The Nashville Predators arrive in Calgary to face the Flames on Friday night after losing two consecutive games in overtime.
Yet the Predators, who have earned one victory in six games (1-3-2), have a glimmer of hope they might be turning the corner.
“It’s not going to come easy for us, that’s for sure,” Nashville forward Michael McCarron said. “I do like our effort the past couple of games. I still feel there’s time in games the tide goes to their side and it takes us awhile to get it back.”
The Predators visit Calgary — the third matchup in a five-game road trip — on the heels of a 3-2 overtime loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday. Nashville opened the trip with a 3-2 overtime loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Monday.
In both games, the Predators erased a third-period deficit to nab a point in the standings.
“We have to try to keep building,” said Nashville coach Andrew Brunette, whose club has managed points in three consecutive outings. “We have to learn from experience here. Those times in the game we’ve hit a lull, we were a little bit slow, and ended up defending way too much.”
After taking on the Oilers, the Predators are well aware they will face a rested Flames squad that will be looking to take advantage of a team on the second half of a back-to-back set.
“Back-to-back on the road, it’s gonna be a greasy game,” McCarron said. “For us, it’s gonna have to be greasy and we’re going to have to get some dirty goals.”
The Flames are kicking off a four-game homestand after a busy stretch in which they played five games in eight days. They appeared to run out of gas in a 3-1 road loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday. That was their lone regulation-time loss during a stretch in which they went 2-1-2.
“It’s about learning from games or situations like this,” Calgary coach Ryan Huska said of how his team performed during that span. “You still have to find more, and a lot of that means just to play a simpler brand of hockey and make sure you’re not putting yourself in a position to have to make up for an unforced error.”
Although the Flames remain a pleasant surprise and still hold a playoff position, Huska and his team have plenty to work on, including a flagging power play that has converted only twice in the past 31 opportunities. Another is to find more offensive punch.
Second-year player Connor Zary, who has been creating plenty of scoring chances, was moved to center on a line with Jonathan Huberdeau and Yegor Sharangovich during practice Thursday.
“I don’t think we’ve really found the guy who’s grabbed hold of it yet,” Huska said of his decision to try Zary in the middle. “With Connor, we want him to control play, a lot the same as he does as a winger. What comes with it is the added responsibility.”
Zary, a 23-year-old drafted in the first round in 2020, is relishing the opportunity.
“There’s a lot of details that come with it, but I’m used to that,” Zary said, according to PostMedia. “I’ve played it a bit at this level, played it a lot in the American League and obviously for my whole junior career. So it’s not something that is new to me, but it’s those details that you have to remind yourself of.”
–Field Level Media