One regular season is in the books for head coach Andrew Brunette, who was hired by the Nashville Predators last summer. He got his tenure started by going 47-30-5.
Now all eyes are on who the Predators will play in the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. If the season ended today it would be the Vancouver Canucks.
Looking back at the 23-24 campaign the only two teams the Predators could not beat were the Boston Bruins (0-2) and Canucks (0-3). Nashville was outscored 13-6 when going up against the talented Canucks squad.
In the first game of the season against Vancouver defenseman Jeremy Lauzon said it was tough to chase a team like that down two goals in the third period. Among a myriad of issues at the time Lauzon felt there was better in the Predators and they eventually caught up to speed later into the season.
When Nashville suffered their second consecutive 5-2 loss against the Canucks at home back in December captain Roman Josi felt they were in it but falling behind again set them back.
“They’re a good team, they’re fast. They make you pay for a lot of things,” Josi said. “If you give them some chances they’re going to score, they have a lot of talent over there.”
Following the same disappointing loss, Brunette said “You rinse” a game like that coming off a four-game winning streak.
“There has to be some lessons learned there a little bit,” Brunette said. “We’ve had some of these games where I think–like the (11/30/23) Minnesota game–where they’re big games and we self-inflict ourselves, it’s happened early in the year at different times and it showed its ugly face again today.”
The momentum swings can cost a team any loss during the season but in this case, Brunette thought his team self-destructed mentally which led to the Canucks taking full advantage.
Filip Forsberg hitting Canucks defenseman Carson Soucy on October 24, 2024.
“They have a lot of weapons, they play the right way and they’re very well coached,” Brunette said. “They don’t give you a whole lot of space out there and they make you earn it. Tonight we–to be honest–really didn’t feel we like earning it so that’s the game.”
While this Nashville team may not have found ways to win they did as the season went on. The 18-game point streak showcased the best version of themselves and the player’s confidence in Brunette’s system continued to grow as well.
If the Predators are to play the Canucks in the playoffs they do have an edge in the experience of postseason games played. Defenseman Ian Cole (2016 & 2017) is the only Canuck rostered that’s won a cup.
Their head coach Rick Tocchet won his back in 1992 with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Tocchet led the Penguins in the final round with eight points to sweep the Chicago Blackhawks.
On the flip side, Nashville has three cup winners on their team Ryan McDonagh, Luke Schenn, and Ryan O’Reilly.
The Predators have 818 games of playoff experience whereas the Canucks have 468 which is the least amount next to any other team currently going into the postseason.
Regardless these “serial winners” as general manager Barry Trotz coined it have a chance to stir the pot in the playoffs.
Follow Nick Kieser on Twitter/X: @KieserNick
Photos courtesy of Nashville Predators
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