Jonathan Marchessault and Spencer Stastney scored for Nashville, but the Predators ultimately fell to the Dallas Stars by a 3-2 final on Sunday night at Bridgestone Arena. The result sees the Preds split their weekend back-to-back set as the Stars scored three unanswered to earn the victory.
“Tonight was, I think, a good effort for a back-to-back,” Marchessault said. “I thought we had good energy, and we kind of let them linger around instead of taking over the game. It’s a disappointing outcome, but I think our effort was pretty good overall.”
“Well, I think a little bit of what we did helped them respond,” Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette said. “There's a little bit of the learning, the attrition part of the game, to build our identity. It's kind of there, just not consistent enough to do 60 minutes against really good teams. You can get away with it certain nights, other nights you can’t, and that's a team that you can't really get away with it.”
The Predators had a 1-0 lead through 20 minutes of play, courtesy of a Marchessault goal on the power play, and Nashville’s penalty kill was top notch once more as they killed portions of a 5-on-3 advantage.
In the second stanza, Stastney put the Preds up by two when he sniped a shot past Stars goaltender Casey DeSmith, but Dallas stormed back to score two of their own before the middle frame was out for a 2-2 tie headed into the third.
And in that final period, it was Mikko Rantanen who gave Dallas its first lead of the night with one second remaining on a power play as he beat Preds goaltender Justus Annunen with a tap-in goal. Nashville had a late push, but the Stars ultimately prevailed to leapfrog the Preds in the Central Division standings in a game the Preds were in right to the end.
“It's frustrating,” Preds defenseman Brady Skjei said. “I think we had great energy at the start of the game and came out really strong and jumped out to a two-goal lead. Then just a few breakdowns here and there, they capitalized on a few chances, and then they got one on the power play at the end. There's definitely things we can take away that are good and that we did well, and a few things that we can clean up for the future.”
The Predators now find themselves with a .500 record at the 10-game mark of the young season, and while things haven’t been perfect, Nashville’s bench boss found reason for optimism about his group.
“I like the vibe, I like the feeling with the group,” Brunette said. “I think they've been really positive, even last night and a night like tonight, they're sticking together and they're kind of all in together. They're sort of calling each other out. They're trying to hold each other accountable. They all want it, and again, it's not a matter of will, but those little stretches - we're trying to nip that, clean that up a little bit, but I find the energy has been great.
“It's a group that seems to really pull for each other and understanding where we are. They've been really positive. So, the first 10 for me have been really good. I thought we left a few points on the table here and there… So, you feel good where we are, and we're still building. I think we’ve got to stack some games where I thought we did some things, but not that 60-minute game we talked about and something that we can build off of.”
Notes:
Fedor Svechkov and Nick Blankenburg were scratched for Nashville on Sunday. Preds Captain Roman Josi remains week-to-week with an upper-body injury.
Nashville’s season-long, five-game homestand concludes on Tuesday night when they host the Tampa Bay Lightning for a 6:45 p.m. CT puck drop at Bridgestone Arena.
