Filip Forsberg, Colton Sissons and Michael McCarron each scored, but the Nashville Predators fell to the Calgary Flames by a 6-3 decision on Thursday at Bridgestone Arena.
Calgary got to work quickly, tallying their first two goals just 27 seconds apart, just over five minutes into the game. While Forsberg would cut the visitors’ lead in half less than a minute later, the Predators felt they were unable to steal back control of the game for the remaining 54 minutes.
“We never could get some sustained pressure on them,” Predators defenseman Ryan McDonagh said. “We had spurts, we had some moments where we did have those surges and we could see what it does to a team, it kind of pins them down. And especially tonight when the puck is bouncing, you’ve just got to make sure you get that puck 200 feet to try to find a way to get shots to the net. We thought there were a lot of rebounds to be had there, we just didn't get those opportunities there on the inside. And, like I said, a lot of missed opportunities tonight for us.”
The result moves Nashville to 21-17-1 on the season as they turn their attention toward the Central Division rival Dallas Stars on Saturday.
“We need to bounce back quickly,” Forsberg said. “We’ll regroup and recover tonight and then go at it tomorrow in practice and find a little more jump and a little more juice. Dallas is going to be an even bigger test.”
QUICK HITS
Sloppy Hockey
While the Predators have iced a winning effort more often than not lately - Nashville is 16-6-1 in their last 23 games - the team knew their efforts Thursday weren’t nearly good enough
“We were sloppy,” McDonagh said. “We weren’t winning races to pucks, we weren't getting a lot of sustained pressure on their end and kind of allowed them to play a higher-paced game… It just felt like we were getting little spurts of momentum trying to get back in the game and then they would just do something to flip the script. And it was a tough feeling tonight for sure.”
“There was a lot of sloppy hockey, a lot of slow-twitch thinking and playing,” Predators Head Coach Andrew Brunette said. “I don't think we did anything very well… We were extremely frustrated. We talked about it, we knew the importance of this game and [after the first period] we discussed how our home ice means something, how we wanted to establish our game, how he wanted to dictate, how we wanted to win battles, how we wanted to out-compete [Calgary], and we did none of them.”
Hey Now, Fil’s an All-Star
Minutes before the opening faceoff, the man they call Scoresberg was selected to participate in the 2024 NHL All-Star Game in Toronto. Minutes later, No. 9 flashed his All-Star scoring prowess, knocking home his 19th goal of the season and the third in his last four outings.
Forsberg leads the Predators in goals (19), assists (24) and points (43) after 39 games.
This will be Forsberg’s second career NHL All-Star appearance; he previously made the cut in 2015 and was the only rookie to skate in that year’s contest.
“That was obviously a little sweeter than the game,” Forsberg said. “It’s fun, and we have a lot of good guys who don’t get to go, so it’s always cool to represent the organization.”
Sissons’ 12th
With his first period tally, Sissons matched his 12-goal total from 2022-23. It took the Predators forward 36 fewer games to reach the marker in 2023-24.
Sissons is fifth among his Predators teammates in points with 20 thus far (12g-8a).
UP NEXT
The Predators hit the road to face the Central Division rival Dallas Stars on Saturday at American Airlines Center.
Puck drop is at 7 p.m. CT, with the game set to broadcast on Bally Sports South, 102.5 The Game and El Jefe Radio.
NOTES
- Assisting Forsberg’s first period tally, Nyquist extended his point streak to seven games (5g-5a). He is two games away from matching his season-high nine-game point streak from Nov. 9-28 (2g-9a).
- Kevin Lankinen swapped in for Juuse Saros to start the third period and turned away 13 of 14 shots in the relief effort; Saros was credited with the loss and moved to 16-14-1 on the season.
- McCarron’s third period goal was his sixth of the season.
- Cole Smith led the Predators in hits (7) for the second-straight game.
- Tyson Barrie (upper body, day-to-day) and Cody Glass were scratched and did not skate in Thursday’s game.
