Preds Moving On, Looking for Improved Effort in Game 2 Against Colorado

The sun didn't peek through the clouds until about mid-afternoon on Wednesday, but it did in fact show face in Denver less than 24 hours after the Predators opened the postseason with a Game 1 loss to Colorado.
The Preds were back to work much sooner than the skies began to clear as they took to the ice at Ball Arena ahead of Game 2 on Thursday, the visitors eager to make amends for their first showing of these playoffs.
Surrendering five goals in the opening 20 minutes of Game 1 certainly wasn't what Nashville had in mind, and although they did settle in as the night went along, a 7-2 final score didn't sit well with the group. So, they did the only thing a team that drops the initial outing of a series can do - take a lesson or two, then flush the disappointment and focus on what's ahead.

"We've got to put that game in the past," Preds defenseman Mark Borowiecki said following Wednesday's practice in Denver. "This is more of a marathon, not a sprint. For us, it's the mentality you've got to have, and I think it was important to learn a lesson last night and kind of lick our wounds a little bit, and then come in here with a bit of a reset and a fresh mindset and know that we've got a job to do tomorrow. If we're out there feeling sorry for ourselves it's not going to accomplish much. We didn't play great in the first period, and we got what we deserved. That's plain and simple. So, let's move on from it here with some important takeaways for us as a group and as individuals. But now it's time to focus on Game 2."

"The mindset was good today," Preds Head Coach John Hynes said. "We talked about yesterday after the game and give Colorado credit - they played very well, and we didn't. We didn't play to the best of our ability, and our focus today was to be able to reset. You do have Game 2 coming up, and I think today was important to go through a few things that we feel can be better with… We can all be better. And that's what our objective is going to be tomorrow."
Tuesday's game wasn't the first time the Predators have had a poor period over the course of the last seven months. When they do, however, they've usually found a way to bounce back quite convincingly. That capability to respond, combined with the close-knit bond the group continues to feel didn't make it difficult to find positivity on Wednesday.
"We usually kind of find ways to drag ourselves back into the fight, and that's certainly our intention," Borowiecki said. "In these difficult situations, in these high-stress situations, there's a lot of anxiety around the playoffs. It's important to have teammates to lean on. You don't want to feel like you're kind of wading into this solo, and we definitely have a group of guys who stick together and help each other out, and it should serve us well."
As many offered Tuesday night in the immediate aftermath, whether the Predators lost Game 1 by a 1-0 count or a 10-0 score, they're still down one in the series. Now, they have to make up for it.

"That's really where the playoff mentality comes in," Hynes said. "All year long we talked about that - not getting too high, not getting too low, because a lot of times when you get in these situations, it's reality. You can't do anything about what happened in the game last night, but what you can do is learn from it and you can improve upon it. But you can't dwell on it, because there's going to be another game tomorrow. And that's what a series is going to be. So, we know we need to be better. We're facing a really good team. We weren't at the level we needed to be, but we've addressed it and we feel like our team is in a good mindset. We've got to go out there and do a better job tomorrow."
The Preds intend on doing just that, and as blueliner Mattias Ekholm said Tuesday, this group has too much pride not to respond to what happened in Game 1. Those sentiments will be put to the test in just over 24 hours, and those in the Nashville locker room can't wait for a chance to even things up before heading home.
"We have a lot more to show than what we did last night," Borowiecki said. "That first period is not representative of us as a team, and it's not representative of our season and our identity of what we try to accomplish in here. So certainly, it stings a little bit. It is a bit of a shock to the ego as a group and as individuals, but you can go one of two directions based on that. It's either drag your luck and feel sorry and pout about it or say, 'Hey, let's put a bit of a chip on our shoulder.' We have something to prove in Game 2."