Preds Return from Break with Loss to Capitals

The Predators came back from a 3-0 deficit with three of their own, but Nashville ultimately fell to the Washington Capitals by a 5-3 final on Wednesday night at Capital One Arena. The result ends Nashville's win streak at seven games with the penultimate contest of the 2021 calendar year now complete.
After a 12-day hiatus from a League-mandated shutdown combined with the holiday break, the Preds returned to a matchup that had plenty of feistiness and physicality, but they were unable to find a go-ahead goal before the night was done.

"Ultimately it was the first period that cost us the game," Preds defenseman Mattias Ekholm said. "We came out too slow, let them dictate all too much, took too many penalties and ultimately they had three goals. It's hard to come back from a three-goal deficit in this League, so that needs to be corrected. In the second we flipped the script and got back to our game - more physicality, more our style of hockey - and obviously we got the three goals back and were fighting for it… So, I guess there's a lot to like, there's a lot to correct, I would say, but a tight hockey game that we weren't able to win."
"They're a real talented team, so they're able to capitalize on those situations [we gave up in the first period], and then I thought we came out in the second period and tightened up some things without the puck, which helped us, and we wound up tying the game," Preds Head Coach John Hynes said. "From there it was a pretty tightly contested game. There was a lot of physicality, a lot of special teams in the game and they found a way to get the game-winner tonight and we didn't."

That opening period saw the Preds down 3-0 after 20 minutes of play as Washington got goals from Lars Eller, John Carlson and Nic Dowd to start the evening. But by the time the second stanza was out, Nashville had tied the score.
Just 1:23 into the middle frame, Yakov Trenin gave the Predators life when he beat Caps goaltender Ilya Samsonov off a loose puck in front, and less than six minutes later, Eeli Tolvanen set up Luke Kunin with a beautiful feed, and the winger directed the puck into the net to bring the Preds to within one.

Then, just over 30 seconds after that, Filip Forsberg tipped in a Dante Fabbro point shot to tie the game less than eight minutes after the second period began.
Washington made another push in the final frame, however, and with less than six minutes to play in regulation, Evgeny Kuznetsov beat Juuse Saros top shelf to give the Capitals a 4-3 lead before Carl Hagelin iced it with an empty-netter.
From start to finish, neither team backed down from one another and a number of scrums resulted after whistles, something the Predators didn't mind seeing as teammates stuck up for each other.

"There's emotion in the game, there's pushback from our team, there's intensity in the effort and we come back and tie the game," Hynes said. "It was a man's game out there, and I give our guys a lot of credit. It wasn't the first period that we wanted, but I think when you look at the resilience, the mental and physical toughness we played with, and we come back and tie the game; unfortunately couldn't get the game-winner, but I give our guys a lot of credit for the way we played. Sometimes you're going to be in situations like that, and I think we've got to grow from it. But I liked a lot about tonight's game."
The Predators won't have to wait long for a chance to build on that effort and start a new streak as they'll face the Blue Jackets on Thursday night in Columbus to finish the back-to-back set.
Ekholm and the Preds know the second and third period on Wednesday saw an effort indicative of the way they want to play, and they'll look for more of that identity in less than 24 hours from now.
"Our penalty kill came up huge tonight, but we can't put ourselves in that position," Ekholm said of the PK that went 6-for-6. "It takes out the momentum of our 5-on-5 game, and I think that needs to be a little bit better… Coming off the break it was a decent effort if you look at the 60 minutes, but I think we've got more [to give] tomorrow."

Notes:

Tanner Jeannot (1a) factored on Yakov Trenin's goal to record his 25th career point (13g-25a) in 46 games played. Only two rookies have reached the mark in fewer games with the Predators (NHL debut or otherwise): Filip Forsberg (34 GP) and Craig Smith (35 GP).
Luke Kunin appeared in his 200th NHL game - and scored a goal - on Wednesday night in Washington.
Preds forward Matt Duchene returned to the lineup on Wednesday after missing four games with an upper-body injury. Forwards Ryan Johansen, Mikael Granlund, Philip Tomasino, Nick Cousins and Michael McCarron, as well as defensemen Mark Borowiecki and Ben Harpur, all returned after coming off the NHL's COVID-19 protocol list.
Captain Roman Josi, as well as forwards Colton Sissons and Tommy Novak, spent their first game of the season on the COVID protocol list.
The Predators will conclude the 2021 portion of their schedule by completing this back-to-back set on Thursday night in Columbus against the Blue Jackets. Nashville will then return home to host the Blackhawks at Bridgestone Arena on New Year's Day.