When the NHL’s schedule makers began piecing together the current calendar over a year ago, perhaps they had an inkling that a five-game trip out west for the Predators in the final month of the regular season might have some playoff implications.
But this consequential? Nobody could have predicted that.
And the Preds are perfectly content with it.
An excursion that begins in Los Angeles on Thursday, concludes in Utah a week later, and features dates with San Jose, Anaheim and LA - again - in between has the potential to decide the fate of Nashville’s entire 2025-26 campaign.
In particular, the Kings, Sharks and Mammoth are all jockeying with the Preds for the final two Wild Card spots in the Western Conference, but there isn’t enough room for everyone. And the team Nashville will play twice on this trip? Just one point currently separates the two in the standings.
A successful journey could deliver dates well into late April and beyond. The opposite results would bring a less desirable conclusion to a season that has seen the Preds work their way back from the basement of the NHL to a consistent contender for a playoff spot.
When the team took off from Nashville on Wednesday morning bound for southern California, they found themselves still owning that second Wild Card spot in the West, despite a current three-game skid.
Of course, the five-game win streak that preceded things got them into that position to begin with, and they’d prefer to get back to their winning ways.
Sure, there’s pressure. But to be playing meaningful hockey in April, especially considering the way things turned out last year? This isn’t half bad.
“Have fun,” Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette said Tuesday of his message to his team. “This is playoff hockey at springtime. You control your own destiny. We’re in a really good spot. Nobody expected us to be here. We put in a lot of work to get here, we should feel good about ourselves, and we should have a lot of energy. I mean, this is why you play.”
“The fun part is always important,” Preds Captain Roman Josi said. “Doesn’t matter what situation [you’re in], you’ve got to enjoy these moments. One day you look back, these are the games that you’re going to look back on and games you enjoy the most. So, yeah, we're going to have fun with it.”
Winning would make everything even more enjoyable, and the Predators know they can’t afford to lose many on this trip. Once they return home in 10 days, there will be just three more contests to go at Bridgestone Arena before the season finishes.
But it all starts Thursday in Los Angeles with a game that could very much set the tone for the entire trip.
“You need to understand the importance of these games, but you can't look ahead,” Preds Alternate Captain Steven Stamkos said. “I mean, we’ve got a big one coming up here against the team that's right with us… We understand the magnitude of those games, but we’ll start with the one that's coming up here against LA and go from there. Obviously, they're a team that is playing just as important games as us. So, we're going to get their best, they’re going to get our best.”
The Predators expect that to be the case throughout the trip. Every team they’ll face the rest of the way has something to play for, and especially over the next two weeks, that road mentality will be particularly important to embrace.
And while the schedule still may read “regular season” at this point, the Preds know this is a different brand of hockey than a Tuesday night in November.
“We're in the point of the season where we are right now…and every game's a playoff game,” Brunette said. “Let's go play our best game, leave it all out there, and we'll wake up the next day and go to the next one. They’re all going to be hard games. Every road game in our League is a challenge, and I think we're up to it.”
As the bench boss has said plenty as of late, the Predators are very much “battle tested” with 74 games now in the rearview. They’ve seen a little bit of everything over the past six months, and they’re hoping those experiences will serve them well now when the games mean more than ever.
Plus, there’s still a bit of that fire that comes when the doubters say there’s no chance for this group to make some noise.
“We’ve hung around all year with a tough start, and a lot of people not thinking that we could be in this position at this time of the year,” Stamkos said. “So, you look at it that way, and it’s a pretty cool place to be with the mix of the veteran guys and the young guys that have come up and helped us to get to this position with eight games remaining in the year. We just have to look and take it for what it is. It's an opportunity to get into the playoffs, and that's what everyone's team goal is at the beginning of the season. So, that's the mindset. And, what's to lose with this group, right? That’s the mentality we have to have. Let's just go play free. Let's play with some energy. That’s the mentality I think we'll have.”
Since last December, the Predators have adopted a “win the week” mantra. Never has that slogan meant more, and if they’re able to fulfill it this time around, they’ll likely be in a good spot to try and accomplish it a few more times.
But at this juncture, the next game is the biggest one, and the Preds can’t wait for the puck to drop on what will be anything but a leisurely springtime trip to California.
And they wouldn’t have it any other way.
“If you [had told] us at the start of the year we'd have a road trip going to tough places to play to have a chance to get in the playoffs, we’d all take it with both feet all in,” Brunette said. “Both feet are in, the boat’s in, and it's going to be fun.”
