The boos from the frustrated fans came at the end of the second period, and who could blame them?



The Predators’ latest debacle saw them surrender five power-play goals to the Vancouver Canucks, the incompetence of the penalty kill sending them to their eighth loss in nine games.



“It’s the way it’s been going for us lately,” Predators captain Roman Josi said.



The particulars of the 6-3 loss aren’t worth discussing. As the Predators plummet toward the bottom of the Western Conference standings, the conversation has shifted to whether Peter Laviolette will or should continue to be their coach.



On Wednesday, the equally underachieving Toronto Maple Leafs fired Mike Babcock, a topic that came up Thursday morning.



“We are in a performance-based industry,” said Laviolette, who is the third-longest tenured coach in the NHL behind Jon Cooper of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Paul Maurice of the Winnipeg...