The Predators had their opportunities and made a push in the third period, but Connor McDavid’s hat trick helped the Edmonton Oilers to a 6-2 win over Nashville on Tuesday night at Rogers Place. The result sees the Preds finish their six-game trip with three wins, but Tuesday’s showing wasn’t the conclusion they were hoping for.
Ryan O’Reilly and Nick Blankenburg tallied for the Predators in the final frame, and Nashville played well to start the night, too, but Edmonton ultimately prevailed.
“It’s disappointing,” O’Reilly said of the result. “We had a chance to make it a really good road trip… [We’re only trailing 1-0], and if we can stay in the game there, I think it's a big opportunity for us… It wasn't great [to give up three quick goals] by any means, but we were still kind of in it there. [But we didn’t] manage the puck the way we normally do, which against that team, it just feeds them. It's so tough.”
“Well, it’s a 1-0 hockey game with four minutes left in the second period, and we knew they'd push, and we knew there'd be some chaos,” Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette said. “I thought we handled it fairly well. And then kind of gift wrapped them three goals, and that's going to be tough to come back. Our group's resilience, I thought, really at the start of our third [when we scored two quick goals], an opportunity on the power play, we weren't sharp and kind of changed a little bit of momentum in that period.”
The Oilers had a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes with a power-play goal from Connor McDavid, and the Edmonton captain doubled the lead on a penalty shot in the second period. The Oilers added two more before the middle frame was out.
The Predators made things interesting when O’Reilly and Blankenburg scored within 15 seconds of each other early in the third, but that was as close as the visitors came as Leon Draisaitl put the Oilers back up by three before McDavid completed the hat trick.
“I really liked our first period,” Brunette said. “Obviously we gave up a power play goal, but I really liked how we started. Even the start of the third, and then we got a little loose with the puck and we kind of deviated from our game plan, and we gave them some free offense. And a lot of things we do really well, we weren't doing well that period. And in saying all that, it's 1-0 with four minutes left to get out of that second period. We knew we had better. Unfortunately, we made some poor decisions and paid the price.”
After being away from home since Dec. 27 - and without a game in Nashville since Dec. 21 - the Predators are certainly looking forward to being back inside Bridgestone Arena on Thursday night. Plus, they’ll have six more points and plenty of good to bring back with them with four outings at home ahead.
“At times, we've competed the right way and done things the right way, and we've had success,” O’Reilly said of the trip. “And I think that’s kind of the lesson for us is we have to be sharper all the way through 60 minutes. That’s something we'll reset tomorrow and get ready for our next one, but we know in this room that we can be a very good team, and it's sticking to our game plan. There were times where it was there for us to be right back in the game, and we just…didn't grab it.”
“Well, I think there's a lot of good on this road trip,” Brunette said. “I guess a little disappointing how we ended it, but in saying that, if we can learn a little bit from this, because there's the other times we played a lot of really good teams in League with elite players, and they're going to have their offense sometimes, and they're going to have their looks. And I thought for the most part, at different stretches, we weathered it a little bit, we just didn't stick with it. That's something that we've done really well through this road trip, and something that will reinforce here as we keep going.”
Notes:
Nashville’s lineup remained unchanged on Tuesday as the team went with 11 forwards and seven defensemen. Matthew Wood was a healthy scratch, and Jonathan Marchessault remained out with a lower-body injury.
Nick Blankenburg’s goal was his fifth of the season to set a new career high.
With their six-game trip now complete, the Preds will return to Nashville to begin a four-game homestand as they host the New York Islanders on Thursday night at Bridgestone Arena.
