The Nashville Predators' regular season concluded with a road loss to Pittsburgh on Monday — now they wait for Game 1 of their first-round series in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Based on how the final week of the NHL regular season is playing out, they could be waiting a while.

Through no fault of their own, the Predators could have a week off between that Penguins game and the postseason opener (likely against the Vancouver Canucks).

The Stanley Cup playoffs are set to begin Saturday, with the schedule to be released sometime Thursday. The Canucks are playing their final regular-season game Thursday, so it's hard to imagine the NHL would make the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference begin its postseason just two days later.

This means Game 1 of Nashville's first-round series is likely to begin either Sunday, April 21 or Monday. Some have speculated it could start as late as Tuesday, April 23.

So after an intense, frenzied finish to the season, the Predators could be idle as long as seven days.

"It's kind of a unique situation," coach Andrew Brunette said. "You play three (games) in four (days) and then you probably don't play for another week."

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In a span of four days, the Predators played the Chicago Blackhawks, Columbus Blue Jackets and Pittsburgh Penguins. While some players rested, most of the main stars played in all three games, including Filip Forsberg and Roman Josi.

Goaltender Juuse Saros started against Columbus and Pittsburgh, which goes against conventional wisdom about resting starters before the playoffs hit.

"Rest is important, but it's a little bit tricky," Brunette said. "I don't want us out that long. I've never had to wait that long to play in (the playoffs)."

Though teams always need to be mindful of injuries this time of year — especially if they're playing meaningless games — Brunette knew his team might have several days without competitive hockey.

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He said momentum and mindset are the motivators for him, and it means the team likely will have at least one or two heavy practices before Game 1.

"Just keep going straight forward," he said of his plan for the long delay. "The same mindset we've had throughout this stretch the second half here."

While there's no easy way to simulate the intensity of an NHL game in practice, Brunette and his coaching staff have navigated that challenge well this season. They often incorporate intrasquad challenges in practice, bidding blue against gold in high-stakes competitions. Corner drills, board battles, special teams matchups and penalty shot contests all give players the taste of competition that motivates them.

Excluding the 2020 playoffs, which were delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the longest delay the Predators have dealt with came in 2021. That season, they waited six days between their final regular-season game and their first playoff game against the Carolina Hurricanes.

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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: How Nashville Predators will deal with wait until Stanley Cup playoffs