Philly comes to Bridgestone tonight, and the Flyers could be a team to test the Preds' mental toughness.
Nashville is in serious need of a win.
It isn't so much about the points, although the Predators will be worrying about those soon enough as the Central Division catches up in games played. No, Nashville needs a win for the mental reset, the mental reassurance that this team knows who it is or even who it can be. The Predators are on a four game losing streak, and none of those four games have been easy losses to swallow.
One might have thought that a game against the Flyers would be the perfect chance for the Preds to turn things around. One might also have thought that about the L.A. Kings or the 1-3 Columbus Blue Jackets, but Nashville surrendered those games in disappointing and confusing fashion. If Nashville fans glanced at the schedule and thought tonight would be the game to stage an easy bounce back win, well, John Tortorella and his Flyers aren't interested in that storyline. In fact, Philly could be Nashville's biggest challenge so far this season because of what the Flyers are building and because of what the Predators are struggling with.
Expectations for the Flyers weren't high across the league and even in Philadelphia this preseason. New head coach John Tortorella has embraced the role of working with a franchise in desperate need of a rebuilding or retooling or resetting, and the initial results from an admittedly small sample size have been encouraging. The Flyers are off to a 3-1 start, and the way they have played in their four games combined with the struggles Nashville has had with mental resiliency could create hockey kryptonite tonight at Bridgestone Arena.
Since January 2020 when John Hynes took over as head coach of the Predators, his message of how he wants the team to play has been exceedingly consistent. The Preds need to be a team that is hard to play against, a strong forechecking team, a team that plays hard along the boards, and fights for the puck in the greasy areas. That is what Hynes refers to as "identity" hockey. As clear as Hynes has been about how he wants the Preds to play on ice, he has been equally deliberate in emphasizing the importance of the mental toughness it takes to play that way game in and game out.
Nashville has struggled to get to that identity hockey with consistency so far this season. The wins against San Jose in the Global Series were a fair start, but Dallas managed the Preds too easily to call Nashville "hard to play against". In these last two games against the Kings and the Blue Jackets, the mental toughness and will to play sixty minutes of identity hockey - especially under pressure late - evaporated for the Predators.
Interestingly, Tortorella has been preaching a similar style of play with the Flyers, and looking at their early returns, the message is slowly starting to spread through their locker room. The Flyers don't have it all together, but in their first four games there is a clear push to be a physical, hard to play against team. There have been mistakes systematically, but the Flyers seem energized with the clear direction.
Perhaps the freshness of the charge from Tortorella is what has the Flyers embracing a new style of play with renewed energy, even though the team is clearly still working through the on ice execution. The on ice pieces have been in place for Nashville for awhile now. In Thursday night's loss to Columbus, the Predators needed a deep gut check - that moment of clarity that would point the players back to the core of who this team has been built to be. It didn't happen. Tonight's game is a chance to see how the Preds measure up against a team fighting to find their own new identity.
The result may reveal more about the mental battle ahead for the Preds than any battle won or lost along the boards or in front of the net.
The Predators and Flyers face off at 7:00 pm CST at Bridgestone Arena tonight.
Related reading:
Mental Toughness An Important Piece of Nashville Predators Training Camp