So much for that coaching change waking up the Nashville Predators.
On Thursday night, the Preds were doubled-up by the visiting Anaheim Ducks, 4-2.
Rickard Rakell had a goal for the Ducks – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
“No one is going to give this group confidence,” Predators head coach John Hynes said. “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.”
John Gibson made 33 saves to get the win.
“It’s nice to win games,” Josh Manson said. “It’s never fun to lose, so we get that win and remind ourselves that we can do that. We can play for 60 minutes and stay on the gas the whole way.”
Viktor Arvidsson and Mikael Granlund scored for the Preds.
Rickard Rakell and Mansoneach had a goal and assist in the win.
“I think we played as a full team tonight,” Manson said. “[Gibson] was there when we needed him, the penalty kill stepped up, the power play got us one, too. I think it was a full team win tonight, and that’s the kind of effort and kind of game that we expect of ourselves every night.”
Adam Henrique and Derek Grant also scored for the Ducks.
“It just adds depth to the lineup,” Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf said. “This is a good hockey team over there that we played. I thought we reacted well after a couple of days off.”
[WATCH: All Ducks vs. Predators highlights]
Juuse Saros made 23 saves in the 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 said. “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.”
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