Roman Josi tallied twice, but the Nashville Predators fell to the Tampa Bay Lightning by a 3-2 final in overtime on Friday afternoon at Bridgestone Arena. The result sees the Bolts sweep the two-game season series against the Preds as the home team was left disappointed with Friday’s showing.
“We had a really good effort last game, and we didn't necessarily see the results,” Preds forward Steven Stamkos said. “And then I thought tonight…was just average, and that was a game that was winnable for us… I don't even know what to say right now, to be honest.”
“Nobody's really feeling it,” Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette said. “If you look up and down our roster, we're having a hard time scoring. So nobody's really feeling great about their game. And usually when you don't feel good about your game, these kind of things happen. So, we have to find a way to try to feel a little better about our game.”
Josi needed just 1:23 into the contest to give Nashville a 1-0 lead when he floated a shot from the point past goaltender Jonas Johansson, and that score held into the second stanza before Anthony Cirelli and Brandon Hagel gave the Lightning their first two goals of the afternoon.
Just three minutes after that, however, Josi potted his second of the day and seventh of the season when he took a feed from Mark Jankowski and streaked down the slot to even the score at 2-2 through 40 minutes of play.
Neither club found the back of the net in the final frame, but in overtime, Filip Forsberg took a high-sticking penalty that led to a Lightning power play, and Brayden Point ended it by beating Juuse Saros in tight.
“I thought tonight, it's kind of up and down,” Josi said. “It was a 50-50 game. They had some good looks. We had some looks, but… I thought Wednesday our game was better, you're still in the game. It's 2-2 going to OT… Obviously, we’ve got to find a way to win some games on OT here and get two points.”
From here, the Predators will now prepare to face the Wild tomorrow night in Minnesota, and they’ll look for a better showing against their division rival.
“It's hard to win in this League when you score two goals a game, and we're working on it,” Josi said. “We're trying to find it. I think we've got a ton of talent in here that can put the puck in the net. And for some reason, it hasn't clicked yet. I thought Wednesday, we had a lot of looks, a lot of chances. I think tonight, not as much. So the only thing we can do is press down and keep working on it and keep trying. Keep going to the net, keep shooting the puck. And you know, we're all trying to work on it.”
Notes:
Nashville’s lineup remained unchanged from Wednesday night to Friday afternoon. Defenseman Adam Wilsby played his second NHL game, while forward Juuso Parssinen, as well as blueliners Jeremy Lauzon (lower-body, week-to-week) and Marc Del Gaizo were scratched.
Josi (22) passed Nicklas Lidstrom (DET) for the seventh-most multi-goal games with a single franchise among defensemen. The only others with more are Ray Bourque (43 w/ BOS), Denis Potvin (43 w/ NYI), Paul Coffey (39 w/ EDM), Bobby Orr (36 w/ BOS), Brian Leetch (24 w/ NYR) and Doug Wilson (24 w/ CHI).
The Predators will jet off to Minnesota to face the Wild tomorrow night, and their time away from home will continue next week when they swing through eastern Canada.
