Preds Finish Western Canada Trip with Loss to Flames

In his first start since Nov. 23, Juuse Saros gave the Predators a chance to win in Calgary, but a perfect redirection in the third period led the Flames to score the game's final three goals on their way to a 5-2 victory.
Craig Smith wired a wrister that eluded Flames' netminder Mike Smith to tie the game, 2-2, early in the final frame, but Calgary answered, and answered quickly, with Garnet Hathaway scoring at 6:03, Alan Quine finding twine at 12:12 and Elias Lindholm adding the empty-netter at 17:00.
The result makes injury-riddled Nashville winless in their last six road (0-5-1) outings and sees their season series against the Flames finish at 1-2-0.

"They wanted it more," Preds defenseman Ryan Ellis said. "At times, we played well and at times they outplayed us, so it's just about getting back to basics. We've obviously been hit with the injury bug, and when that happens, you have to simplify your game and play very predictable for your teammates."
With the top spot in the Western Conference on the line, a Predators' team - missing four of its star players - fought deep into the third period in a tie game, but saw the Flames' speed force several turnovers, which were then converted for goals. Nashville now cedes the top spot in the West for the first time in several days.
It took defenseman Oliver Kylington less than two minutes into the contest to pot his first career goal and give the Flames a 1-0 lead, but with 53 seconds to play in the opening period, Roman Josi fed Colton Sissons, and the Preds forward directed a shot past Smith for his second tally in as many games.

In the middle frame, Sean Monahan beat Saros and scored his team-leading 18th of the season to give Calgary a one-goal lead after 40 minutes.
The Predators evened it up once more just 54 seconds into the third period when Smith potted his eighth of the season, but Hathaway's redirection less than five minutes later gave Calgary their third and final lead of the night.

"We just gave them too many [chances]," Smith said of Nashville's play. "[Saros] is a good goalie, but we give them too much like we did, and I thought they capitalized on a lot of quick turnovers. We're going to have to go back and look at the tape and make some adjustments again and correct it."
Preds Head Coach Peter Laviolette liked his team's compete level more than what he saw in Vancouver two nights ago in a 5-3 loss to the Canucks, but the bench boss pointed to Calgary's third goal as a turning point on the night.
"Especially in the first period, I thought we came out really strong defensively, and it's a 2-1 game going into the third period," Laviolette said. "We tied it up, so that was a big goal at that point, but they get that redirection goal…and we couldn't catch it from there."
From here, the Predators will head back to home for a three-game set back in their own building, a chance to correct what went wrong in Western Canada.
"This team is good at staying within the day," Smith said. "We've done a great job of not looking in the rearview mirror… But the results in the last couple of games, especially our road games, is not where we want it. We'll take ownership of it and make the right corrections."

Notes:
Zac Rinaldo and Anthony Bitetto re-entered the Nashville lineup on Saturday, while Eeli Tolvanen and Matt Irwin were healthy scratches.
The Preds will now return to Tennessee for their final homestand before the Christmas break, beginning on Tuesday night with the Ottawa Senators in town.