Predators Talk About What Their Motivation Was in Season Finale
The lights inside Bridgestone Arena shone a bright shade of yellowish-gold in the room as the Nashville Predators skated off the ice for the final time of the 2025-2026 season. The Predators ended their season with a 5-4 loss to the Anaheim Ducks as Nashville finished the year with a record of 38-34-10.
While the Predators were eliminated from playoff contention going into Thursday night’s game, they did find reason and meaning to play the game and end the season off on a positive note.
After the game, veteran Steven Stamkos mentioned the team talked amongst themselves before the opening faceoff about the fact that the team still had something to play outside of just wanting to end the season on the win.
“Everyone plays for something. We talked about that before the game. Obviously with O’Hara over there, first game and first point, pretty amazing to watch. Fil [Filip Forsberg] got a couple goals for 40. So, we talked about playing for each other. Some guys were not in the lineup, so young guys got a chance and I thought the effort was there,” Stamkos said.
From the start of the game, the Predators were playing to win. There were no signs of them folding or mailing in the game to drop further in the standings. Rather, Nashville showed plenty of fight in a game that was back and forth until the Ducks scored the game-winning goal in the final three minutes.
For Stamkos personally, he wanted to play to win because that is the nature of who he is as a player and as a person. Though the game did not go the way he wanted it to, he knows he did his part in the game.
“It’s just being a pro. Every time you go on the ice you want to do the best you can individually, and collectively as a team, you try to win. I mean, at the end of the day, we’re fiercely competitive people. So, it’s never fun losing. Regardless of how the season went, you want to end on a good note. We weren’t able to do that, but it wasn’t for lack of effort,” Stamkos said.
As Stamkos mentioned postgame, last night was a reflection of how the Predators’ season was. Nashville fought hard, competed well, was never truly out of the game but fell short in the end. The final regular season standings reflect that with the Predators coming just four points shy of the final wild card spot.
Predators head coach Andrew Brunette talked postgame about what he made of the way his team and his veterans on the roster played despite Nashville not playing for anything postseason related.
“I think you knew they played with pride and they carried themselves the same way they carried themselves for all 82 games. The young guys are playing for opportunities and the older guys are playing for Fil and playing for the fans,” Brunette said. “So, everybody had a little bit to play with, I’m not surprised. I’m proud of the effort.”
Now, the Predators roll into the offseason where they will learn where they will be picking in the first round of the 2026 NHL Draft when the NHL Draft Lottery reveals the lottery picks May 5.
Follow us on Twitter/X, Facebook, YouTube, Threads, Bluesky and Instagram for the latest news.
Graham Baakko is a lead writer for both Nashville Predators On SI and Vanderbilt Commodores On SI, primarily covering football, basketball and baseball. Graham graduated from the University of Alabama, where he wrote for The Crimson White, WVUA-FM, WVUA 23 as he covered a variety of Crimson Tide sports. He also covered South Carolina athletics as an intern for GamecockCentral.