NASHVILLE | Since the heyday of Shea Weber, the identity of the Predators has always rested on their pre-eminent defense brigade. That’s still the case today with Roman Josi, Mattias Ekholm and veteran Ryan McDonagh, who were acquired by Lightning over the summer.

Such an environment is extremely developmental for Alexandre Carrier and Jérémy Lauzon as they seek to establish themselves in the NHL.

“These are definitely good models, Lauzon recognized, acquired by Kraken at the last close. Also, I’ve always watched McDonagh’s game to try and copy his style of play.

A fourth-round pick by the Predators in 2015, Carrier played its first full season in the nation’s capital last winter. He’s already had a chance to tap shoulder to shoulder with Roman Josi, the team captain, and Ekholm, his playing partner for ten games.

However, he claims McDonagh’s arrival has brought an added benefit to the squad’s leadership.

“We are really lucky. Two weeks ago, Ryan and I were injured, Carrier said. We were left here practicing alone. He gave me some tips. Like how to retrieve a backhand puck when it runs down the boards. He said to me, “Try this! Nikita Kucherov showed me that!”

“He brings presence. Roman is the captain and the heart of the team. And that will always be the case. But having another man with a lot of experience like him can only help,” Lauzon continued.

Two difficult sequences

Only the first half of the Predators season didn’t go as planned. At the time of the Canadian’s visit, John Hynes’ side were six points down on the last place in the table, which allowed them to reach the playoffs.

“We have to stay in our identity. In the games we lost, we had sequences where we were a little too lax, Lauzon explained. Being difficult, using a good forecheck and playing physically, that’s the basis of our team, that’s how we win games.

The streaks mentioned by the Val-d’Or athlete are those of five games without a win (0-4-1) at the beginning of the season and those of six games without a win (0-4-2) in the first weeks of the month December.

“If we had won two games in each of those sequences, we would be in the playoff portrait,” argued Matt Duchene. At some point you have to win four or five games in a row. But we are aware that we have to align two before we think about winning five.

Like the tricolor

Like the Canadian, the Predators’ massive attack rips. They are in 28th place in the circuit (16.8%), just two places ahead of the Habs.

Quite a reversal from their savings percentage of 24.4% sustained last season.

“Our massive attack served as a springboard for us last year. This year that is not the case. If we don’t score, we must at least be dangerous. This is how it translates into our even strength game.

Sounds like Martin St Louis. It is likely that they attended the same seminar.