Yaroslav Askarov made his Bridgestone Arena debut and Gustav Nyquist and Ryan O’Reilly each scored, but the Nashville Predators fell to the Carolina Hurricanes by a 5-2 final on Wednesday evening.
“It was frustrating,” O’Reilly said. “I thought we started good and we did some good things. I didn’t really like a few of those calls, I thought it wasn’t really truthful to the game and kind of gave them the lead… The penalty kill wasn't our best, and we had a few bad bounces there too, which just kind of sparked them and obviously they play well with a lead. But it’s disappointing. We’re better than that, and I know myself, I’m better than that.”
“I think the emotions got the best of us a little bit,” Predators Head Coach Andrew Brunette said. “We were maybe a little bit sloppy in those penalties, maybe a little sloppy in some of our puck-moving ability. But I was watching the games before our game, and it's all over the League. You have three days off, and you expect a little bit, but I loved our energy tonight, and it’s too bad it didn't carry over to certain parts of our game.”
The result handed Nashville their first consecutive losses since early December and moved the team to 19-16-0 on the season.
QUICK HITS
Askarov’s Home Debut
While the Predators would certainly have liked to avoid the circumstances surrounding his entry into Wednesday’s game, Askarov exited Bridgestone Arena with another big feather in his cap.
Hours after arriving in Nashville, the 21-year-old netminder turned away all six of the shots he faced as he made his NHL debut in front of SMASHVILLE. Askarov relieved Juuse Saros at the beginning of the third period.
“It’s always fun to play in Nashville,” Askarov said. “Right now I have more experience, I just played in the AHL playoffs and played a lot last season and this season… I feel more confident and feel like I’m ready to play now.”
A Season-High in Shots
The Predators put up a season-high 37 shots against the Hurricanes on Wednesday, though were ultimately frustrated seeing only two of them cross the goal line.
“I think [the Hurricanes] are a team that does a very good job of boxing out,” O’Reilly said. “They’re physical, they box us out early, and it’s something we’ve got to fight through and just create a bit more havoc and make it harder to see those shots.”
“I thought we had some decent looks, but I think they're a hard team,” Brunette said. “They're a Stanley Cup-contending team and they're not going to give us easy ice. Some of our guys weren't really fighting for the good ice and in our League it's gonna get tighter. Every day, every game now it's going to be harder and harder to get the good ice, and we have to fight a little harder for it. If we don't, we're not going to have any success.”
Penalties, Penalties, Penalties
Wednesday’s game included 10 penalties, six for Carolina and four for Nashville.
Capitalizing on one of their power-play chances, while surrendering three to the Hurricanes, the Predators know there’s improvements to be made to their special teams units, as well as areas to clean up come Friday.
“When you're not killing too many penalties tonight, it's tough to take penalties,” Brunette said. “We took some offensive zone penalties that we probably wouldn't have liked to take and kind of lost the special teams battle. I thought the power play actually made some plays and looked good, but to give their goalie credit, he made some saves and we lost that battle. It’s hard to win in this League when you're chasing the game.”
UP NEXT
The Predators hit the road for their fourth and final back-to-back of the month, which begins on Friday against the Detroit Red Wings.
Puck drop at Little Caesars Arena is at 6 p.m. CT, with the game set to broadcast on Bally Sports South, 102.5 The Game and El Jefe Radio.
NOTES
- Juuse Saros made 14 saves on 19 shots before being swapped for Askarov at the start of the third period.
- Jeremy Lauzon led the Predators in hits with six against Carolina; the blueliner additionally leads all NHL skaters in hits with 126.
- Tyson Barrie, Kevin Lankinen (illness, day-to-day) and Yakov Trenin were scratched and did not play in Wednesday’s game.
