Filip Forsberg and Ryan O’Reilly scored for Nashville, but the Predators fell to the Columbus Blue Jackets by a 3-2 final on Tuesday night at Nationwide Arena. The result sees the Preds drop both games of their back-to-back set on a tough night in Ohio.
“They came out hard and think they kind of outplayed us in the beginning,” Preds Captain Roman Josi said. “It was not a pretty game, it was kind of sloppy on both sides… Kind of weird goals, but [we] couldn't find another one there.”
“It was kind of a busy afternoon here,” Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette said. “It’s a tough day for a lot of people today.”
During Tuesday’s game, the Preds traded center Michael McCarron to Minnesota for a 2028 second-round pick to make for a different start to Tuesday’s contest.
“He’s one of those glue guys,” Josi said of McCarron. “I played with him for a long time, and he's such an amazing teammate, such a great guy. He's one of those guys who kind of does anything for his teammates, and he's always there if you need him, on the ice, off the ice. He's just an energy guy. He’s always bringing the boys up whenever the energy is down a little bit. He’s the one that brings the energy up, and on the ice, too, he plays a hard game. It’s tough to see a guy like him go right before the game. We’ll definitely miss him.”
After Columbus scored the game’s first goal, Forsberg evened the score late in the opening frame with a power-play marker and his 27th tally of the season. In the second stanza, it was O’Reilly who crashed the net and was the last Preds player to touch the puck before Columbus inadvertently put it into their own net to give Nashville its first lead of the night.
But in the third period, the Blue Jackets tallied twice to ultimately take the two points and send the Predators back home with just one win in four tries out of the Olympic break.
“We’ve got to move on,” Josi said. “Obviously, it's not an easy time for a lot of guys, but all we can control is our play. You have to accept the business side. It's part of it, and it's not fun, but all we can do as players is to play and hopefully get some wins.”
Notes:
During Tuesday’s game, the Preds acquired Minnesota’s second-round pick in the 2028 NHL Draft from the Wild in exchange for centerman Michael McCarron.
Following the game, Nashville dealt forward Cole Smith to Vegas in exchange for a third-round pick in the 2028 NHL Draft and defenseman Christoffer Sedoff.
