The Nashville Predators fell to the Ottawa Senators by a 3-2 final in a shootout on Saturday night at Canadian Tire Centre. The result gives the Preds four out of a possible six points to conclude their three-game trip through eastern Canada.
Ross Colton tallied his first as a member of the Preds, Vitali Pinchuk collected an assist in his NHL debut and Jonathan Marchessault scored on the power play in the opening period. However, Ottawa tied the game late in regulation before winning in the shootout.
“We had a pretty good start of the game, but I feel it's been a little common in the past few games that we kind of lay off the gas a little bit and let teams back in the game,” Marchessault said. “One point is good, but I mean, at the end of the year, they're pretty hard to get those points, so it would be nice to be able to close on games.”
“Well, I think for 60 minutes, this was probably our best road game of the trip,” Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette said. “I thought it was tight checking; we knew that going in. I really liked our third period. It was unfortunate in a way that would end 5-on-6 because I thought we did a lot of really good things [tonight]. So, we'll take the point. Productive road trip. Obviously, I feel we let a couple [points] slip away, but that's hockey.”
In addition to Pinchuk’s NHL debut, Jayden Struble made his Predators debut after being acquired from Montreal on Friday night. The defenseman recorded six hits and two blocked shots in 19:12 of ice time.
“I thought they were really good,” Brunette said of Pinchuk and Struble. “I thought ‘Strubes’ was really effective with his feet, his physicality, and his gap control really helped us here tonight. And [Pinchuk], I think [for his] first game handled himself well. He played really well, especially early in the game. He’s been a player that looked good, and will continue to grow here as we go.”
Goaltender Matt Murray got the call for Nashville in place of Juuse Saros on Saturday - his first NHL start since Jan. 8, 2024 - and he was excellent in making 18 saves and keeping his team in the game all night.
“Awesome,” Brunette said of Murray. “This is why you love sports. When you’ve been in the game as long as I have, there are moments like that where guys waited for his turn and we haven't gotten him in. He steps in, he plays great, we just feel a little bit bad that we didn't pull the win out for him because he played so well. So, credit to him. He’s been a true pro ever since I've known him for the last three years, and to come in and play that way is pretty incredible.”
Pinchuk needed just three shifts into his NHL career to show up on the scoresheet, and after winning a puck battle in front, the rookie found Colton to hammer home his first as a member of the Preds to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.
Then, on the power play, it was Steven Stamkos who found Marchessault down low, and the winger went five-hole on Senators goaltender Linus Ullmark for a 2-0 Nashville advantage through 20 minutes.
Ottawa capitalized on a power play of their own in the second stanza, and that 2-1 score carried into the final frame before the Sens tied the game with less than two minutes to play in regulation.
After overtime solved nothing, Ryan O’Reilly scored for Nashville in the shootout, but a pair of Sens solved Murray to end the night.
Now, with their first roadtrip of the season complete, the Preds will head back to Tennessee with moments to build off and a three-game homestand of their own ahead.
“It was a tough road trip,” Brunette said. “We played three really good teams, and it's never easy to get points on the road. Parts of our game I liked each night, and tonight was the one I liked the most for the most part: very connected. I thought the third [period] was good, some penalties, but it was that kind of game early in the season that we have to clean up a little bit.”
“We have one of the best buildings, so we have to make sure that we take business at home, and take the energy from the crowd and make it a good homestand,” Marchessault said.
Notes:
Preds forward Mavrik Bourque did not play in Saturday’s game and is day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
In addition to Bourque, defensemen Ilya Lyubushkin and Jack Ahcan were scratched for Nashville on Saturday night.
Per NHL Stats, Steven Stamkos (1a) and Roman Josi (1a) extended their season-opening point streak to five games, the first Predators skaters to do so since three players in 2019-20: Filip Forsberg (6 GP), Matt Duchene (5 GP) and Ryan Johansen (5 GP). Forsberg and Marek Zidlicky (6 GP in 2003-04) are the only players in team history to extend their run to six games.
Stamkos (36 years, 245 days) became the eighth-oldest player in NHL history to record a season-opening point streak of at least five games. The last older player to post a run of that length was Chris Pronger (5 GP in 2011-12 at 37 years, 8 days).
With their three-game swing through eastern Canada now complete, the Preds will head back to Tennessee to begin a three-game homestand on Tuesday night when they host the Vegas Golden Knights at Bridgestone Arena.
