Written by Adam Vingan at The Tennessean.com
The Predators’ locker room Thursday night was filled with expressionless faces, surely unable to fully comprehend or accept their season-ending 5-0 loss to the Sharks in the second round.
Those who tried to explain struggled to do so, hoping to find comfort in the experience gained.
“I felt the whole season was a little bit up and down,” Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne said. “Obviously, you’ve got to realize that we have a ton of talent in this team and a (bright) future in this team. But I think the moments like this, it’s hard to think the future and hard to think next season.
“I don’t know if it’s selfish or not, but you always think that maybe it’s your year, your season right now and our opportunity and our season. Makes it difficult right now, but there’s obviously a lot of life in this team and a light at the end of the tunnel. Bright future.”
As for the present, here are four reasons why the Predators were eliminated by the Sharks:
Shark Tanked
A predominant pre-series story line focused on the Sharks’ road prowess, having the NHL’s best record in that regard. They also had the worst home record of the 16 teams that qualified for the playoffs. But San Jose was dominant at SAP Center in this series, winning all four games by a combined score of 18-5, scoring five goals in three separate games. The Predators never have won a playoff game in San Jose, now 0-8 across three playoff series all-time.
Trailing 2-0 at the start of the series, the Predators responded with two victories at Bridgestone Arena, the second of which came in triple overtime in the longest game in franchise history. They failed, however, to capitalize on the confidence generated from that, getting crushed 5-1 in Game 5. After rallying to win in overtime again in Game 6, the Predators were dreadful in Game 7, completely dominated in an embarrassing
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