Preds Fall to Kraken 7-2, Split Back-to-Back Set with Seattle

Despite multi-point efforts from Tyson Barrie (1g-1a), Matt Duchene (1g-1a) and Philip Tomasino (2a), the Nashville Predators fell to the Seattle Kraken 7-2 on Saturday at Bridgestone Arena.
The Predators made it a one-goal game early in the third period, but Seattle scored four unanswered goals to seal the win and avenge Thursday's shootout loss to Nashville.
Juuse Saros made 32 saves in goal for the Predators, who moved to 36-27-8 on the season.

THE STORY

Daniel Sprong, who opened the scoring for Seattle in Thursday's game, did so again on Saturday when he knocked in the rebound from a Ryan Donato shot to make it 1-0 at 3:13 of the first period. Nashville was penalized for an unsuccessful coach's challenge for goaltender interference on the play.
The Kraken found the scoresheet a second time at the end of the period courtesy of Eeli Tolvanen, who scored on the power play against his former team to extend Seattle's lead to 2-0.
The Predators cut Seattle's lead in half early in the second period when Barrie drove to the net and chipped in a rebound at 1:43 to make it 2-1.

Tolvanen tallied his second goal of the game late in the middle frame when Saros skated out past the face-off circle in an attempt to clear the puck. Tolvanen intercepted Saros' pass and fired a shot into the vacated net to extend Seattle's lead to 3-1 at 17:16.
Duchene redirected a shot from Barrie just 53 seconds into the third period to bring the Predators within one, but Seattle reclaimed the two-goal lead at 3:37 when Adam Larsson scored from the right face-off circle.

Matty Beniers converted on an odd-man rush following a give-and-go with Vince Dunn to extend Seattle's lead to 5-2 at 8:13, and Jared McCann went bar down on a breakaway to make it 6-2 at 10:47.
Oliver Bjorkstrand batted in his own rebound at 12:35 for the 7-2 final.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Two for Tyson
With a goal and an assist, Barrie recorded his first multi-point game as a member of the Predators. He has seven points (2g-5a) in 13 games with Nashville since arriving via trade from the Edmonton Oilers.
All Aboard the Duchene Train
Duchene's third-period tally extended his team lead in goals to 22. With a two-point effort (1g-1a) on Saturday, Duchene now has 35 points (16g-19a) in his last 43 games, including a three-point effort on Tuesday at Buffalo (2g-1a). He's recorded points in 12 of his last 26 games (11g-11a), tallying multiple points in seven of those outings.
Tommer Time
Since making his season debut on Feb. 13 vs. Arizona, Philip Tomasino has recorded 14 points (4g-10a) in 20 games. He has eight points (2g-6a) in his last eight games after adding an assist on Barrie's goal in the second period.

THEY SAID IT

Barrie on the loss:
"There was a bit of penalty killing there and we had some power plays we didn't get enough shots on. To give them credit, they came ready to play today. We've got to be better than that. We gave ourselves a chance early in the third and then it just kind of got away from us there… I think you saw how they got a lot of their goals. It was a lot of odd man rushes and mistakes and things you've just got to cut out of your game. But we kind of chased the whole game from early on and [Seattle] is a team that knows how to play defense and they work hard. So you don't want to be chasing them all game. So it'll be nice to have another start tomorrow."
Duchene on the loss:
"It was kind of a weird game. Obviously, we weren't at the level we needed to be. We were a little flat. It's hard to put your finger on why execution wasn't great at times. We had some good looks in the second. I think if we could pop one in there, it might be a different game. That was definitely our best period. But in the first, we didn't get enough offense and then in the third kind of the same thing. So we kind of got what we deserved tonight night, but the good news is last time we kind of had an effort like that we came back and had a really good game against Buffalo. We've got a really good team in Toronto coming in, they play tonight. So we've got to make sure we're getting some rest tonight and stay in focus, getting right back at it."
Head Coach John Hynes on the loss:
"[The Kraken] were more competitive on the puck. We got beaten in a lot of areas of the game. Right from the get go you can see the energy, the compete level, the detail we played with, we didn't have that. I thought our power play let us down early in the game, just not generating any momentum in that area. It was a tough night for us.

UP NEXT

The Predators will be back in action on Sunday as they host the Toronto Maple Leafs at Bridgestone Arena. The puck drops at 5 p.m. CT, and the game will be broadcast on NHL Network, Bally Sports South, 102.5 The Game and El Jefe Radio.