After a well deserved day away from the rink, the Nashville Predators were back on the ice Sunday for a practice session at Bridgestone Arena. As the first team to emerge from the NHL’s initial playoff round with the elimination of the Detroit Red Wings on Friday, Nashville must wait to learn its Round 2 opponent.

Meanwhile, the team is determined to stay focused during what promises to be a pretty significant stretch between games. The atmosphere at today’s practice was spirited and fun, with lots of smiles and a three-on-three drill across the width of the ice at the end of practice.

Goaltender Pekka Rinne said that for him, the break is more useful from a mental perspective than a physical one. For others, like defenseman Hal Gill who hasn’t played yet in this year’s playoffs due to a lower body injury, the time will allow some of the bumps and bruises to heal.

Noting that he learned from last year's break between rounds, head coach Barry Trotz said his team will practice 11am Monday at its practice facility at Centennial Sportsplex, and will have another day off on Tuesday. Last year Trotz felt his team's focus waned after three or four straight days of practices, which hindered the team entering the first two games in Vancouver, so he's changing up the schedule, asking the guys to go hard in practice for two days to earn another day off; focusing on quality practice days rather than quantity.


Lines at Sunday practice:
   White jerseys: Mike Fisher centering Colin Wilson and Martin Erat
   White jerseys: Nick Spaling centering Andrei Kostitsyn and Patric Hornqvist
   Silver jerseys: David Legwand centering Gabriel Bourque and Alexander Radulov
   Silver jerseys: Paul Gaustad centering Craig Smith and Brandon Yip
   Gold jerseys: Jordin Tootoo, Brian McGrattan, Matt Halischuk, Jack Maclellan