The negative Loons narrative is impossible to ignore

One of the more difficult parts of sportswriting is trying to fit single, discrete events into a larger narrative arc. It's why we write so often about streaks and runs; it makes every particular event part of a larger whole, and therefore part of the story we are telling of a month or a season.

Near as I can tell, players and coaches are trained to never, ever look at things this way. You'll never hear some version of the phrase "we have to focus on the next game" more often than you will in a losing locker room. It's understandable; they simply cannot afford to care about whether or not they've lost three in a row (or won three in a row, for that matter) because it's not useful for winning next week.

But at times like this, for the Loons, the narrative is all there is.