Steven Stamkos scored his first goal as a member of the Predators, but Nashville ultimately fell to the Detroit Red Wings by a 5-2 final on Saturday afternoon at Bridgestone Arena.
The result keeps the Preds winless through five games on the season, and although Nashville again had their chances, they once more ended up on the wrong side of the scoresheet.
“[We had] really positive energy compared to the last two games…but it's kind of been the inconsistency in our game right now at key moments,” Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette said. “And I think individually, we don't have a lot of guys going. I think they're frustrated, and it's a hard game to play when you’re frustrated.”
“It's tough sledding, for sure,” Stamkos said. “We can't just keep saying the same things over and over in terms of, ‘OK, the effort was there, OK, we had a lot of shots, we had a lot of looks.’ At some point, we’ve got to go do it… It’s certainly not fun when you're not winning, and it's a tough League to win in, no question about it. But, we're a better group than what we're showing right now.”
Following a pregame ceremony to celebrate his 1,000 NHL games milestone, Preds defenseman Luke Schenn tallied his first of the season when his point shot found a way through traffic and past Red Wings goaltender Alex Lyon for a 1-0 Nashville lead.
After a Colton Sissons goal was overturned due to a successful offside challenge from Detroit, the Red Wings then evened the score when Vladimir Tarasenko beat Saros in tight for a 1-1 result after 20 minutes.
Dylan Larkin gave Detroit their first lead of the afternoon when he converted on a power play, and that 2-1 advantage held through the second stanza.
But then, just 32 seconds into the final frame, Filip Forsberg fed Stamkos in his patented spot at the left faceoff circle, and No. 91 hammered home his first with the Preds to tie the game at 2-2.
Just over three minutes later, however, Andrew Copp put the Red Wings up for good, and Detroit added two more into an empty net to finish off the afternoon.
“It’s extremely frustrating,” Preds forward Ryan O’Reilly said. “I think it falls on myself, the leadership group; we're the engine here, and we're not finding a way to get a win… It’s the little mistakes that are killing us. It's giveaways or losing faceoffs, those are the kinds of things that are making the difference right now that has to be better.”
From here, the Predators will look ahead to their final outing of a four-game homestand when they host Boston on Tuesday, and they’ll try again to find a way to change their fortunes after regrouping once more.”
“Part of being a pro, or at least a good pro, is trying to keep a positive mindset,” Schenn said. “And every guy in here knows individually we can do things better, and we can do things better collectively. It’s just on the group in here to keep pushing on, and there's a lot of hockey left. I mean, it can swing the other way, too… We’ve just got to keep pushing, and we're eventually going to get some breaks here.”
“It’s the best League in the world for a reason, and it's tough to win hockey games,” Stamkos said. “You have to earn it, and we have to play a full 60 [minutes]. I think it's just been a little too sporadic, in terms of our efforts in games, and we'll look to change that.”
Notes:
Prior to Saturday’s game, the Predators recalled defenseman Marc Del Gaizo from Milwaukee (AHL). Del Gaizo registered three shots in 16:02 of ice time.
Forward Juuso Parssinen and defenseman Dante Fabbro were scratched for the Preds on Saturday.
Nashville’s four-game homestand concludes on Tuesday night when they host the Boston Bruins for a 7:45 p.m. CT start at Bridgestone Arena.
