Hynes' Predators ready for Sabres
Hynes' Predators ready for Sabres The Nashville Predators continue to get used to a new coach after 5 1/2 seasons under Peter Laviolette, who guided them to a Presidents' Trophy and a trip to the Stanley Cup Final. The Predators are 2-3 since John Hynes took over last week and will look to snap a two-game skid when they play host to the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday. "No one is going to give this group confidence," Hynes said after Thursday's 4-2 home loss to Anaheim. "Confidence comes through your preparation, how you're going to play, playing the game the right way and doing the right things. "That's our task moving forward is getting this group mentally focused and (to have) more push-back in our game. Those are the things we're going to address with our group and try to continue moving forward." Viktor Arvidsson and Mikael Granlund scored against the Ducks, and Juuse Saros made 23 saves for the Predators, who fell behind 2-0 in the opening 12:22 and never caught up en route to suffering a third straight home loss. "It feels like when we go down 1-0 or 2-0, it seems like we are just dead on the bench," Predators forward Rocco Grimaldi told NHL.com. "And that's something we've got to take out of our game. We're going to get down in games, it's going to happen. ... But we can't just sit and be like 'Here we go again.' I feel like that's sometimes how the mindset is on the bench. It gets quiet when we start getting down 1-0 or 2-0." Defenseman and captain Roman Josi, who leads the Predators in scoring with 47 points (14 goals, 33 assists), admitted his team is still learning Hynes' way. "We're still working towards the systems and getting the habits and stuff," Josi said. "There's definitely things that we can do better." The Sabres won 4-1 Thursday in Dallas, matching their season high with a third straight victory. Goaltender Linus Ullmark made 28 saves to pick up his 16th win of the season, setting a career high in victories, and the Sabres got a pair of empty-net goals. After taking a 1-0 lead in the first period, the Sabres were outshot 16-5 in the second but still managed to keep a 2-1 lead thanks to a late goal by 19-year-old defenseman Rasmus Dahlin. "I thought the second period, actually, scoring chance-wise was pretty even," Sabres coach Ralph Krueger said. "They had more shots than we did, but if you look at the game storyline, you had to expect some pushback after being up on them after the first and they gave a strong push. "I was just really proud with how the guys came out in the third and were comfortable with the 2-1 lead once we had it and just managed it. ... I thought it was just a really good evening of learning for us and growing. Just pleased with the team effort that happened here throughout the whole game." The Sabres won 4-3 the teams' last meeting in Buffalo on Dec. 12, when Jack Eichel scored twice. --Field Level Media |