Steven Stamkos hit the 30-goal mark, but the Nashville Predators fell to the Dallas Stars by a 3-2 final in overtime on Saturday night at American Airlines Center. The result sees the Preds collect a point against a Stars team that has now won eight straight games.
Michael Buting also tallied for Nashville, and Juuse Saros made 22 saves in net, but the Predators were unable to hold onto a two-goal lead before the night was done.
“It’s one that you're disappointed in not getting two [points], but coming off the break with three of four [points in two games] is certainly positive, and we need as many points as we can,” Stamkos said. “We've talked about just trying to stay the course, and get on a little streak of collecting points. So, we'll take it, but felt like the game was there for the taking. Both teams had stretches where they were the better team, and we obviously had a great start, something we've talked about wanting to do. So, that's a positive. But you can't just sit back, and we got away from our game in the second, and give them some momentum. That's a really good team.”
“It was a hard hockey game,” Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette said. “They're a good team. It's a tough place to play. We know the way they play, they make you uncomfortable, and I thought we did a pretty good job. [We] probably defended too much, but being uncomfortable, I thought we hung in there.”
Bunting found the back of the net when he took a feed from Matthew Wood late in a power play to give the Preds a 1-0 advantage. Minutes later, Stamkos doubled the lead with his 30th of the season.
In the second stanza, the Stars pulled to within one with a power-play goal, and they tied the game in the final period to force overtime. In the extra session, the Preds hit a post before Dallas won it less than two minutes in.
“Obviously, the goal late in the second, kind of gave them a little bit more life,” Brunette said. “And [in] the third, we had our looks to win the game late. Same with overtime, where you get a couple 2-on-1s, you don't score a lot of times, it's not going to result in a win for us. But all in all, three of four [points] for the week, and won another week, and another big one coming.”
While the Preds would have preferred a win in Texas with their moms along for the trip, they also remained grateful for the support from some of their biggest fans.
“It was fantastic,” Stamkos said. “Obviously, they bring a bunch of energy and joy, and they've been really fun to be around. Hopefully they enjoyed it just as much as all the sons on the team have. A majority of them were at the game in Nashville the other night, so, three of the four points with the mothers is a successful trip. And, obviously, like I said, it was a lot of fun for them to be with us.”
Another three games in four days arrives on Monday with the Preds set to face Detroit, Columbus and Boston to start the week, and they’ll look to collect more points as a new month begins.
“We're excited to play games,” Stamkos said. “You get sick of practicing there for a while, so we're excited about playing the games. This is the time of year you want to be playing meaningful hockey, and we are. So, that's the mindset we have.”
Notes:
Preds defenseman Adam Wilsby left Saturday’s game with a lower-body injury and did not return.
Per NHL PR, Steven Stamkos became the third active player to record 10 career 30-goal seasons, joining Alex Ovechkin (19) and Sidney Crosby (13).
The Predators will now head home to host the Detroit Red Wings for a special 1 p.m. CT start on Monday afternoon before finishing the back-to-back set on Tuesday night in Columbus.
