Roman Josi scored the lone Nashville goal as the Predators fell to the Seattle Kraken by a 4-1 final on Thursday night at Climate Pledge Arena. The result sees the Preds begin the new year with a loss, and two wins in four tries on their current six-game road trip.
The Predators ended up outshooting the Kraken on the night and had a push to tie the score, but a tough start for Nashville ultimately led to the final result.
“Not a good start, obviously, going down 3-0 early, and kind of couldn't get to our game in the first period,” Josi said. “We played better in the second and third, but it's tough to come back from 3-0. You can't expect to be down in first period every time and come back.”
“It's hard to keep coming back, especially on the road down a couple goals,” Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette said. “[We] had a lot of passengers tonight. The schedule [with three games in four days] got us a little bit, but for us, they were a little bit more desperate, which is sort of unacceptable.”
The Predators found themselves down 3-0 after 20 minutes of play - including a pair of goals in a span of just 10 seconds for Seattle midway through the opening frame - but things settled down in the second stanza. Then, before the period was out, Josi converted on a power play when he sniped a shot from the slot into the twine to get Nashville on the board headed into the final frame.
The Preds continued to search for the equalizer in the third, but Kraken goaltender Philipp Grubauer made nine more saves before Seattle added an empty-netter to finish off the night.
“I think we see what we're capable of when we get to our game,” Josi said. “We need to figure out our starts. But I think we see what we can do, how we have success, and that's how we need to play.”
“Well, we're having a hard time understanding their starts and trailing by two goals and the energy it spends to get back,” Brunette said. “Like I said, the schedule gets you a little bit sometimes during the year. They were waiting for us for a couple days, and they showed early in the game. I thought the second and third period, we were the better team. We just had trouble scoring, and it's hard in this League to chase, especially on the road. We've done a good job the last two times to come back, and tonight we didn't have it.”
Notes:
Nashville’s lineup remained unchanged on New Year’s Night with Jonathan Marchessault remaining out with a lower-body injury. Justin Barron was a healthy scratch against the Kraken.
The Predators will now head north to the province of Alberta to face the Calgary Flames on Saturday night before concluding their six-game trip Tuesday in Edmonton.
