Predators Rule Out Juuse Saros Through Remainder of Regular Season; Could Return For Playoffs
Staying healthy down the stretch remains the biggest obstacle for playoff contenders this season.
With just two games remaining in the regular season, unfortunately, the Nashville Predators will be without their starting goaltender Juuse Saros until at least the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
On Wednesday, the club announced that Saros – who departed early during Tuesday’s game versus the Calgary Flames – had sustained an upper-body injury that’ll keep him sidelined for the next two contests.
In the meantime, back-up David Rittich is expected to assume the starting duties the rest of the way. The team has recalled Connor Ingram – a third-round pick from 2016 – to serve as Rittich’s backup.
Saros, 27, has been one of the top-performing goaltenders in the league this season. In 67 starts (NHL-high), he posted a 38-25-3 record, a 2.64 goals-against average and a .918 save percentage.
Barring a late-season change, he’ll finish ranked top 10 in both goals-against average and save percentage among all qualified netminders in the league, according to NHL.com.
During last season’s postseason run, Saros carried a 2.78 goals-against average and a .921 save percentage. If Nashville is to enjoy any success this time around, they’ll need their starting goaltender 100 per cent healthy.
The 5-foot-11, 180-pound netminder signed a four-year, $20-million contract extension last off-season. His deal runs through 2024-25 and features a $5 million cap hit per season.
On a positive note, Nashville clinched a playoff spot a night ago thanks to a 3-2 overtime victory from the Dallas Stars. As things currently stand, they’d face Calgary in the opening round of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Following this latest injury to Saros, the team’s main concern across these final two games will be keeping everyone else healthy. Of course, that’s usually easier said than done.
Nashville is scheduled to visit the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday, before closing out the regular season against the Arizona Coyotes the next day.
-Thomas Hall
Twitter: @ThomasHall85
Photo: Michael Miller. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.