Sights and Sounds from Preds Practice: October 25

It was a rainy Tuesday morning in Nashville, but the mood was bright inside Centennial Sportsplex.
After two days of rest, the Predators returned to practice looking hungrier than ever. The tempo was fast. The intensity was high. The desire to win was palpable.

"It was a good practice day," Ryan Johansen said. "It was a day we definitely had to put on the work boots and get better, and we definitely got better today."

Tuesday's practice was the first since Nashville's 3-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers Saturday at Bridgestone Arena. The Flyers started the game looking slow and ineffective, but their opportunism prevailed as they were eventually able to take over the possession battle and capitalize on scoring chances.
"We wanted to play with more purpose and find more pride," Johansen said. "We did that against Philly; obviously we lost, but the numbers were all in a direction that we can feel good about and we can take out of that game moving forward. It sucks losing, but we've just got to keep focusing on the whole package."
Indeed, the scoresheet doesn't tell the whole story. The Predators dictated the pace of Saturday's game the way a team of their caliber should, especially against an injured Flyers squad. But at the end of the day, it's about which team scores more goals than the other - and while the Preds didn't come out on top in that regard, they still felt they had plenty to hang their hats on after Saturday's loss.
"We really pointed to the identity markers that we want," Hynes said. "To win the territory game, to win the shot clock, to win the possession game, to win the scoring chance game, to spend less time in our defensive zone and win the penalty battle. Those are all things that if you do consistently and regularly, you're going to give yourself the best chance to win. Sometimes when you get in a little bit of a slide, you don't just come out of it," Hynes said. "You've got to work your way out of it. And you work your way out of it by your identity and style of play and the things that you're built for."

The Preds are playing the game they want to play. Now, they just need results. Those desired results will come with practice - and perhaps some personnel shuffling. Hynes has often preached consistency when it comes to line combinations, but some changes will be necessary before Thursday's game against St. Louis to account for the loss of defenseman Mark Borowiecki, who was stretchered off the ice in the second period of the game vs. Philadelphia after awkwardly hitting the boards and remaining motionless on the ice for several minutes.
"I think we're going to make a couple tweaks on the D-pairs," Hynes said. "Obviously with Boro going down, we're looking at maybe putting a veteran guy with the three young guys and seeing if those pairs work a little bit together. We've tried to be consistent with the guys and that hasn't gone our way for the most part, but I do think you have to give time to be able to let guys go through it. But we've tried to communicate with them and obviously, things change with injuries."
The Preds will look to avoid their sixth straight loss when they host the St. Louis Blues Thursday at Bridgestone Arena. Still, if there is anything positive to be gleaned from an early five-game skid, it's the team character-building element in the locker room.
"It's a good test early to read the character in your room, to step up and see what you got and see who's willing to stick by each other and keep moving," Johansen said. "And we basically have the same group, we know what to expect out of one another and we know the character we have in our room so it's just about putting those work boots on like we talked about today and having a great practice, and we'll go try and win a game against St. Louis."
After a strong practice today and another one tomorrow, the Preds were able to put their recent losses in the rearview mirror and focus on their next challenge. Hynes said it best:
"We should be a better hockey team on Thursday."