Preds Finish Back-to-Back Set with Loss in Edmonton

Matt Duchene and Ryan Johansen each tallied for Nashville, but the Predators fell to the Edmonton Oilers by a 5-2 final on Wednesday night at Rogers Place. The result stops Nashville's win streak at four games and gives them two out of four possible points in a back-to-back set in the province of Alberta.
Connor Ingram started in net for Nashville after Juuse Saros played Tuesday night in Calgary - a 3-2 overtime win - and the Preds were without forward Filip Forsberg and defenseman Mark Borowiecki due to injury.

Edmonton owns the NHL's best power play, converting at over 40 percent, and on their first opportunity of the night, Leon Draisaitl went over the shoulder of Ingram to put the Oilers up 1-0. But, just 11 seconds after that, Duchene took advantage of a 2-on-1 and tallied for the second time in as many nights to get the Preds on the board.

In the second stanza, it was Kailer Yamamoto who found a loose puck in front of the Nashville net early in the period to put the Oilers up by a goal once more, and the Oilers offense continued the work early in the third period, and the Preds quickly found themselves down by three after another tally from Draisaitl and a goal from forward Devin Shore just over a minute apart.
Ryan Johansen netted Nashville's second goal of the evening after capitalizing on a Preds power play with just four minutes remaining in regulation, but the Oilers stretched their lead back to three on an empty-net goal, sealing the deal in Edmonton.

Wednesday Storyline:

The Predators didn't achieve the desired result on Wednesday night in Edmonton, but after a tough go in Calgary 24 hours earlier, it wasn't all bad against the Oilers.
Nashville outshot Edmonton by a 31-30 count, and while the home team converted on more of their opportunities, there was more to like from a process standpoint in the second outing of the road trip for the Preds.
"It was definitely better than last night," Preds Captain Roman Josi said of the effort. "I think last night [Saros] stole that game for us. There's some nights where you probably don't deserve to win, but you win anyways, and there's some nights where you play a lot better and it doesn't go your way. But I think it was a good reaction from us. Like I said, you've got to focus on the process. We wanted to play better and I thought we did."
"I think the guys recognized there were certain things in the game [Tuesday] that we didn't play the way that we wanted to play, and the game got away from us a little bit," Preds Head Coach John Hynes said. "Tonight, I thought we played a much better game. I thought our puck execution was good, I thought our battle level along the boards was good. We generated more offense than we did last night. But tonight, unfortunately, it didn't go in. Coming in, we had a quick meeting this morning, but I liked the focus level and the competitiveness that we played with, we just didn't find a way to win."

Of course, collecting points in the standings is the most important aspect, and the Predators were unable to do so against an Edmonton team that has only lost once this season.
"We had lots of good looks, but tonight the puck didn't go in the net for us," Hynes said. "But I thought we competed hard, I thought we made some clear improvements to our game that we didn't like from last night in Calgary, and we didn't find a way to win the game, but we respect the effort from the players coming in on a back-to-back. We battled hard, we just didn't find a way to be able to tie it and then they got some good looks in the third and scored."
Now two contests into the six-game excursion, the Preds have some things to build on from their time in Alberta, and they'll look to do so Friday night in Vancouver.
It's a good learning process for us," Josi said. "Last night, it wasn't our game and we didn't play well, but I think we see when we play to our potential, when we play our style of game, that gives us a better chance to win. We've got some huge games coming up."

Highlight of the Night:

They Said It:

Roman Josi on Connor Ingram:
"He was awesome. He made some unbelievable saves, and obviously with the goals there's nothing you can do, but even in the third, he made some unbelievable saves and kept us in the game and gave us a chance."

Notes:

Predators forward Filip Forsberg (upper-body, week-to-week) and defenseman Mark Borowiecki (upper-body, day-to-day) both missed Wednesday night's game after suffering injuries on Tuesday in Calgary. Forward Rocco Grimaldi and defenseman Ben Harpur took their respective places in the lineup, while Philippe Myers was scratched.
Prior to Wednesday's game, the Predators announced they'll be retiring former goaltender Pekka Rinne's No. 35 on Feb. 24, 2022.
Nashville's six-game road trip continues on Friday night in Vancouver when they face the Canucks at 9 p.m. CT. They'll then make stops in Chicago, Dallas and St. Louis before hosting Arizona at Bridgestone Arena on Saturday, Nov. 13.