The Nashville Predators offer a "Big Juice" and a "Little Juice" on their menu.
Six-foot-4, 210-pound Justus Annunen is the "Big Juice," while 5-11, 180-pound Juuse Saros is "Little Juice."
What about a "Medium Juice," coach Andrew Brunette was asked after the latter stopped 24 of the 26 shots he faced during the 5-2 victory against the St. Louis Blues
on Oct. 17, ending the Predators' losing streak at three games."We'll try to find one," Brunette said with a laugh.
It was Saros' seventh start in eight games this season.
Annunen, who was placed on injured reserve Oct. 6 with an undisclosed ailment but was activated Oct. 15, dressed against the Blues but was on the bench again. He has not played this season.
Matt Murray has started one game for the
Predators (3-2-3, nine points), on Oct. 10 against the Ottawa Senators.
Why didn't Justus Annunen play against the Blues?
Brunette said he'd like Annunen to practice a few more times before returning to game action, as a precaution.
The Predators have four days between games after the victory against the Blues (3-4-1, seven points). So it made sense to Brunette to give him another game off.
"With 'Big Juice' being injured and just kind of getting back to backing up and not really having a practice with us, we just felt it was best for both guys getting 'Little Juice' back in a big game," Brunette said. "He played exceptionally well (Oct. 15), so we can stack on that effort.
"Putting 'Big Juice' in there didn't feel overly fair for him right now."
What does 'Little Juice' think about the big workload?
Saros, in his 12th season with the Predators, knows work and he knows he's going to play.
A lot.
Three times, he has led NHL goalies in games played and saves made. Twice, he has played more minutes than any goalie in the league. Twice, he has been an All-Star.
Never once has he complained about how much he plays.
"I enjoy it," he told The Tennessean. "Over the years I got used to playing a lot. I just try to make the most of it."
He's 2-2-2 this season with an .897 save percentage. A small sample size, to be fair.
"Obviously we want to play, but at the same time, obviously you can't play them all," he said.
Who do the Predators play next?
The Predators go on the road to face the Boston Bruins on Oct. 22, a rare four-day stretch without a game.
Paul Skrbina is a sports enterprise reporter covering the Predators, Titans, Nashville SC, local colleges and local sports for The Tennessean. Reach him at pskrbina@tennessean.com and on the X platform (formerly known as Twitter) @paulskrbina.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Predators goalie Juuse Saros is playing a lot. But is he playing too much?
