Cole Smith tallied twice, and Marc Del Gaizo scored his first career NHL goal, but the Nashville Predators ultimately fell to the New York Islanders by a 7-4 final on Saturday afternoon at UBS Arena. The result sees the Preds start their back-to-back set in New York with a loss before they face the Rangers on Sunday.
Colton Sissons also tallied for Nashville, but the Preds gave up three goals in the first period while being outshot by a 19-3 count, a start that proved to be too much for the visitors to overcome.
“Just an ugly start,” Sissons said. “ We weren't ready to play, and the first period really lost us the hockey game.”
“We just didn't start on time,” Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette said. “Way too much in the first period… We dug in and played better in the second and third [periods], and we had a handful of guys that played really well, and the rest of the guys were passengers. It’s a hard League to win in when it goes that way.”
Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Kyle Palmieri and Bo Horvat all beat Preds goaltender Juuse Saros in the opening 20 minutes before Sissons converted early in the second stanza with a nifty chip on a partial break to get the visitors on the board.
After the Islanders regained their three-goal lead, Del Gaizo controlled the puck in the offensive zone, dished it off to Sissons and finished a give-and-go by one-timing a feed into the twine for his first in the NHL to give the Preds life once more.
“It feels good,” Del Gaizo, who had his parents and brother in attendance for his first goal, said. “Definitely, it's been a long time coming. Feel like I just haven't been rewarded for some of my chances when I've been up here. So, it definitely feels good.”
“He's come up and played really well,” Brunette said of Del Gaizo. “He's hungry. He wants it. From the back end, he was our best guy by far. Stepped up his game. He's a player that came ready to play today. [There weren’t] many.”
Before the second period was out, however, the Islanders went up by a 5-2 count, and they added a sixth goal early in the third. Del Gaizo recorded an assist when Smith tipped in his point shot moments later to give the Preds their third goal of the day, but the Islanders added one more before the day was done.
“Just show up on time,” Sissons said of what the Preds need to do differently on Sunday against the Rangers. “We can't be snoozing in the first period, especially on the road. [The Islanders are] fighting for their lives over there. We’ve got to learn from that.”
Notes:
Prior to Saturday’s game, the Predators recalled forward Jake Lucchini and Spencer Stastney from Milwaukee (AHL). Lucchini made his Nashville debut and registered one shot in 13:20 of ice time.
During the game, the Predators dealt forward Gustav Nyquist to Minnesota in exchange for Minnesota’s own second-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. In connection with the trade, Nashville agreed to retain 50 percent of Nyquist’s salary.
The Predators placed Captain Roman Josi on Injured Reserve and labeled him week-to-week with an upper-body injury. Stastney and Mark Jankowski (day-to-day) were scratched for Nashville.
The Preds will remain in New York to face the Rangers on Sunday evening at Madison Square Garden before heading to Boston ahead of a meeting with the Bruins on Tuesday.
