Nashville Predators general manager Barry Trotz watched his team lose 9-2 on Feb. 15. It was the club's second consecutive defeat — both at home — and a third poor effort in a row, and Trotz decided the Predators would be better off without a trip to see U2 perform at the Sphere in Las Vegas.
Trotz talked it over with coach Andrew Brunette, called captain Roman Josi to tell him the plan to go out early before facing the Golden Knights — the reigning Stanley Cup champions — was off, then pulled the plug because the team's play wasn't up to par.
"Just as a team, you have to earn the right," Trotz recalled. "It's a big expense, and we said, 'No, it's not acceptable,' and we made a decision to come back."
They didn't get to see Bono, but the Predators have enjoyed plenty of beautiful days since then.
They are 16-0-2 in their past 18 games, the longest point streak in franchise history and the longest run for any NHL team this season. This stretch has shored up Nashville's playoff positioning after it seemed to be on the bubble for several months.
"I think you see a galvanized group that have made a commitment to playing consistently," Trotz, in his first year as GM after a lengthy stint as coach of the team from its inception in the late 1990s through 2014, said in a phone interview Wednesday. "They've played the right way, and they've stayed focused. And they prepare to compete every game to win."
Their latest trick was erasing a three-goal deficit at the second intermission and winning in overtime Tuesday night — fittingly, against the Knights, who play just down the Strip from the Sphere.
"That's a great character win. We never stop," forward Gustav Nyquist told reporters afterward. "This team never stops. We believe in ourselves."
That belief is easy to justify given Nashville has scored an average more than four goals a game and allowed an average of fewer than two since this run began. The power play is clicking at 24% and the penalty kill at more than 84%.
"Our confidence is high," said winger Filip Forsberg, who leads the team with 40 goals. "We keep working, keep wearing teams down."
At the forefront of that process is Josi, who scored the overtime winner against Vegas — his 24th point over the past 18 games — and is generating some buzz as a potential candidate for the Hart Trophy, given to the league MVP. Forsberg said Josi should be considered for that and the Norris honor as the top defenseman.
Brunette said Tuesday's game was another reminder the Predators shouldn't take Josi for granted.
"We kind of get spoiled with him," Brunette said. "He just takes your team on his back and goes."
Not to be overlooked also is the goaltending of Juuse Saros, who has a 1.92 goals-against average and a .932 save percentage in this stretch. Trotz said Saros and backup Kevin Lankinen have done their part behind strong 5-on-5 play.
"They've made timely saves and been very good," Trotz said. "When (things) have broken down, I think we've gotten really timely saves, and they've been really good in big moments. When a game is teetering a bit, they've been really good."
The Predators are at 94 points — just four back of the Central Division's third-place Winnipeg Jets, whom they trailed by 13 points when this run began. But with the playoffs less than a month away, Nashville players are eager to say they haven't accomplished anything yet.
"We still know that there's tons of hockey left to be played: 10 games, lots of points on the board," Nyquist said. "We've put ourselves in a good spot, but we're not in by any measure in the playoffs yet, so we've got lots of work to do still."