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Trotz: Preds playing ‘as well as we have played in 10 years’

Barry Trotz

Nashville Predators head coach Barry Trotz watches during NHL hockey training camp on Monday, Jan. 14, 2013, in Nashville, Tenn. The shortened, 48-game season begins Saturday, January 19. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

AP

Nashville is seven points out of a playoff spot and one clear of Winnipeg for last in the Central Division, but Barry Trotz loves what his team is doing at the moment.

“I think right now we are playing as well as we have played in 10 years,” Trotz said, per The Tennessean. “Our team has done a lot of good things but has been through a lot of difficult situations.

“We’ve had some rough patches this year, but there are teams in the past where I know even with us would have maybe folded. But this team is going the other way, getting a little more hardened and strong.”

Nashville has just one regulation win in its last four -- a 3-2 victory over San Jose on Tuesday -- but did manage to claim four of eight points over that four-game stretch. The Preds also closed out 2013 in style with home wins over Los Angeles and Detroit, and are now hoping their recent success at Bridgestone -- where they’ve won three straight -- will continue.

Nashville hosts Anaheim tonight in the second of a five-game homestand. From there, the Preds will host Ottawa, Minnesota and Calgary before heading to Philly on Jan. 16. After that, Nashville returns home for games against Colorado and Dallas -- so it’s no surprise Trotz is trying to build confidence heading into one of the most important stretches of the season.

In other Preds news, Patric Hornqvist will miss tonight’s game with a lower-body injury. It also sounds like Filip Forsberg, recently returned from the World Juniors, will be held out of the lineup.