Mentality and identity would be the two words that summarized what the Nashville Predators had conversations about as they got ready to open a five-game homestand on Tuesday morning.
After winning five in a row on the road for the first time on the same trip in franchise history the Predators will face off against the Ottawa Senators. It may not be too big of a trap game, but it’s one the team wants to build off of in front of their fans.
“We have a little bit more of an identity on the road,” Brunette said. “At times we show that home but I think on the road it’s more of a checking mentality with a little more in your face and less space.”
While it’s been a rollercoaster for the Predators playing at home – (14-15) overall for what it’s worth – Brunette took the blame for how much pressure he’s put on his team.
“Maybe I’m partly to blame that we’re putting on pressure, we want to be a really good home team and we want this to be the loudest place,” Brunette said. “We lost a little bit of focus and bringing our identity and bringing that being the number one thing.”
It has been a mental struggle at times for the Predators, and now there’s a chance to continue their winning ways or fall away from what they just got back to doing consistently.
Brunette is 60 games into his tenure and he’s still working through it being a learning process to coach this team. He’s enjoyed it so far and looks to stabilize his team as bigger games come up on the schedule.
“I think you’re always growing as a coach. With this group, we’re trying to build something together and we’ve had some adversity which is good for any team,” Brunette said. “It makes you tighter, it makes you closer and you’re forced to pull the same rope together to get out of it. That was the joy of the whole process, which was us pulling ourselves out together.”
Forwards Cody Glass and Luke Evangelista were open about their and the team’s mentality on the road and what they’d like to see in his homestand.
Cody Glass at the faceoff circle in Vegas on Feb. 20, 2024.
“When we play the way we usually do getting things to happen we’re sacrificing a lot putting our bodies on the line,” Glass said. “All of that stuff is playoff hockey and it’s going to lead us in the right direction.”
“‘On the road, it was momentum thing as we racked up tough wins,” Evangelista said. “When all four lines are rolling we’re a hard team to face. Every line has chipped in producing and had positive shifts, when we play like that we’re a hard team to play.”
Glass and Evangelista acknowledged their home record has sat in the back of their minds as a team. Brunette has said the atmosphere has been there but the results haven’t.
“Treat this like we’re still on the last game of the road trip. We have to make sure it’s a hard building to play in,” Evangelista said.
Then for one player whose name kept popping up on the transaction list on the road, he’s been happy for the stability of playing with Tommy Novak and Evangelista and on special teams.
“We’re battling for each other and everyone cares for each other,” Mark Jankowski said. “Even when things go wrong we believed to push back hard on the trip.”
Jankowski has felt good playing on the penalty kill and hopes to continue to lock teams down to the same level that they did on the recent trip out west.
Stay tuned for all the coverage on the air throughout the homestand right here on 102.5 The Game.
Follow Nick Kieser on Twitter/X: @KieserNick
Photos courtesy of Nashville Predators
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