Predators’ painful playoff defeat not the only storyline of a transformative season

By John Glennon

We’ll get the ugliness out of the way up front.

Twice in three nights, the Predators headed into the third period of a playoff game with a one-goal lead -- a chance to take a series lead over Carolina in Game 5 on Tuesday, and a chance to extend the series to a winner-take-all in Game 6 on Thursday.

Twice they failed to hold the advantage, succumbing in those situations as many times in consecutive postseason contests as they had the entire regular season.

In the third period of the playoff finale at Bridgestone Arena, the Predators saw disaster stem from both a teamwide lack of pushback and a lack of attention to individual detail.

Examples?

The Preds had no collective answers for the Hurricanes’ surge in the third period, as Nashville was outshot 16-5 and outchanced 14-3. Carolina is one of the NHL’s most talented teams, so it was no surprise to see the Hurricanes take their play to another level as they tried to rally. But the Preds were plagued by poor break-out passes and sloppy neutral-zone turnovers as well.

“They turned it up for sure,” Predators center Ryan Johansen said. “But I think . . .

This is a premium article, and you've reached the end of the free preview.

The rest of this content is restricted to Broadway Insiders. Register for an Broadway Insider Pass to view this post in its entirety.

If you're not ready to unlock everything Broadway Sports has to offer, you can return to our home page and view all the free content available right at your fingertips.

MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS	STANDARD (FREE)	BSM INSIDER PASS ($6.99/mo)
Comments on Articles	✔︎	✔︎
BSM Podcast Network	✔︎	✔︎
Access to Free Articles and Videos	✔︎	✔︎
ALL Premium Articles		✔︎
EARLY Access to Select Written, Video and Audio Content		✔︎
EXCLUSIVE Access to the full Mike Herndon Show		✔︎
PRIVATE Invitations to Livestreams and Q&A's		✔︎
EXCLUSIVE Access to the New Broadway Morning Newsletter		✔︎
EXCLUSIVE Invitation to Private Fantasy Leagues and Competitions		✔︎

Register New Account

Username

First Name

Last Name

Password

Password Again

Choose one of the following:

Standard - free - unlimited
A standard membership is required for participating in comments and forums.
Monthly Broadway Insider Pass - $6.99 - 1 Month
Access all premium content on the site. Automatically renews each month. LIMITED TIME OFFER: Use code "insider" to get your first month for only $0.99. After the first month, Monthly payments of $6.99/mo will resume.
Yearly Broadway Insider Pass - $69.99 - 1 Year
Access all premium content on the site. Annual commitments receive a 15% savings ($5.83/month). LIMITED TIME OFFER: Use code "annual" to get your first year for only $49.99. After the first year, payments of $69.99/year will resume.
Heimerdinger Foundation: Monthly All-Access Pass - $9.99 - 1 Month
Broadway Sports is proud to partner with The Heimerdinger Foundation for this special membership. 25% of proceeds from this level is donated directly to the foundation.

Discount Code - Valid - Invalid

I agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Author: John GlennonMulti-media journalist with extensive expertise covering the NFL, NHL, professional soccer and more, including the Tennessee Titans and Nashville Predators for The Tennessean with articles, videos and podcasts. Strengths include the ability to write quick, concise and thorough analysis, as well as the ability to uncover unique human-interest stories. In working as a reporter, John developed skills that extend beyond the sports journalism world. An efficient and effective communicator, John is confident, calm and productive under deadline pressure and knows the power of the written word. John brings to Broadway Sports a work ethic second to none, an intellectual hunger, and an ability to inform and entertain readers, viewers and listeners. Reach out directly to John at: