Nashville Predators befuddled by franchise-worst start: 'Don't really know what to say'

It's hard to believe, but the Nashville Predators still have not won a game.

Five losses in five games for a Predators team that went into the season with high expectations and a fresh approach following last season's playoff appearance.

"I didn't see (0-5) coming for this group," coach Andrew Brunette said after their latest loss, a 5-2 defeat to the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday at Bridgestone Arena.

But 0-5 is exactly where Nashville is at, officially the worst start in franchise history. The 2002-03 team was winless in its first eight games, but even that team had one tie and two overtime losses for points to the standings.

These Predators have zero points after five games — the only other winless NHL team, the San Jose Sharks, has two points on two overtime losses.

"Being this at the start of the year is a little harder to take, because I think you'd be excited to play," Brunette said. "There's frustration with everybody right now."

What the Nashville Predators said after franchise worst 0-5 start

Luke Schenn, Defenseman : "I've been a part of some losing streaks . . . but to have it be like this at the beginning of the year? If you have a four- or five-game slide in the middle of the year, it's still not great, but it just feels like we're pushing, trying to get that first (win). We are getting some good looks, pretty much every game except for Seattle. There's always times when we can do things better, but for whatever reason we're not catching a ton of bounces right now."

Ryan O'Reilly, Forward: "Extremely frustrating. We are extremely disappointed. I don't really know what to say. I think it falls on myself and the leadership group. We're the engine here and we're not finding a way to get a win . . . this is probably the worst start I've been a part of."

Steven Stamkos, Forward: "It's tough. Tough sledding for sure. We can't just keep saying the same things over and over in terms of, 'OK, the effort was there' or 'Hey, we had a lot of shots, we had a lot of looks.' At some point, we've got to do it . . . we're a better group than what we're showing right now . . . and because it's at the beginning of the year, it gets magnified when it's right out of the gate."

Andrew Brunette, Coach: "It's disappointing, the inconsistency, and understanding in big moments. The desperation needed in those big moments. It's not from lack of trying, we're just not connected. Some guys are doing certain things, some guys are doing other things. There's no predictability in our game for 60 minutes . . . it shows in signs, but then we deviate a little bit. And we're making big mistakes in big moments, that really puts a lot of pressure on you to try and generate and score when you're chasing games night after night."

Alex Daugherty is the Predators beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Alex at jdaugherty@gannett.com . Follow Alex on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @alexdaugherty1 . Also check out our Predators exclusive Instagram page @tennessean_preds .

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville Predators befuddled by franchise-worst start: 'Don't really know what to say'