"That's the new norm is playing every second night with back-to-backs mixed in there," Preds centerman Colton Sissons said. "We've got a lot of hockey in not so many nights coming up. I love it. You don't have much time to sit and stew. You've got to just keep moving forward and keep progressing, and every night is a new challenge. This time of year, the big boys come to play, and you've got to be consistent, bring it every night if you want to be a playoff team, and I think we've got the team to do it."
The Preds know they won't win all of their remaining 26 games, but they're also aware they need to succeed more often than not in order to keep playing into the month of May. As of late, the Predators haven't had the same consistency they had shown earlier in the season, but thanks to the identity and mental fortitude Hynes has instilled in his group, they haven't collapsed, either.
Instead, Nashville has found a way to break out of tough stretches, seeming to emerge stronger for the experiences gained. After a four-game skid in February, the Preds have now won four of their last six, including two straight, by doing the little things right.
"[Our 4-3 loss in Seattle last week] was a good learning experience," Duchene said. "We haven't had a lot of adversity this year, and I think probably the last 10 games or so, we haven't played our best and it showed us that we can't play that way. There are some teams that might get by a little bit from just scoring and stuff like that, but we're a hardworking team that can score. Our calling card is our hard work and our details and our all-around game. That's a great way to have it because that wins in the playoffs. Maybe you don't win the Presidents' Trophy, maybe you don't finish at the top of the division, but I think it gives you a chance to win down the stretch and in the playoffs."
The Predators know there's still work to be done before they get there, but they also trust the manner in which they're going about their business, and, most importantly, in each other.
Duchene, an avid golfer in his free time, looked to an analogy from another favorite sport to describe Nashville's current situation. If he and his team have it they're way, Duchene's clubs won't be seeing much light until the summertime.
"At this point, we've made it to the green, and now it's time to get the ball in the hole," Duchene said. "You can play a great hole, but if you three putt or four putt, you're not going to end up liking your score. So, we're kind of at that point of the season where we've got to finish it off. We've got to be smart and finish it off the right way and make sure we're not checking out mentally at any point. We've put ourselves in a great spot, and we could finish as high as second in our division, most likely. If we go on a rip here, we know that the sky's the limit for this team… Nothing in the past matters at this point. All we've done is put ourselves in a position to end up where we wanted to end up at the start of the season."
