Brunette more concerned by Preds' play than record: Standard not 'upheld'

Nashville head coach Andrew Brunette knows the Predators' 4-9-1 record on the season is horrendous, but he's more concerned about how they're playing.

"We just can't seem to grab any momentum. ... We're just not grasping the connection here with this group, and that's the frustrating part," he said after Thursday's 6-2 loss to the Florida Panthers, per NHL.com's Brooks Bratten.

"The record is the record for me. It's more of the process right now. I think we put ourselves, obviously, in a tough spot, but we were 5-10 last year. In this league, you never know what can happen, but for me, the biggest thing is our standard, and our standard has not been upheld here."

Thursday's collapse against the reigning Stanley Cup champions was the Predators' second loss in as many days after general manager Barry Trotz threatened to "start our rebuild plan a little bit" if they didn't turn things around soon.

Though Nashville could take some positives from Wednesday's narrow 3-2 defeat to the Washington Capitals, the club struggled massively against the Panthers. Florida dictated 60% of the shot attempts and 68.2% of the expected goals at five-on-five while outshooting its opponent 34-18 at all strengths, according to Natural Stat Trick.

The Predators found themselves in a 5-1 hole after 40 minutes.

"They were just way better than us," captain Roman Josi said. "From start to finish, they kind of embarrassed us out there."

He continued, "It feels like there's games like last night (in Washington) we play better. We couldn't get the win, but I thought our game was better. And then come into the night and we take a step back again. ... We've got to get consistency in our game and do it every night.

"And if you don't do it, you see what happens tonight."

The Preds are in sole possession of last place in the league. They've been outscored 50-33, surrendered the first goal in 10 contests, and trailed after the first period on six occasions, per NHL.com's Dan Rosen.

Nashville was considered one of the top squads heading into the new campaign after acquiring a couple of big-ticket players in Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault.

"Regardless of expectations, it's not fun to be in this situation," Josi said. "We've got to find a way out of it."

The Predators will look to end their three-game slide Saturday against Utah.