Today's Phrase of the Day in Nashville's locker room is "hard working". Every paler mentioned it in some capacity and I think it's safe to say we can expect a more aggressive effort from the Predators in tomorrow's Game 4 against Vancouver.
Joel Ward: We need to be aggressive on the forecheck and get to guys quicker. We just have to execute our game plan and be detail oriented.
Nick Spaling: We need to push the pace tomorrow. We need to recover today and forget about what happened last night. It's hard to lose in overtime, but we have to move on and keep working and keep going forward.
Pekka Rinne: It's good that we've been playing close games all season long and that we've been winning most of them…I think it's prepared us to handle it in the playoffs. We knew these weren't going to be easy games. Vancouver is a good team and playing a team like that brings out the best in you and you want to have a good effort. We need to do that tomorrow and stay out of the box. Tomorrow's game is a difference maker.
Patric Hornquist: We need to work harder and go to the net. The more time you spend around the net, the more chances you are going to get. We need to take it to the net, get pucks deeps and work for second chances.
Ryan Suter: I don't know if it's a must win, but we have to play out best game.
Colin Wilson: I played in the playoffs last year and it was the most fun I've had playing hockey and I'm chomping at the bit to do it again. It's been tough on me to sit out…I love playing hockey and I want to get back in. I hate to see someone go down, but I can't wait to get another chance and get in there and make an impact.
Cody Franson: Tomorrow's game is a challenge that we look forward to dealing with.
Barry Trotz: We need all parts of our team working well and that's been our problem as of late. We were successful last series because our power play was working really well and this series it's not. We need to get that going and we need to be better on the penalty kill and forchecking. We just need every part of the team playing at a high level and if that happens we should be able to find success.
A lot of teams like to talk the talk, but not many of them can walk the walk. Nashville has always been a resilient team that backs up their words on the ice and usually bounces back nicely and I'd be surprised if tomorrow's game is any different.
One thing I noticed last night is that the Preds seemed to be in a reactive mode letting the game come to them instead of dictating the flow of the game. I expect that to change just like it did in Game 2.
Also, while Trotz did not officially name a replacement for Steve Sullivan who is definitely out for tomorrow's game, he had very complimentary words for Colin Wilson who played all 82 games of the regular season and hasn't dressed for any of their playoff games this season and even mentioned that he thought about playing him last night.
"I think he's ready for the series now. His play at the end of the season wasn't where I wanted to it be so I sat him and in that first period no one else gave him the opportunity to get back in because they were all playing so well. He's had a tough time dealing with it, but it's all part of the learning process and figuring out what it means to be a pro and always be ready."
We'll see who slips into Sullivan's spot in the lineup tomorrow.
Julie
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