The Predators staged a late comeback, but two goals in the final frame weren’t enough as Nashville ultimately fell to the Dallas Stars by a 4-3 final on Thursday at Bridgestone Arena.
Filip Forsberg, Tommy Novak and Ryan O’Reilly all tallied for the Preds in the Opening Night loss, with the latter two goal scorers striking in the third period after Nashville trailed by three. The Predators then hit the post twice as they pressed for the equalizer, but a better result wasn’t meant to be to start the season.
“I thought we played pretty solid,” Preds forward Steven Stamkos said. “When you look at shots, the chances, the overall game was there. It's just, that's a very good team over there, and you give them a couple quality grade-A chances like we did, it's in the back of your net. Then, before you know it, you're down three goals against a really good hockey team. So, probably not the recipe that you want, but we certainly didn't quit. We made it interesting and had a couple posts at the end to tie the game. So, one of those nights where you probably deserve a little better."
After neither club found the back of the net in the opening period, Dallas quickly took a 2-0 lead with goals just 19 seconds apart early in the middle stanza from Roope Hintz and Jason Robertson.
But then, on the man advantage, Jonathan Marchessault found Forsberg in the slot, and No. 9 fired a shot past the blocker of Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger to get the Preds on the board.
“I thought we had some good movement, we had some good looks, but I still think our entries could use a little work,” Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette said of the power play. “[We got] a little bit sloppy with pucks, maybe forcing some things, but I think that comes with a little bit of the synergy and the cadence of it. But you can see the skill. You get encouraged by a couple of those plays and stretches where we created, but a little disappointed in some of our entries.”
Goaltender Scott Wedgewood, who got the start for Nashville in place of the injured Juuse Saros, allowed a pair of goals to Mason Marchment before the second period was out to give Dallas a 4-1 lead.
Novak’s goal came midway through the final frame when he converted on a beautiful backhand shot on a breakaway, and then O’Reilly brought the Preds to within one when he went top shelf with less than two minutes to play in regulation.
Nashville was inches away from the equalizer twice in the dying seconds when they hit the post before the horn sounded to end the night.
“I thought we played well,” Forsberg said of his team that outshot Dallas by a 36-20 margin. “There was a 10-minute period of the second when we gave up a few chances, a couple turnovers… Other than that, I thought we outplayed them for the most part. The goalie played well for them. I thought [Wedgewood] made some really good saves for us as well. And two posts at the end there, [and it] easily could have gone in, and then it would have been a different story.”
The Predators will now turn their attention to a meeting with the Red Wings in Detroit on Saturday night, and although Thursday concluded without any points in the standings, Nashville has plenty to be encouraged with after their first outing.
“First period of the first game is always kind of just, you don't know what to expect,” Preds Captain Roman Josi said. “It's fast, everybody’s fired up, so I thought we settled in pretty well. I think maybe some puck management in the second period, a couple mistakes we made, but other than that, I thought overall we did a lot of good things, and a lot of things to build on and get back at it on Saturday.”
Notes:
- Per NHL PR, Filip Forsberg became the first player with a point in nine consecutive season-opening games since Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin (both 9 GP from 2008-09 – 2016-17).
- Preds goaltender Juuse Saros did not play in Thursday’s opener and is day-to-day with a lower body injury.
- Forward Juuso Parssinen was Nashville’s lone healthy scratch against the Stars.
