Predators 'can't go rogue' with season at stake in Game 5 against Canucks

NASHVILLE -- Ryan McDonagh believes the best approach for the Nashville Predators to stay alive in the Stanley Cup Playoffs is to emphasize playing a strong team game, particularly on the road.

McDonagh would know; the 34-year-old defenseman has played 189 postseason games for the New York Rangers (96), Tampa Bay Lightning (89) and Predators (four), and won the Stanley Cup twice with the Lightning (2020, 2021). The challenge entering Game 5 of the Western Conference First Round against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena on Tuesday (10 p.m. ET; TVAS, SNE, SNO, SNP, BSSO, TBS, MAX) is mentally overcoming Canucks forward Brock Boeser scoring at 17:11 of the third period and with eight seconds left in Game 4 to tie it 3-3 before Elias Lindholm's goal at 1:02 of overtime.

The Predators trail the best-of-7 series 3-1.

"You can't go rogue, that's for sure," McDonagh said. "You can't just go out and try and do it yourself. Any time you do that, it just kind of dismantles itself. Obviously, everybody wants to have success and win the game and be a part of that team success, but you have to do it together."

Predators forward Colton Sissons hit the post from the left circle shooting for the empty net with 1:50 left in the third.

"That's the same thing this group has done all season is we've won games together," McDonagh said. "It hasn't been because of one person's individual effort at times and stuff. We've got to lean on each other here as a staff, as a group. And to understand that for us to be successful, for us to have a chance to win a game, we need everybody to play their best game."

The Predators believe they have carried the play in each of the past two games. They outshot the Canucks by a combined 60-33 in Games 3 and 4 and were happy with the offensive zone time they generated. They also won 4-1 on the road in Game 2.

"I think sort of an Etch A Sketch, goldfish kind of mentality," coach Andrew Brunette said. "You had to win a game in [Rogers Arena] regardless. Just go win one. All of the focus and all of the effort is just about tomorrow night. It doesn't matter how you got here. This is playoff hockey. Things happen fast. Things change fast. Let's change the narrative tomorrow."

The Predators have had the lead heading into the third period three times in the series, losing two.

"We talk about building our game," McDonagh said. "Now we're in the thick of a series here. We've put together some back-to-back good efforts, but it's tough to swallow when you don't get the result.

"That's the way playoff hockey is. You've got to find a way to close it out. Obviously, we've talked about it many times, the difference between winning and losing is such a fine line. We've got confidence in our group here. We've won a game on the road. We like playing on the road. It's just a matter of having that focus here for one game."