The Nashville Predators were unable to find the back of the net on Monday as they fell to the Los Angeles Kings by a 3-0 final at Bridgestone Arena.
The result sees the Preds finish their three-game homestand with a single victory, and Monday’s contest saw them register just 16 shots on goal, an effort that left the home team disappointed.
“We’ve sensed [the frustration] for a while, and we just can't seem to correct it and get over it,” Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette said. “I think I've talked about it enough here over the last couple weeks about how [frustration] is a dangerous emotion. It's getting the best of us, and it's kind of, unfortunately, leapt through almost the whole team. And frustration plays tricks on you. Frustration makes you think you're actually working when you're not working. Frustration actually makes you a poor teammate. Frustration is contagious, so those are some pretty bad things, and that's kind of leaking through our group right now.”
“Seems like we're a little flat,” Preds defenseman Luke Schenn said. “We didn't generate, obviously, anything really offensively. [In] my opinion, pretty perimeter. We've been talking about it, and you're not going to score goals unless you get to the inside… It seems like at times, there wasn't a lot going on both ways. But it doesn't really matter what the other team does… It’s just not good enough.”
Kings Captain Anze Kopitar gave his club a 1-0 lead in the first period when he banked a shot off of Juuse Saros and into the cage, and that score held until former Preds forward Kevin Fiala converted on a rebound just 35 seconds into the final frame.
Los Angeles added one more into an empty net before the night was done as Nashville struggled to get off quality chances throughout the game.
“Our overall compete and the support, I don't think, was great there,” Preds Alternate Captain Ryan O’Reilly said. “At times we had some looks, and it just wasn't consistent enough. I think too many one-and-dones… You have to make plays. You have to be connected…make a play, win a battle to the net. And, I didn't do any of that tonight, and I don't think as a group, we did enough of that.”
Now, the Predators will head out for a back-to-back away from home that begins Wednesday in Washington. That starts a stretch that will see the Preds play seven of their next eight on the road, and for a team that has predominantly had the same surroundings for the first month of the season, they’re hoping a change of scenery could do some good for the group.
“I think we need to get out of town and figure this out, because it's very frustrating right now,” O’Reilly said. “On the road, I think it's a little easier. You can show up and just play, and I think that's what we need to do. I think it's a little simpler on the road. [We] tend to play a more simple game, and that's what we need.”
“For the whole group, we've been here for a long time with training camp, and a lot of guys with kids have been here through August, so I think it gets a little stagnant,” Brunette said. “I think it'll be good for us to get out and try to find our game. [We’ve] said this probably for 12 games [about finding our game]. We're probably not really close, so we're going have to find a way to get there.”
Notes:
Nashville’s lineup was unchanged from Saturday’s game; forwards Philip Tomasino and Michael McCarron, as well as defenseman Dante Fabbro, were scratched.
Preds defenseman Jeremy Lauzon skated in his 300th career NHL game.
Nashville will now hit the road for a back-to-back set beginning Wednesday night in Washington against the Capitals before concluding Thursday in Florida against the Panthers.
