Forsberg believes Predators were finding form, set to make playoff run

Filip Forsberg is excited about what the future could hold for the Nashville Predators when looking ahead to a potential return of the NHL season.

The Predators were tied with the Vancouver Canucks for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference when the season was paused March 12 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus. Forsberg said he believes they have the pieces in place to be a dangerous team if play resumes.

"I thought we were finishing the season really well," Forsberg said Wednesday. "Obviously the three-game winning streak (March 5-10) with two big wins against [the] Dallas [Stars], and before that even stringing some games together for wins, we were playing better, solid hockey. I think there were a lot of guys that were starting to play better individually too, so for us, I think the break came at a bad time when we were starting to heat up, but obviously you can't really argue against the break. But we have a lot of experience. We have a lot of guys who know what it takes to play playoff hockey."

The Predators hired John Hynes as coach to replace Peter Laviolette on Jan. 7 and went through a transition adjusting to a new system and new leadership. They were 16-11-1 in 28 games under Hynes (after starting 5-4-0) and showed signs of gaining momentum.

"I think there was somebody that told me that [the] St. Louis [Blues], after they fired their coach [Mike Yeo, Nov. 19, 2018], went like [3-5-1] or something in their first [nine] games with the new coach," Forsberg said. "And then obviously they took off and we all know what happened to them. … A new change right away sparks a fire under everybody to prove themselves with a new coach, but once that excitement kind of expires, then the system kicks in and that's what we worked on. With a move like that, and the remaining month of the season, I was really excited to see where we would've ended up in pushing to the playoffs."

Many of the Predators have experience entering the playoffs as the second wild card, which is what they were when they lost in the 2017 Stanley Cup Final to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Thirteen players, including Forsberg, were on that team, which put together the deepest playoff run in their history.

"It was a weird year because we were kind of in no man's land," Forsberg said. "I think it was us and [the Calgary Flames] that were pushing for wild card one and two, and then there was really nobody coming from behind, or anything like that, so it was a weird situation. Then we get in and we were playing [the Chicago Blackhawks] and every expert in the world had them winning in four or five [games].

"Then we just came into Chicago and [Predators goalie Pekka Rinne] played unbelievable in the first game (29 saves in a 1-0 win). Chicago was probably better in that game but [Rinne] won that one for us. And in the second game we played great, and coming home everybody was so fired up from those two games and the crowd was on a new level that I hadn't seen before, and we just rode with that and ended up coming back in the third game and winning that one and sealing the deal in the fourth. After that it was like 'We're not worse than any of these teams that we're going to play.' We just built on that."

Forsberg is hopeful the Predators can come back refreshed and get back into the playoffs to try to put together another deep run.

"It's a great opportunity," he said. "I really think so. It'd be basically like coming into the season again. We have a great team. Obviously we had some ups and downs and a lot of individual ups and downs throughout the season as well, but that's all gone. Guys that scored 50 goals, obviously they know that, but they don't have that feeling anymore. And guys who scored zero, they know that, but they also don't have that negative feeling as much either. Everybody starts on an even slate. I don't think that's a bad thing."