Preds Conclude Weekend Set with Improved Play in OT Loss to Penguins

The Nashville Predators earned a point in the standings, but ultimately fell to the Pittsburgh Penguins by a 3-2 final in overtime on Sunday afternoon at PPG Paints Arena. The result gives the Preds their 87th point of the season to remain in the first Wild Card spot in the Western Conference.
Matt Duchene and Nick Cousins tallied for Nashville, and goaltender David Rittich made 27 saves on the day. The Predators started the weekend with a 4-1 defeat at the hands of the Florida Panthers on Saturday, and despite a second loss, Nashville is leaving Pittsburgh feeling much better about their overall game thanks to Sunday's effort.

"There's a lot to like about our game [this afternoon]," Preds Head Coach John Hynes said. "I thought we played the game the right way. For lots of stretches of the game, we were able to dictate the terms of the game, and I thought it was a really good collective effort from our team. I felt like we deserved better, but I thought we played a real solid hockey game."
"I think we played a lot better than we did last night," Cousins said. "It was back-to-back, and we traveled last night - there's no excuse - but at the same time, I thought we had a lot of energy."
Sidney Crosby gave the Penguins an early 1-0 lead on the afternoon, but as the opening period wound down, Mikael Granlund hit Duchene for a breakaway, and No. 95 deked around Penguins goaltender Casey DeSmith to deposit his 38th of the season to even the score.
That total held through the second stanza until Cousins capitalized on a turnover in the slot and buried his 8th of the season to give the Preds a 2-1 lead. But, Jason Zucker soon tied the game for the Pens before Crosby won it in overtime.
"Our power play has to do a better job of getting us on the board - we had a power play to start the third - but I've got to give [Pittsburgh's] penalty kill a lot of credit," Cousins said. "They did a good job at denying entries and made it tough on us. But, I think overall it was a pretty even game, they just made a play in overtime. We'll take the point and move on to our five-game homestand."
Now, the Predators will head back to Nashville for that season-long homestand, and as the final three weeks of the regular season arrive, they're looking forward to the challenges that still lie ahead.
"I really liked the mindset, and now we get to go home," Hynes said. "We've got a bunch of games at home, and I think if we can use the rest of recovery time without travel, I think it will benefit us and make sure that we're bringing our A-game every game this week."
"That's definitely something we're looking forward to," Cousins said. "I really like our game at home. We usually come out with a lot of energy and make it a hard building to play in. We've been like that all year, so it's nice to get home."

Notes:

Predators goaltender Juuse Saros did not dress on Sunday and is day-to-day with a non-COVID illness. Netminder Connor Ingram was recalled from Milwaukee and backed up David Rittich against Pittsburgh.
Forward Michael McCarron remained out with his upper-body injury, while defensemen Ben Harpur, Jeremy Davies and Dante Fabbro were scratched.
The Preds will now return to Nashville for a five-game homestand that begins on Tuesday night when the San Jose Sharks come to town.