The Nashville Predators came back to earn a point in the standings, but they ultimately fell to the New York Islanders by a 4-3 final in a shootout on Tuesday night at Bridgestone Arena. The result gives the Preds points in three straight outings, including the first two of a five-game homestand.
Filip Forsberg, Alex Kerfoot and Ryan O’Reilly all tallied for Nashville in the comeback, but a slow start led to the eventual finish that saw the Predators fall to 0-0-5 in games that have gone past regulation this season.
“Yeah, slow start,” Forsberg said. “Obviously, they came out more ready to play than we did. But…we took over, and it's obviously hard to come back from 3-0, but very proud of the guys for doing that. Obviously [an] unbelievable job in the overtime to kill off the penalty. Unfortunately, we couldn't get it done in the shootout, which is certainly a problem that we need to work on. But like I said, the start wasn't good enough, and after that, [the] second half of the game was way better.”
“We've had some hard nights here of late, either letting some leads slip away or not winning overtime or shootout,” Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette said. “I thought the third period was our best period. I think we know what we're not acting on - the start of the game wasn't where we wanted to be… I liked the grit and resilience to come back. I thought our third period was our best period, and [we] left some pretty good looking chances there that could have put the game away on the ice. So, we'll regroup and we’ve got to start better.”
The Islanders had a 2-0 lead after the first period courtesy of goals from Anthony Duclair and Brayden Schenn, and they went up by three early in the second stanza. But then, Nashville began to chip away.
Forsberg got the Preds on the board when he one-timed a Jonathan Marchessault feed on the doorstep for a power-play goal to give the home team life. Then, it was Kerfoot who poked home a loose puck sitting behind Isles goaltender Semyon Varlamov to bring the Predators to within one after 40 minutes.
Then, it was O’Reilly who tied the game in the third with his seventh of the season to force overtime. In OT, Forsberg was called for a tripping penalty, and after the Islanders failed to score with the extra attacker on the delayed call, the Preds also killed off the entire power play.
But in the shootout, the visitors scored twice to prevail and leave the Predators with a single point to add to their total.
“It's obviously good getting a point from where we started, but the start is obviously not what we want coming into this game,” Kerfoot said. “It's been a bit of a theme, and we have to find a way to figure that out. The [penalty kill] did a great job getting us into a shootout. It's unfortunate we couldn't get the second point, so I guess there are mixed emotions a little bit.”
Following Sunday’s 6-2 victory over Colorado, the Preds wanted nothing more than to follow that effort up with another solid showing. While the start wasn’t ideal, the second half of the game - particularly the third period - left Nashville with something to build off of as its homestand continues.
“Down the stretch we played really well,” Kerfoot said. “We took it to them and had chances. It's tough to get points in this League, it’s tough to get wins in this League, and we just have to keep chipping away.”
Notes:
The Predators kept the same lineup on Tuesday with 11 forwards and seven defensemen dressed. Ilya Lyubushkin, Reid Schaefer and Vitali Pinchuk were scratched.
Per NHL Stats, Filip Forsberg scored his 98th career power-play goal and passed Kent Nilsson (97) for the 11th most in NHL history by a Swedish player.
Nashville’s five-game homestand continues on Thursday night when Alex Ovechkin makes the final stop of his career at Bridgestone Arena when the Washington Capitals come to town. The Preds will also induct former Head Coach and General Manager Barry Trotz into the Golden Hall as the sole member of the class of 2026. For more information and for tickets, click here.
