One loss coming out of the all-star break isn’t going to send the Nashville Predators scrambling to press the panic button. This team and its management is old enough, wise enough, has seen enough that they know there’s still plenty of hockey to be played, still plenty of ground that can be made up and that the games in hand they possess – anywhere from two to four on the handful of teams sitting between the Predators and a wild-card spot – are enough to claw back into the post-season picture by the end of the regular season.
None of that, however, changes that the Predators are fighting an uphill battle and that each and every loss from here on out will result in dwindling playoff hopes.