The Nashville Predators saw their wishes for a holiday win dashed after a disappointing 3-2 loss to the Dallas Stars on Saturday afternoon at Bridgestone Arena.
Michael McCarron and Colton Sissons (PPG) each tallied for the Predators, but the Stars responded in the third, scoring three unanswered goals, the final two of which came within a nine-second span to steal the lead from the home team with four seconds remaining in regulation.
“It’s obviously unfortunate,” Predators Captain Roman Josi said. “For them to score one and then get another one that close to the finish line, it stinks for sure… We’ve got to look at what kind of led up to that. I think we could have pushed more in the second and pushed harder for our next goal. We kind of let them take over. That stuff happens sometimes, but the way we played, especially in the second and third, I think can be better.”
“It's kind of easy for teams that are down and really pushing to play a little bit riskier and they're really aggressive and kind of took it to us that way,” Sissons said. “There are definitely some lessons to learn and we’ve won a lot of tight games on the other side of things. So we'll take our medicine here and move on.”
The result moves Nashville to 19-15-0 on the season as they head into the Christmas break.
QUICK HITS
A Lack of Focus
With Dallas’ net empty, former Predator Craig Smith found the equalizer with 13 seconds remaining. Nine seconds later, Jani Hakanpää sealed the deal, putting the visitors up 3-2 with just under four seconds remaining.
“In the last 13 seconds we lacked a little poise and understanding where we're at and I thought it was a little bit of a panic,” Predators Head Coach Andrew Brunette said. “And it's a learning experience. Unfortunately, it's a tough one. I don't think I've ever lost a game like this, but you’ve got to turn the page and be ready in the next two or three days.”
The Predators liked their game in the first period, and found both their goals just over six minutes apart in the middle frame, but were ultimately unable to weather a large offensive push from the Stars.
“When we don’t have enough guys playing, it’s really hard to win in this League, and we didn't have enough guys - I wouldn’t say committed - but maybe focused on the details,” Brunette said. “It wasn’t like we weren’t trying, it was just that our details and our focus was off. And good teams, when they're that deep, make you pay when you're off.”
Time to Regroup
With the Christmas break finally here, the Predators will have some time to regroup and rediscover the style of play that won them 14 of their last 19 games.
“I think it's going to be good to reflect on what we did for the first 34 games over the next three days,” McCarron said. “We were able to reflect back and see what kind of hole we dug ourselves into early and we were able to climb out of that and put ourselves in a playoff position. I think for the most part, we're trending in the right direction. Today was a little bit of what we were doing in the beginning of the year to get us in that hole, giving up third period leads, but we're going to learn from this. We have in the past, and I believe in this group.”
UP NEXT
The Predators return from the Christmas break to face the Carolina Hurricanes at Bridgestone Arena on Wednesday. Click here to get tickets.
Puck drop is at 7 p.m. CT, with the game set to broadcast on Bally Sports South, 102.5 The Game and El Jefe Radio.
NOTES
- Dante Fabbro and Cody Glass were scratched and did not skate in Saturday’s game.
- McCarron’s second period goal was his fifth of the season; it was additionally the forward’s third point in his last six games.
- Sissons’ second period PPG was his 11th of the season and his third goal on the man-advantage this season.
