The Nashville Predators began the March portion of their schedule with a 4-2 loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Monday afternoon at Bridgestone Arena. The result sees the Preds now 1-1-1 in three games out of the Olympic break.
Filip Forsberg and Jonathan Marchessault tallied for Nashville, but the Red Wings scored twice in the second period on their way to a victory.
“The first period was pretty good, and I thought it was a pretty back and forth game,” Preds Captain Roman Josi said. “In the second, we kind of got away from our game a little bit, and they kind of dominated the second. More looks, more chances, especially after that rush, they’re very dangerous. I thought we had some looks in the third but obviously couldn't get any more.”
“I thought it was another playoff type game,” Preds winger Luke Evangelista said. “I think there are going to be a lot like that from here on out. It was a good first period, and I felt like we were in the o-zone quite a bit. I think it kind of got away from us a little bit in the second, and then we had a good push in the third, but it's tight right now. The margins are tight. Like I said, playoff-type games. We're going to see a lot of those types of games. We’ve just got to find a way to get two points.”
After Detroit recorded the game’s first goal, Forsberg evened the score with a one-timer on the power play and a 1-1 draw through 20 minutes of play.
In the second stanza, it was Marchessault who took a feed from Ryan O’Reilly and tapped it home for Nashville’s first lead of the afternoon. But after the Red Wings tied the game, they took the lead with a shorthanded marker before the middle frame was out.
The Preds continued to push for the equalizer in the third, but Detroit added an empty-netter before the day was finished to seal the win.
“The will, the desire, the want is all there,” Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette said. “There’s some parts of our game that just get a little slippery, and we're having a hard time understanding that. We've done a really good job for the most part, it just got away from us a little bit in that second period, and you saw what our team looks like in the first and third.”
The Predators won’t have to wait long for a chance to get back in the win column with a date in Columbus against the Blue Jackets tomorrow, and they’ll be eager for another opportunity at two points.
“The thing for us this year after our bad start was to win the week,” Marchessault said. “The last two games, we won the week. We got three out of four, and today we started a new week, and we lost the first one. We're going back on the road, and we’ve got to find a way to win a hockey game and keep us in that race.”
Notes:
Preds defenseman Adam Wilsby did not play on Monday and is week-to-week with a lower-body injury. Justin Barron joined the lineup as a result, and Ozzy Wiesblatt was Nashville’s lone healthy scratch.
The Predators will now head to Columbus to face the Blue Jackets tomorrow night before returning home to host Boston on Thursday.
