Preds Start Final Month of Regular Season with Loss in Buffalo

Jeremy Lauzon scored his first as a member of the Predators, but Nashville ultimately fell to the Buffalo Sabres by a 4-3 final on Friday night at KeyBank Center. The result brings an end to Nashville's two-game win streak and keeps them at 82 points to start the final month of the regular season.
Filip Forsberg and Michael McCarron also tallied in Buffalo, and Juuse Saros made 31 saves in net for Nashville, but the Preds were unable to find a way to collect points in western New York.

"I thought the game had some good points, but there were some errors that unfortunately we weren't able to get even, get a lead or be able to tie it," Preds Head Coach John Hynes said. "But I just think that there's some inconsistencies in our game. We've got to get a little bit more throughout the 60 minutes of hockey."
"It's a hard game to analyze," Forsberg said. "Credit to Buffalo, I thought they played really well, especially in their own zone. The first period I think wasn't our greatest, but we came out of it 3-3. After that, it was a pretty even game. I thought they defended well, and we didn't necessarily create as many chances as we'd want, which is something that we definitely have to work on."

The opening period featured six goals in total, and the first of the night came from Buffalo's Peyton Krebs just over two minutes into the contest. The Preds responded quickly as Forsberg tallied his 38th of the season on a rebound in front, but the Sabres answered with a pair of goals from Tage Thompson at 6:58 and 13:22.
Nashville stormed back again, however, and they tallied twice in the final three minutes of the frame. First, McCarron tipped in a Matt Benning point shot for his third goal in two games, and then a chaotic sequence in the Buffalo zone ended with Lauzon taking a slick feed from Matt Duchene and sending it past Sabres goaltender Craig Anderson for his first as a member of the Preds and a 3-3 draw after an entertaining 20 minutes.

A much different second stanza only saw one puck enter the twine, and it came off the stick of Victor Olofsson on the power play for a 4-3 Buffalo lead entering the final frame.
But that goal turned out to be the final strike of the night, and the Sabres held off a late push from the Preds to hand Nashville their second loss in as many tries to close out the season series with Buffalo.
Now, the Predators will welcome a rare three-day stretch without any games and their next contest set for Tuesday night against Minnesota in Nashville. That Central Division tilt will certainly carry playoff implications, and the Preds intend on using the reprieve to their advantage.
"We've got to regroup a little bit mentally and physically and have a retool," Hynes said. "It's not often you get three days in between games. You've got to use them wisely; get the energy up a little bit with our guys with some recovery but also get some work in where we feel like we can get some areas of our game improved."
"We've got to get some rest tonight and get back at it [Tuesday]," Forsberg said. "Thursday's practice was great, but there's things that we could have done better tonight. Overall, we definitely look forward to play the next game against Minnesota. It's a big game and we'll be better."

Notes:

Duchene recorded two assists on Friday to hit the 70-point mark on the season and tie a career-high.
Ryan Johansen also dished out a pair of helpers and reached the 50-point mark for the 4th time with the Preds since his first full season with the club in 2016-17. That mark matched Roman Josi and Forsberg for the most 50-point campaigns among all Predators skaters over that span.
Nashville's lineup remained unchanged from Tuesday's win over Ottawa. Defensemen Matt Tennyson and Ben Harpur, as well as forward Matt Luff, were scratched. Blueliners Dante Fabbro (week-to-week) and Mark Borowiecki (week-to-week) remained out with their respective injuries.
The Predators will now have a rare weekend without any games, and they'll return home to host Minnesota on Tuesday night at Bridgestone Arena in a potential first-round postseason matchup.