Juuse Saros made 34 saves, but the Nashville Predators fell to the Pittsburgh Penguins by a 3-2 final in overtime on Saturday night at PPG Paints Arena. The result gives the Preds a single point in the standings after the Penguins tied the game late in regulation before prevailing in overtime.
“I thought we honestly didn't play that great,” Preds defenseman Jayden Struble said. “Obivosuly, ‘Juice’ just kept us in it the whole time. He played unbelievable, and so it stings that we couldn't get it for him.”
“I thought we put ourselves in position [to win],” Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette said. “We liked our third period. Got a little sloppy in the second. We’ve got some things to clean up. It's unfortunate that we couldn't close the deal for ‘Juice.’ He made some unbelievable saves.”
The Predators were looking for a response following Thursday’s loss in Boston, and they got it when Steven Stamkos scored the game’s first goal off a feed from his new linemate Matthew Wood - a pass that went in off the skate of Stamkos and past Penguins goaltender Arturs Silovs for a 1-0 lead.
The Penguins tied the game just 18 seconds into the middle frame, but minutes later, Struble sniped home a shot in the slot for his first with the Preds and a 2-1 lead through two periods.
Nashville played well in the third period, but with just 1:06 remaining in regulation, Rickard Rakell tied the game, and then Ville Koivinen scored the overtime winner to give the Preds their fourth extra-time defeat of the season.
“[There were] stretches in the game where I really liked our compete, and there's other stretches that I didn't,” Brunette said. “We're going to have to learn to take care of the puck a little bit better when there's momentum shifts in games, and we kind of lost momentum by not taking care of the puck. A little bit creeped in from Boston into tonight, so we’ve got to clean that up.”
Now, the Predators will head home to host the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday night to finish a back-to-back weekend set, and they’ll look for a different result against one of the NHL’s best.
“We should be excited,” Brunette said. “We should understand and [have] a little bit of fear of who we're playing in a back-to-back game, and we’ve got to do some things a little better.”
Notes:
Prior to Saturday’s game, the Predators claimed defenseman Daemon Hunt on waivers from the Minnesota Wild. Defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin and forward Reid Schaefer served as healthy scratches, and defenseman Jack Ahcan did not play after being placed on waivers earlier in the day.
Nashville’s weekend back-to-back set will conclude Sunday night when the Preds host the Colorado Avalanche for a 7 p.m. CT puck drop at Bridgestone Arena to begin a five-game homestand.
