The Nashville Predators fell 5-2 in their final home game of the 2023 calendar year on Wednesday night to the Carolina Hurricanes and now hit the road for a back-to-back ahead of New Year’s Eve.
First up is the Detroit Red Wings who are 2-8-0 in their last 10 games. Nashville left for the Motor City after practice, but head coach Andrew Brunette said the coaching staff will decide on who will play in the net based on Kevin Lankinen’s status.
Nashville’s top goaltending prospect Yaroslav Askarov backed up Juuse Saros on Wednesday and played the third period stopping all six shots he faced. Brunette wasn’t sure after practice if Lankinen was healthy enough to play but the intention was that he would travel with the team.
Defenseman Tyson Barrie is also listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury. He dressed in five games before Nashville scratched him against the Hurricanes. Barrie is also two games away from reaching 800 in his NHL career.
Despite him not being around the team to answer forward Ryan O’Reilly reflected on his relationship with Barrie after being drafted in the same class back in 2009. The two have been “great buddies” since joining the Colorado Avalanche after the draft.
“We’ve had an amazing relationship for so many years and to be back playing again together is always still so funny,” O’Reilly said. “It’s a good thing for him, he’s had an incredible career so far and he’s still going to have an amazing one moving forward with a lot more left to give. Such a fun player to watch. How controlled he is and stuff he does with the puck.”
O’Reilly rattled off how impressed he was with the draft class that year as well. He enjoyed playing with former Predators forward Matt Duchene when he was in Colorado. The two were taken 30 picks apart that summer.
Barrie will become the 14th player from the 2009 class to play in at least 800 games once he dresses in a few more games this season and recovers from his latest injury.
Moving along the Predators have one win in their last four games, for O’Reilly, he understands how complacency is a dangerous way to live in the NHL and wants to build more on their recent success.
“When you go through difficult moments or hard times you remember to be a voice and I think every situation is different, lean on our veteran guys that have been through it before and being vocal and pulling guys along,” O’Reilly said. “Communication is so key. The veteran core has to lead the way when things aren’t going well.
Andrew Brunette giving Philip Tomasino a fist bump on the bench in Philadelphia.
“You can’t get ahead of yourself, you don’t just make the playoffs or win the cup by just doing it. It’s putting in the details and every day you make little strides toward it and you keep building and building. Eventually, it unfolds the way you want but it’s really just staying on the details and trying to be consistent with the way we work.”
One forward line Brunette wants to see step up in the meantime is with Tommy Novak and Luke Evangelista. The two have combined for six points in December to this point.
“I haven’t seen a whole lot from them in a while,” Brunette said. “We kind of keep waiting for them reappear so I’d like them to get back to how they were playing before and playing off each other. Right now I don’t think they’re working at the consistent level of my expectation. They have some skills but for the skill to come out, you have to put the work in. I guess we’ll keep waiting.”
Now, in terms of any resolutions that Brunette has for the Predators in 2024, he took a moment to reflect before making his statement – as most do on the spot – with New Year’s Eve a few days away.
“I would like for us to continue the growth that we’ve had and the mindset of getting better, so I think that’s a resolution and without losing the joy in the process,” Brunette said.
“It’s going to be challenging. We had some challenges early in the year and we’re going to have another challenging period. Hopefully the growth and understanding, the joy makes the puck spin. We can’t lose that regardless of the different circumstances we’re going to face at any time.”
Follow Nick Kieser on Twitter/X: @KieserNick
Photos courtesy of Nashville Predators
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