Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault scored again, but the Nashville Predators fell to the Utah Mammoth by a 5-2 final on Saturday afternoon at Bridgestone Arena. The result sees the Preds drop the final contest of their three-game homestand with a tough loss against a division rival.
“It was kind of a little past halfway in the first when things started to kind of go against us,” Preds Alternate Captain Ryan O’Reilly said. “We had a good start, and [Juuse Saros] made some great saves to keep us in it, and the second period got away from us… We have to be better. Disappointing loss. It's the team we're chasing right in the mix. We’ve got to reset and get ready for this road trip.”
“I think [we’re] begging for good starts, and I thought we had a really good start, and then we started losing our game a little bit,” Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette said. “In the second part of the second period we had some good looks and good opportunities. In the third, I didn't like our energy. I didn't like our will there in the third, so a little bit disappointing.”
As he’s done so often as of late, Stamkos broke the ice from the left circle when he one-timed a shot home on the power play to give the Preds a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes of play.
However, Utah scored three times in the first 8:10 of the second stanza to take a two-goal lead. But before the period was out, Marchessault potted his second in as many games to get Nashville back to within one heading into the third.
That was as close as the Preds came though, and Utah added two more in the final frame to close out the day. Now, the Predators will head out on the road for three, and their “win the week” mindset will reset with more points available for the taking.
“These are huge games,” O’Reilly said. “We have to show that we are a playoff team. It's a great opportunity for us. This is going to be a big part of our season here, what we can do, and it starts with a good first game. We need to respond. I need to respond. The whole group needs to respond and get back to us… This group, it's a great group of guys, and we will respond.”
‘We’ve done a good job rebounding, and the challenges are going to be even harder on the road,” Brunette said. “You wish for a good start, and we have a sloppy finish, so we’ve got to fix that a little bit. Too many passengers in a big game, which is a little bit disappointing. But we’ve just got to rebound. We go back on the road where I think we've played pretty well, especially lately, and a good opportunity for us to grab it here and win next week.”
Notes:
Preds defenseman Nic Hague did not play on Saturday and is week-to-week with a lower-body injury. Blueliner Adam Wilsby returned to the lineup from his lower-body injury and took Hague’s place on the backend. Forward Tyson Jost rejoined the lineup as well; Fedor Svechkov was Nashville’s lone healthy scratch.
Per NHL PR, Steven Stamkos opened the scoring with his 236th career power-play goal and tied Mario Lemieux for eighth place in NHL history.
Stamkos scored his 25th goal of the season (25 GP), two shy of his 82-game total from 2024-25. Stamkos also joined Alex Ovechkin (19) and Sidney Crosby (16) as the third active player – and 14th player in NHL history – to record 15 career 25-goal seasons.
Stamkos scored his 19th goal dating to Dec. 1 which is tied with Connor McDavid for the most over that span.
With their three-game homestand now complete, the Preds will head on the road for three out east, starting Tuesday night in Boston against the Bruins.
