Michael Bunting scored the lone Nashville goal as the Predators fell to the Winnipeg Jets by a 4-1 final on Saturday night at Canada Life Centre. The result sees the Preds drop the final outing of their four-game road trip, and although they outshot the Jets by a 31-24 margin, Winnipeg led where it mattered most.
“Not a good first period by us,” Preds Captain Roman Josi said. ”[We] kind of came out sleepy. They were definitely the better team. [They] kind of deserved to be up 2-0, and thought we played better after that, got going and created some chances. Obviously, [we] had some power-play chances, but we’ve got to score some goals in this League to win games.”
“We didn't start on time,” Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette said. “Took a bad penalty right away against a really good power play, and fell behind the eight ball, and then made another mental mistake in the second goal. There were things we haven't done a whole lot this year so far, kind of [crept into the] game here a little bit, and after that, loved our response. I think when we played [our identity], I thought we had a lot of success.”
Winnipeg had a 2-0 lead after the opening 20 minutes with goals from Mark Scheifele and former Preds winger Nino Niederreiter, a period in which the visitors were outshot by an 11-5 margin.
But in the second stanza, the Predators were the ones peppering the opposition with 15 shots of their own. However, Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck stood tall to keep Winnipeg up by two after the middle period.
After Nashville’s pressure in the second, Winnipeg beat Juuse Saros twice more in the final frame before Bunting broke Hellebuyck’s shutout bid with just over a minute to play in regulation. That was as close as Nashville came on the scoreboard, and with their trip now complete, they’ll head home in search of better results following a 1-2-1 trip that still saw positives in their overall game.
“We’ve got to keep building,” Josi said. “We’ve got to have better starts than we did today. And then we’ve got to find a way to score some goals… Our defense has been good. I think we still have a lot of potential offensively… The power play has to be better. We played well in the last two periods, but we’ve got to just find a way.”
“Well, I think you see the images of when we play a certain way, and it's a good picture,” Brunette said. “So, for us going forward, we need to be a little bit more consistent with that right from the puck drop. And for the most part, through this trip, we have been. So, to me, it was a good road trip. I think it's stacking some stuff to build our identity here a little bit.”
Notes:
Preds forward Jonathan Marchessault did not play on Saturday and is day-to-day with a lower-body injury. Forward Brady Martin was scratched against the Jets.
Defenseman Nick Blankenburg made his season debut for the Predators on Saturday and recorded one shot and two hits in 12:04 of ice time.
With their four-game trip now complete, the Preds will begin a season-long, five-game homestand on Tuesday night when they host the Anaheim Ducks at Bridgestone Arena.
