The Nashville Predators fell to Nico Hischier and the New Jersey Devils by a 5-2 final on Monday night at Prudential Center. The loss comes after the Preds topped Winnipeg on Saturday, but the visitors were unable to replicate that effort against the Devils.
Hischier had a natural hat trick for New Jersey, while the Predators couldn’t find a way to come back in the final period after a major penalty late in the game.
“I thought tonight they were faster, they won more battles and they were just a better team for 60 minutes,” Preds Captain Roman Josi said. “We had a little bit of a push in the third, but it was way too late. We’ve been talking about it - we have one good game and we fall back to a bad game, and we’re not in a position to do that. We need to find consistency.”
Filip Forsberg gave Nashville the first goal of the night when he snapped a shot into the top corner past Jacob Markstrom just over five minutes into the contest, but the Devils took off from there.
Former Preds forward Erik Haula evened the score before the first period was out, and then in the middle frame, Hischier recorded a natural hat trick to give New Jersey a 4-1 lead through 40 minutes.
Zach L’Heureux gave the Preds some life when he converted on a breakaway to bring Nashville back to within two in the third period, and the visitors were given a 5-minute power play when Devils forward Timo Meier was given a major for cross checking and a game misconduct when he cross-checked L’Heureux in the face.
However, the Predators were unable to convert on the man advantage, and shortly thereafter, the Devils converted into an empty net before the night came to a close.
Notes:
Prior to Monday’s game, the Predators acquired the New York Rangers’ fourth-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for forward Philip Tomasino.
Forwards Michael McCarron (upper-body, day-to-day) and Luke Evangelista were scratched for Nashville on Monday.
The Predators will return home to host Philadelphia on Wednesday night before the Tampa Bay Lightning come to Nashville for a Black Friday matinee after Thanksgiving.
