In January -- three months before the Nashville Predators would clinch a playoff spot for the first time in two years -- Ryan O'Reilly was asked if he'd ever experienced the playoff atmosphere at Bridgestone Arena, either as a player or spectator.

"Not yet, but soon I will," he replied with a smile.

This was before the trade deadline. Before the embarrassing 9-2 loss to Dallas and subsequent cancelled U2 trip. Before the franchise record 18-game point streak. Before the Predators' overtime loss to the Jets that officially clinched the playoffs.

Before all that, O'Reilly knew playoffs were possible for this team.

That confidence -- combined with his otherworldly work ethic and knack for delivering in big moments -- is why O'Reilly is the perfect veteran to lead this team into the postseason.

Andrew Brunette: Ryan O'Reilly 'drives the culture' of the Predators

O'Reilly arrived in Nashville with a reputation as a defensive-minded, two-way center, but Andrew Brunette knew there was more to it than that. In fact, he knew from coaching Ryan's brother Cal O'Reilly -- who was with the Minnesota Wild briefly while Brunette was assistant coach -- what the O'Reillys are all about.

"I remember seeing (Ryan) when he had a broken foot in Buffalo," Brunette said, recalling a previous trip between the Wild and Sabres. "We're walking in early in the morning, I could hear someone shooting pucks. I walk through, peek my head in, and it's (Ryan), in a cast, on this mobile chair, just shooting pucks into an empty net. And I thought, 'Oh, my God, this kid loves hockey.'"

O'Reilly, who played in his 1,000th NHL game earlier this season, is not one to miss practice. Mandatory or optional, you can count on O'Reilly being at practice, and usually the first one on the ice.

"It's just a way to build confidence," O'Reilly said about his every-day practice habits. "I'm not out there going a million miles an hour every time. Just getting touches, building confidence, working on something small every day."

Those small touches, over the course of a 15-year career, have helped O'Reilly deliver in big moments.

Ryan O'Reilly is made for big moments

With the Predators down a goal in the third period against the Jets on Tuesday, needing only one point in the game to clinch the playoffs, O'Reilly delivered in a crucial moment.

As Roman Josi entered the zone with the puck, he dropped a pass to O'Reilly streaking into the zone. O'Reilly had enough time to get a shot on Jets' goalie Connor Hellebuyck, but any hesitation or panic and he'd lose the moment.

He shot the puck calmly over Hellebuyck's right pad, tying the score, and sending the home crowd into a frenzy.

It's not the first time he's scored a goal in the clutch, and likely won't be the last.

"He just seems to relish it," Brunette said. "He's almost calmer when things get chaotic. And he's been around, he's had some big moments, won some big games."

For Toronto last season, he scored a late tying goal to force overtime against the Lightning. In 2019, he had countless clutch goals and eventually won the Conn Smyth Trophy, awarded to the playoffs' most valuable player.

PERFECT: How Ryan O'Reilly remained perfect in Nashville Predators win over New Jersey Devils

"That guy's got ice in his veins," Predators wing Luke Evangelista said of O'Reilly. "No moment is too big for him."

It's O'Reilly's influence on the younger players in the locker room, like Evangelista, that Brunette sees as so valuable for the organization.

"He's driven the culture to a different level," Brunette said. "We want guys that love hockey, and he loves hockey more than anyone I've been around."

As they enter the playoffs, Nashville won't have familiar faces like Ryan Johansen, Mattias Ekholm and Matt Duchene to rely on in clutch moments. Those players, at least according to Barry Trotz, were subtracted as part of a culture remodel.

In their place, the Predators will have players like O'Reilly, Gustav Nyquist and Luke Schenn to carry the load, showing the next generation of players what it takes to win when it matters.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Ryan O'Reilly is the perfect veteran to lead Predators into playoffs