Brady Skjei scored his first goal as a member of the Predators, but Nashville fell to the Seattle Kraken by a 7-3 final on Tuesday night at Bridgestone Arena. The result sees the Preds suffer their third loss (0-3-0) of the young season as they search for a better effort in their game.
“It's got to get a lot better in a lot of areas,” Skjei said. “Just a little more support on the ice, harder in front of our net; definitely a sour taste in our mouth tonight.”
“You see through the League right now, a lot of teams are going through this, and tonight was a perfect example,” Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette said. We're three games in, and we deserve to really be where we are right now… It's frustrating, but it's also something we have to go through again and try to nip it in the bud and get going in the right direction.”
After Seattle took a 2-0 lead early in the opening period, the Preds battled back to even the score. First, Michael McCarron potted his first of the season when he roofed a backhand shot past Kraken netminder Joey Daccord. Then, less than three minutes later, Tommy Novak took a cross-ice feed at the side of the net from Mark Jankowski and buried a shot for his second of the campaign.
Seattle regained the lead before the first frame was out when Brandon Tanev tipped a shot past Saros, but late in the second stanza, Skjei evened the score once more when he wristed a shot past Daccord for his first with the Preds.
But the Kraken scored twice in the first three minutes of the third period to take a 5-3 lead, and they added two more before the night was done to leave the Predators disappointed in the result.
“I still don't think we played up to our capability throughout the first three games so far,” McCarron said. “I think we have a lot more to give as a group… It's kind of the same thing creeping in at the start of this year where we're not trusting the systems, and we're not playing the right way. As a group, we're going to have to figure it out here. But we have confidence in this group, and we'll get going.”
Now, Nashville will turn their attention to an Edmonton team that is also searching for points in the standings, and the Preds will look to get back to their identity once more.
“Well, I think we feel the urgency, we’re just trying to figure out what that urgency kind of means and what it takes to get back to the urgency,” Brunette said. “I don't think it's from a lack of trying or caring or anything like that. We're just not at that part where we’re relentless. We're kind of trying to be, but we're not. We kind of forget sometimes how hard it is.”
Notes:
Juuso Parssinen assisted on McCarron’s goal as he made his season debut for the Preds. Philip Tomasino was Nashville’s lone scratch against the Kraken.
The Predators continue their four-game homestand on Thursday night when they host Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers. That’s followed by a Saturday matinee when the Red Wings come to town before the Bruins visit next Tuesday.
