The Predators continue their campaign on Saturday with a Central Division bout against the Arizona Coyotes at Bridgestone Arena. With zero points and just .022 in point percentage keeping Nashville outside the Western Conference’s final Wild Card position, the Predators know the battle for a postseason berth begins this weekend.
“I think we're in a good spot,” forward Filip Forsberg said. “Obviously we put ourselves in the mix and a couple of losses there [before the break] might have made it look a bit worse. But at the same time, I think we're confident in our team and there's a lot more improvement coming up.”
While Forsberg’s top line with Gustav Nyquist and Ryan O’Reilly can account for a bulky 35 percent of Nashville’s goals this season, a recent uptick in contributions from the Preds younger talent has been encouraging.
“I like to see continued growth, which I think I've seen through the course of my time with them,” Brunette said. “And this is a big time of year for them. So I think everything they put into effect in the first half of the year, all the grind, the work, hopefully now they can reap some of the rewards… Confidence goes a long way in this game and I thought they looked really confident in the [Los Angeles] game.”
Philip Tomasino, as a prime example, found a scoring touch just before the break began, netting goals in back-to-back outings after two straight games served as a healthy scratch.
“I feel good, and I think our line has been playing pretty good the last two games,” Tomasino said. “It’s going to continue to get better, it's only been one of those guys for two games. But I think we've kind of connected and meshed really well so far. So, that keeps me going… But I feel good about my game right now, so I just want to continue to keep getting better every day, for sure.”
Despite dropping three straight before the break began, the Predators too feel that their game has only gotten better with time, and liked much about their performances in the days before All-Star Weekend.
After all, with victories in 21 of their last 36 outings, the Preds know what it takes to ice a winning style of hockey and have done it more often than not.
“We’ve got to be hard to play against, that’s first and foremost,” O’Reilly said. “The defensive side of it is going to be so important. And I think that's where it's about more structure, more hard work. And if we do that, the goals will come and we'll find ways to win games. Because we have our goaltending, our D, we’ve got some great forwards and good young talent, and it's going to come if we commit to the right side of the puck and doing the right thing.
“It’s going to be a tough challenge, but a great challenge. And there’s excitement. We are in this hunt, and the hunt is going to start Saturday… We have a very good team and now it’s time to prove how good we are.”
The Predators return to Centennial on Friday at 11 a.m. CT for one more practice before Saturday’s tilt against the Coyotes.
Puck drop at Bridgestone Arena is set for 7 p.m. CT; click here to get tickets.
