Preds Fall to Flames in Shootout

The Calgary Flames scored twice in the third period before winning the shootout to come back and defeat the Nashville Predators by a 3-2 final on Tuesday night at Bridgestone Arena.
The result still gives the Preds a point but sees their record go to 4-3-2, and after holding a two-goal lead entering the third period, the loss wasn't easy to take.
"It's disappointing being up 2-0… They scored right away [in the third] and we just couldn't get it going," goaltender Pekka Rinne said. "It's one of those things… and they were able to score a couple goals. It's a disappointing feeling because that's a game we needed to have."

A pair of early power-play goals from Filip Forsberg and Roman Josi got Nashville going, but an overriding theme from the Nashville locker room was that their 5-on-5 play - not just in the third period - but throughout the night, wasn't good enough.

"That was my message throughout the whole game," Nashville Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. "I thought we needed to be faster, we needed to win more battles, we needed to do a better job of taking care of the puck. The third period was a reflection of the first and second periods. There were areas we needed to better at. The power play was good tonight - it got us a 2-0 lead… but, we needed to be better 5-on-5, not just in the third, but throughout the game."
"I thought we've had some good games 5-on-5… but I think offensively we can generate a lot more," Preds Captain Roman Josi said. "Everyone has to find their own nook and get in the zone and get shots, and I think we can definitely do a better job on that."
Rinne, who continues to be solid in Nashville's net, was once again stellar on the night, making a number of key saves to keep his club in the game.

"He was unreal," Predators forward Colton Sissons said. "He was probably the only reason we got that point."
From here, the Predators will prepare for a back-to-back set, beginning in Chicago on Friday night (at 7:30 p.m. CT), a chance to improve on a certain aspect of their game.
"We made some silly mental errors to give them some odd-man breakaways; just not managing the game the way that we needed to," Sissons said. "We kind of hung out poor Pekka to dry tonight, so we will go back to the drawing board and come back better."

Notes:
Anthony Bitetto, Miikka Salomaki and Samuel Girard were scratched for Nashville on Tuesday.
With seven goals in the month of October, Filip Forsberg has tied a Nashville franchise record, also held by James Neal.
The Preds have earned at least a point in four straight and 12 of their last 13 home games vs. the Flames.
Next up to the Preds is a back-to-back set, starting Friday night in Chicago before concluding on Saturday (at 7 p.m.) evening against the New York Islanders at Bridgestone Arena.