Following a perfect road trip in which they won five straight games and outscored opponents 22-10, the Nashville Predators have launched themselves back into playoff contention for the first time since January. However, their toughest challenge may still be yet to come.
The Predators will now return home to play five straight games at Bridgestone Arena, where they haven’t won a game in regulation since Jan. 13 (a 3-1 victory over the New York Islanders). Home ice has been anything but an advantage for Nashville this season; in fact, it’s been the opposite.
Predators’ Season by the Numbers
The Predators are 18-10-2 away from home this season, and their 18 road wins are tied for the third-most in the NHL. They have scored 98 goals on the road while allowing 90 goals against, earning 38 of their 66 points in the playoff standings. Meanwhile, Nashville has gone 14-15-0 at Bridgestone Arena for a meager 28 points. They have managed to score just 84 goals on home ice while allowing 97 goals against.
The Predators haven’t finished a season with a home record below .500 since 2000-01, when they went 16-18-7. What, then, is to blame for the team’s struggles on home ice this season?
“I think it’s just mental,” Cody Glass said. “I think it’s one of those things where there’s not much different, to be honest. We eat the same, we do everything the same; we’re just at home. So we just need to take advantage of all these games that we have at home.”
The Andrew Brunette Effect
Perhaps no one is more cognizant of the discrepancies in the Predators’ home and road records than the players themselves.
“We’re aware of it, for sure,” Luke Evangelista said. “[Head coach Andrew Brunette] always said that this has to be one of the toughest buildings to come into and play. Atmosphere-wise, everyone’s doing their job; the fans are doing their job. So it’s up to us to feed off of that and make this a really tough building to play in.”
In his first season behind the Predators’ bench, Brunette has been “stubborn” in the implementation of his fast-paced, aggressive system on offense (from ‘How Andrew Brunette got the Predators to buy in: The film, the lost U2 concert, the roller coaster,’ The Athletic, Feb. 27, 2024). This stubbornness has, at times, exposed some of the weak points of a roster that could be better suited to a more defensive mindset. But Brunette is unwavering in his commitment to the system and his belief that his players can – and will – adapt to it.
“I think it is mental in a lot of different ways,” Brunette said. “There’s a little bit more pressure on you at home sometimes… I’m partly to blame for that. I think in home games, a lot of times you want to put on a show for the home crowd and you lose sight of what makes us good.”
Predators Need to Find Their ‘Identity’ at Home
What makes the Predators good, in Brunette’s eyes, is the “checking mentality” that they exhibit on the road. This mentality prioritizes stripping opponents of pucks, aggressively taking away space, moving the puck as quickly as possible and being, as Brunette puts it, “in your face.”
“I think we’ve got a little bit more of our identity on the road,” Brunette said. “For so many home games, it’s been a roller coaster. We’ve chased a lot of games, which unfortunately gets you out of your structure… When you’re chasing, you lose your identity a little bit.”
While Brunette’s system has created more scoring chances, it hasn’t created enough actual scoring – particularly on home ice. Now that the Predators have gotten a taste of consistent scoring on their recent road trip, the true test will be whether they can duplicate their success at home.
“Obviously, lately we haven’t gotten the results at home that we want,” Evangelista said. “But this time of year, it’s a momentum thing. Our mindset right now is just to… treat this like we’re still on the last game of the road trip.”
Looking Ahead
Beginning Tuesday (Feb. 27), the Predators will play five straight games at home. Whether they can keep the momentum going from the road trip – specifically against opponents like the Ottawa Senators, Wild, Montreal Canadiens and Buffalo Sabres, who are not currently in playoff spots – will go a long way in determining Nashville’s postseason fate.
“When you’re playing those types of teams, you work a little bit harder,” Glass said. “In those games that don’t mean as much to teams that aren’t in the playoffs, it’s kind of one of those things where it’s just a mental grind. Especially in buildings where maybe there aren’t fans, you have to kind of get the energy off your own teammates; every shift, you have to find something. We’ve done a good job of handling it [on the road], but we have home games now.”
While the five-game road sweep propelled them back into playoff contention, the Predators sit precariously in the second wild card spot with 66 points – with Central Division rivals Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues trailing just four points behind. They now have an opportunity to earn 10 points over the next 10 days, redeeming themselves on home ice in the process.
“We go on the road again soon, so we just need to get it together,” Glass said. “We don’t have that much time. It’s a playoff push, so we need to take advantage of it.”
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