In the second half of a Predators’ season defined by streaks, one that ran mostly parallel to the recent franchise-record stretch of 18 games earning a standings point also came to an end.
This one went two games longer than the 16-0-2 record that vaulted the Predators into the playoff picture after a one-year absence.
For 20 consecutive games, Predators head coach Andrew Brunette elected to put the Cole Smith-Michael McCarron-Kiefer Sherwood line on the ice to start the game. Beginning with the Feb. 20 game in Las Vegas against the Golden Knights and extending through the April 2 home game against the Boston Bruins, McCarron’s line was put on the ice for the opening faceoff.
Many factors go into the decision of who starts a game. The visiting team submits its starting lineup first, followed by the home team. Some coaches are married to matchups and want one particular line facing another line from the opponent whenever possible. Coaches are also cognizant of when players are playing against a former team, playing a milestone game or even playing in their hometown.
But during the 20-game stretch, opponents’ staters did not seem to matter to Brunette. He wanted that line on the ice, no matter any other factors.
“Our line takes pride in trying to start the right way, set the tone early, trying to get after the other team and try to get the momentum early,” Sherwood says. “We want to get after them and be physical and wear them down.”
In the game Brunette decided to start a different line, an April 4 6-3 win over the St. Louis Blues, he said it wasn’t anything the McCarron line did wrong. And the decision paid off. Defenseman Roman Josi scored 31 seconds into the first period thanks to the work of the Filip Forsberg-Ryan O’Reilly-Gustav Nyquist line, which started the game.
“I think just to change it up a little bit,” Brunette said after that game. “Obviously, not from what they didn’t do. I just thought we’d kind of get in a matchup. I don’t know if it was a great decision or not, but we scored right away.”
Brunette then referred to the McCarron line being the identity line for the team. They skate hard, hit and make things generally miserable for the opponents.
Others on the team are quick to point out what impact a good start can have on a team.
“They’ve been awesome,” Josi says of the McCarron line. “The way they play the game, they’re so hard to play against. It’s hard for the other teams to start against that line because they are coming right at you. They are forechecking. It seems like every game, that first shift, they get a forecheck and get a (scoring) chance out of it. It gives us a ton of energy right away.”
Just before the start of both streaks, Sherwood was out of the lineup more than he was in it. He was a healthy scratch for a stretch of 14 of 25 games, but with the team struggling, Brunette wanted to shake things up and put Sherwood on the lineup card. He has been in ever since.
Sherwood, from Columbus, Ohio, was on the ice to start the game when Nashville played in Columbus against the Blue Jackets. Although it wasn’t on the game’s first shift, he did manage to score a goal in the first period in the Predators 2-1 win.
“It definitely felt good,” he says. “It wasn’t my first time there, but I was never really happy with how I played there. It was a better performance. It felt really good to get the win and at the time, keep the steak going and keep the momentum building.”
That momentum started with the game’s first shift and built from there, just the way they draw it up every game.