of results. Nashville enters this game four games and two other teams back of the final wild-card spot and 16 points back of third place in the Central Division.
The Predators' latest defeat came at the hands of the Boston Bruins when David Pastrnak found the back of the net just 15 seconds into overtime to claim a 3-2 win for the host squad on Tuesday.
Roman Josi and Nick Blankenburg scored in the losing effort, while Juuse Saros compiled 25 saves.
"It's hard to say (it's) one thing because every game is different," Josi said of his team's recent play following the defeat in Boston. "There have been some games when we didn't start on time and that inconsistency has crept in a little bit, just not playing our style for 60 minutes."
Due to fluttering results, the Predators could expect to see some trade action of their own in the near-future, with veteran standouts Ryan O'Reilly and Steven Stamkos the subjects of plenty of trade buzz across the league.
Just weeks from his 35th birthday, O'Reilly has 51 points (18 goals, 33 assists) across 52 games to put him on pace to pass his career-best points total of 77 (28 goals, 49 assists), which he collected while a member of the St. Louis Blues' miraculous 2018-19 Stanley Cup-winning team.
Stamkos has rediscovered his scoring touch after a slow start to this season, with the two-time Maurice Richard Trophy winner tallying 25 goals, including four over his past three games.
Both Stanley Cup-winning veterans could bring in a hefty return for the Predators if they choose to swing a deal.