The fashion in which the Nashville Predators lost in Montreal is about as heartbreaking as it gets on a Thursday night in October.
First, they were just 19.5 seconds away from a regulation victory. Then, they were less than three seconds away from forcing a shootout.
But life in the NHL is unforgiving, and as Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette stated in the bowels of the Bell Centre moments after his club had departed the ice with a single point to add in the standings, he reiterated a simple fact.
“A big learning experience in overtime on the wrong side of the puck with two seconds, three seconds left. Those little seconds killed us,” Brunette said. “The margins are small. We're not going to be a team that scores five every night, so those margins are tight.”
However, life in the NHL also often presents a new opportunity just a couple of days later. That’s exactly what the Preds have in front of them as they arrive in Winnipeg to finish off a four-game Canadian swing - their first road excursion of the season - they’re intent on growing from a tough lesson in Quebec.
“I think there's lots to learn from, and I think we actually played a pretty good game,” Preds Captain Roman Josi said following Friday’s practice in Winnipeg. “There were some things, obviously, in the last couple seconds that happened, and those are definitely things we can learn from. We’ve got to play the full 60. Every second matters, and we let out for a little bit there and it cost us. But like I said, I thought we played an overall pretty good game. You learn from it, and you move on.”
That sentiment from Josi has been consistent with his teammates as well through five games - no matter the result in the first five outings, the Preds have been pleased with a majority of what they’ve seen on a consistent basis.
“I think we’ve had some pretty good games,” Josi said. “Like, defensively, I feel like we've been defending well, and obviously our goalies have been great. And I think that the energy is good. We feel like we're doing a lot of good things, and obviously there’s things we can improve on, and we’ll keep working on those things. But I think overall, our game is in a good place, and we'll keep working and keep getting better.”
“We've been playing good competition, and the last three teams were playoff teams from last year, so we're in it every single night,” Preds forward Michael Bunting said Friday. “I feel like we're competing really hard, and we're not giving up there. So, even if you look back at that Toronto game, we controlled a lot of that game, and even when we got down two, we fought our way back and just kept coming. So, that's something we can build off of. We’re looking forward to getting back to it tomorrow against another really good team.”
That “really good team,” one of Nashville’s division rivals, is 3-1-0 to start the season, including a pair of 5-2 victories in New York and Philadelphia earlier in the week. Familiar faces Gustav Nyquist and Luke Schenn are on the Winnipeg side of the ice now as well, and while the Preds will look forward to catching up with former teammates at the end of the night, a chance at two more points is paramount.
And while there’s reason for optimism regardless in the early going, a solid outing against one of the League’s best would go a long way as the Preds continue to build what they feel is a pretty good team themselves.
“They’re another team that plays fast offensively, and they’re offensively gifted, for sure,” Bunting said of facing the Jets. “They have a lot of firepower over there, so I think we can just play above them and contain that and play our game and compete hard. That's one thing that, like I said, we're competing really hard and in the fight every single night. So, that's all we can ask for. We’re coming into their building tomorrow night on a Saturday night, and in Canada, so they always have a little extra buzz for that. So, we're all looking forward to the challenge and see how it goes.”
