The Yin and Yang of Nashville's Resiliency and Starts
Andrew Brunette appreciates the grit of his group but knows the team must have better starts to win games down the stretch.
On Monday night, the Nashville Predators found themselves down 5-1 four minutes into the second period against the St. Louis Blues. What happened in the remaining thirty-six minutes of regulation was a nearly unbelievable comeback win - only the second four goal comeback win in franchise history. Nashville’s dogged determination in the 6-5 win earned two valuable points in the standings and the roaring appreciation of the Bridgestone Arena crowd.
The Predators have been quite the comeback team this season, coming from behind in sixteen of their twenty-six wins. After more than a few slow starts, their ability to pull victory from the jaws of defeat has been remarkable.
It is also a double edged sword.
Andrew Brunette has mixed feelings about what he is seeing from his group.
“It’s twofold. I think you love the grit and the resiliency of our group,” he said.
“We’ve had heartbreaks and slow starts and we’ve done different things, and we keep fighting back, so you love the resiliency. You love the belief that we have.”
While Brunette loves that character, he is also well aware of the flip side.
“As a coach, you know it’s not sustainable every night, and that’s the yin and the yang. Where is that game when the puck drops?”
The Predators have sometimes needed a bit of runway to get to that game of grit. Nashville currently ranks first in the league in goals against in the first period and 26th in the league in goals for in the opening twenty minutes. Getting to the game that gives them the best chance of success isn’t happening early enough. The veterans know a good start is more important than an electric comeback in the big picture of a season.
“Getting off to a good start outweighs what we’ve been doing,” Steven Stamkos said. “At the end of the day, it’s just not sustainable, right? We’ve done it probably more times that the statistics allow you to do.”
How to improve Nashville starts is a regular topic of discussion in the room.
“That’s the million dollar questions right now,” defenseman Nick Blankenburg said. “We’re obviously aware of it. We’re talking about it - hey, we need to have a good start. We need to be ready to go, and then I don’t know what it is.”
The Predators know how to respond to adversity, but getting in the right mental space before adversity hits is the goal.
“When we have to claw our way back out of holes, we play some extremely good hockey,” Luke Evangelista said. “We’ve proven we’re capable, and when we do have that desperate mindset, we’re very hard to compete against. It’s finding a way to channel that energy in the first period.”
“I wish I had an answer as to why it’s been that way,” Stamkos said of the slow starts. “Clearly we’ve discussed it ad nauseam to try to figure out a way.”
The team has watched a lot of film and analyzed all the Xs and Os. Stamkos believes the responsibility for stronger starts ultimately rests on the players.
“It’s on us as players,” he said. “The coaches can tell you to do things or show you video as much as they want. It’s on us to go out and execute. For whatever reason it takes a negative spark for us to get going, and that can’t be the case.”
Finding that mental spark and executing cleanly from the opening puck drop with consistency will be key to the rest of their season.
“I’m not demanding perfection,” Brunette said. “It’s a grueling season right now, and it’s hard to be perfect every time. We just need a little bit more of that consistency. It’s what as a coach you’re asking for.”
“I think the leaders have done an unbelievable job of getting the collaboration of the whole group to believe in something,” Brunette said. “It’s nice. You love it. But you wake up in the morning and you start watching the video, and you’re like OK. We can’t be doing this all the time.”
“It’s execution for sure, and it’s just a mindset,” Stamkos said. “We haven’t figured that our quite yet, but its not to say we can’t.”
With 27 games remaining in the season and a very tight wildcard race, the change needs to happen sooner rather than later. Stamkos knows the clock is ticking.
“It needs to be figured out if we’re going to have a serious chance of the playoffs.”
