Predators promise early success won’t spoil them
“It’s great to read in the papers how good we are, but we have to remember things sometimes turn around really quickly,” goaltender Tomas Vokoun said.
He’s not alone.
“If you go on any kind of a losing streak, you can be on the outside looking in just as easily,” defenseman Mark Eaton said. “There’s a lot of work to be done. We just need to keep the momentum we have right now.”
That’s exactly what the Predators are doing. The team that opened with eight straight victories has continued the best start in its seven short seasons at 17-4-3 going into Wednesday night’s game at Washington ? already halfway to matching their franchise-best 34 victories in 2003-04.
That has translated into 37 points, which ranks them fourth in the Western Conference and a mere point behind Central Division-leading Detroit. Heady stuff for a franchise that had to scratch its way into the eighth and final playoff berth in 2004.
How the Predators fare against the retooled Red Wings will be decided in eight games starting Jan. 6, a stretch including a pair of back-to-back, home and home games. Jiri Fischer’s collapse on Nov. 21 forced the postponement of their first game in which Nashville had an early 1-0 lead.
Nashville coach Barry Trotz, the team’s only coach, said he does look at the standings since those eight games could determine the division winner.
“That’s something you always want to keep an eye on. If you go into that at least even or even ahead, that could be a big advantage. We have to win our games. We have four games in hand on Detroit, but we have to win them,” Trotz said.
The Predators came into this season believing that a team built through the draft could take advantage of the new labor deal, which their owner, Craig Leipold, helped negotiate.
They signed seven-time All-Star Paul Kariya, the kind of player they never could have afforded before the lockout and now has a team-high 22 points. They also signed Vern Fiddler, Yannic Perreault and Scott Nichol and traded for forward Darcy Hordichuk and defenseman Danny Markov.
Hordichuk, who has brought some muscle with his team-high 76 penalty minutes, sees a team with good chemistry and a great work ethic.
“We just work hard and other teams, if they don’t bring that to the table, they’re going to be in for a run. And game in and game out, even the guys we’ve been calling up lately, they’ve brought as much work ethic, if not more, than the other guys,” Hordichuk said.
Hardworking has been the adjective used to describe this franchise since it first took the ice in 1998, but the Predators are working harder than ever this season.
They rank third in the league at killing penalties and are tied with the New York Rangers for most shootouts with five with both 4-1. They are a league-best 13-2 at home and 11-0-3 in one-goal games.
It hasn’t been easy because forward Scott Walker played only seven games before having surgery for a strained abdominal muscle. He isn’t expected back until January, while the Predators have lost 60 games to injuries.
If something slips past, there’s Vokoun in net where he is 15-4-3 and tied with Dominik Hasek of Ottawa for most wins among goalies. Vokoun said they must never forget that hard work is what allows them to be successful.
“It’s early in the season, and we have a long ways to go,” Vokoun said.