Steven Stamkos scored a milestone goal, but the Nashville Predators fell to the Anaheim Ducks by a 4-1 final on Thursday night at Bridgestone Arena. The result sees the Preds now winless in their last four outings with the Ducks finishing off the season sweep.
The goal from Stamkos was the 578th marker of his career, good enough to pass Mark Recchi for sole possession of 22nd all-time in NHL history, but after that opening strike from the Preds, the home team was left searching for more the rest of the night.
“Not good,” Preds Alternate Captain Ryan O’Reilly said. “They outplayed us and we didn't do very much good out there. Just for myself, too, I don’t think I've made a hockey play in a few weeks now, and I didn't do anything and it trickled down… There wasn't enough compete. I don't know what the word for it is, but it’s not good.”
“It's been a challenging year,” Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette said. “You'd kind of get a little better feeling and build off of it, and we keep slipping. We get one, and then you win four in a row, feeling pretty good about your game, and it’s almost like this group, we don't see the little bit of danger. And next thing you know, we're back to ground zero again, and we're unable to get any traction on an identity and on doing things a certain way… Mentally, it's a drain, it's hard, but [our leaders and veterans] are going to be here a long time, or they have a long time on their contracts. I think for them, it's important that…they're supposed to be our leaders. They have to set an example going a certain way, so our young guys see that. [So] that, one, we never want to be here again, but when we are here, we have to handle ourselves with a little bit more professionalism than we are right now.”
Stamkos gave the Preds a 1-0 advantage when he rifled home a shot on the power play, but a three-goal output in the second stanza saw Anaheim take a 3-1 lead through 40 minutes with tallies from Jackson Lacombe, Troy Terry and Trevor Zegras.
Nashville pushed back in the final frame, but Ducks goaltender John Gibson stood tall, and then Anaheim added an empty-netter before the night was out to conclude a frustrating loss.
“Probably for me, like for the whole team, we [have] to demand more from ourselves,” Preds forward Fedor Svechkov said. “I know we have the video of the game, but I don't think that this was a good game for the whole team. So, what we can do is win the next game and be better tomorrow. Let’s focus on that, and let's try to get better.”
The Predators now have one more contest to go in their three-game homestand - which comes Saturday night against Toronto - and Nashville’s bench boss will be looking for a much better effort from his group.
“I knew it would be difficult,” Brunette said of the final stretch of the season. “The expectations were so big, and the finish line's around the corner, and it's hard, and I feel for the players. It's not a fun time [when you’re playing and] you have nothing to play for. You can kind of get up for a few games where you're playing a team, and you kind of motivate it, but it's really hard, especially when you haven't done it for a while. And in saying that, that's not really an excuse to not find a little bit of energy…especially at home, to finish things off. Everybody here has a little something to play for. We have guys that aren't having good years, older and younger, that these games are kind of what you go home in the summer with, and as our group, these games down the stretch are what you take home and how you're going to build.
“We've got guys who are fighting for their lives, their NHL lives. They have a great opportunity, so we should have that energy. I think we're caught in between where we're maybe not energetic, and we're not grasping the moment. So, you knew it was going to be a challenge. I know it's going to be a challenge. We’ve just got to find a way to find a little bit of joy in what we're doing. I think if we can do that through the stretch and find a piece of our identity - I know it's too late in the season to find exactly who we are - but just a little piece is kind of all I'm asking for, begging for, from our group.”
Notes:
Forward Kieffer Bellows and defenseman Andreas Englund were scratched for Nashville on Thursday.
The Predators will conclude their three-game homestand on Saturday night when they host the Toronto Maple Leafs before finishing a back-to-back set Sunday in St. Louis.
