Preds Tough Start Leads to Loss in Dallas

Five goals for the Stars in the opening 40 minutes put the Nashville Predators in a hole they were unable to climb out of as Dallas won the third meeting between the clubs, 5-2.
Pekka Rinne kept the home team off the scoreboard for the first 9:55 of the contest, but two goals in 23 seconds gave the Stars the boost they needed on Thursday. After topping Dallas 5-2 in Nashville on Nov. 23, Nashville's struggles on the road re-emerged in a frustrating way tonight.
"We knew they were going to come [at us]... at times, we were not bad, and then we shot ourselves in the foot - miscommunicating and not bearing down in our own end and they made us pay," defenseman Mattias Ekholm said. "That's up to us to fix, and we've just got to get better on the road. It seems like we don't make those mistakes at home, but somehow they happen on the road and that's something we have to correct."

"It's not the way we wanted to start," forward Frederick Gaudreau said. "Whatever happened happened. We've just got to get ready for the next game. That's what we can control."
Viktor Arvidsson used a high wrister to pull the Preds within a goal in the first period at 16:03. The shorthanded marker from Austin Watson to Arvidsson set a new career high in goals with nine for the 23-year-old winger.

The 2-1 deficit widened quickly in the second, however, with the Stars scoring twice more in the first six minutes of the middle frame. Marek Mazanec came on in relief for Rinne after the fourth Dallas goal, stopping 18 of 19 shots the rest of the way. Mazanec also recorded his first career point, an assist on Calle Jarnkrok's goal late in the game.

The attention for Nashville now turns to Arizona, where the Preds will meet the Coyotes for the second time this season on Saturday (7 p.m. CT).
"There's no excuse, there really isn't," Ekholm said. "We've just got to get better on the road, that's the bottom line. I think we've been playing good lately, we've had our chances, even on the road, and then there have been a few tough losses, close games. Tonight wasn't that, and that's something we've got to be better at.
"We know where the problem is - it's within our group and we've just got to make sure we fix it."
Notes:
Arvidsson's shorthanded goal was his second of the young season. He's the first Predator to have multiple shorthanded goals in a season since Shea Weber did in 2011-12.
Defenseman Adam Pardy logged his first game in a Predators' sweater on Thursday. The veteran's 339th game in the NHL featured two shots in 11:14 of ice time while paired with Yannick Weber.
Ryan Ellis (Injured Reserve; upper-body) and Colton Sissons (IR; upper-body) took part in the team's morning skate, but did not play in Thursday's contest.
Petter Granberg and Reid Boucher were scratched against Dallas.