The Nashville Predators closed out 2024 with a 5-3 loss to the Minnesota Wild on New Year’s Eve at Xcel Energy Center. The result sees the Preds go winless in their back-to-back set through Winnipeg and Minnesota with three contests to go on their five-game trip.
Colton Sissons, Jonathan Marchessault and Ryan O’Reilly scored for Nashville, and the Preds had 46 shots on goal, but Minnesota scored three times on the power play to help them to a victory.
“Tough one,” Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette said. “I thought we played more than well enough, deserved to win. I thought we had the ice tilted most of the game, gave up three power play goals, [but we were] in the box way too much, especially on a night when the kill wasn't as good as it has been.”
“I think we wasted another good effort with just parading to the penalty box,” Sissons said. “Again, we're putting the kill under duress, not to say it's just the volume that's the issue. We're making some mistakes out there too, which we’ve got to get back to being dialed in, but it's just too much - our 5-on-5 game, it's been pretty solid for a couple weeks - and we're just killing ourselves. It's frustrating.”
Marco Rossi gave Minnesota a 1-0 lead less than halfway through the opening period, but the Preds came back to tally two of their own. First, Sissons tipped home a Brady Skjei point shot, and then Steven Stamkos capitalized on a Wild turnover and fed Marchessault in front to beat Filip Gustavsson to give Nashville a 2-1 advantage.
In the middle frame, Minnesota regained the lead on goals from Mats Zuccarello and Jonas Brodin before O’Reilly tied things at three when he roofed a rebound in tight. But before the period was out, the Wild got their second power-play goal of the night - this time from Declan Chisholm - to take a 4-3 lead into the room after 40 minutes.
The Preds gutted things out in the third period on the second half of a back-to-back - and down to 11 forwards and five defensemen with Zach L’Heureux having been ejected with a match penalty for slew-footing and Jeremy Lauzon leaving with a lower-body injury - but Minnesota got one more on the power play before the night was out as 2024 came to a close.
“Certain nights, the goaltending, the penalty killing, taking too many penalties, lose momentum; those things, that's been the story of the year,” Brunette said. “It's been, you plug one hole, it's another hole. Give a lot of credit to the group, they’re still fighting. I thought they showed a lot of resolve today. Never gave in, never gave up, and when we get through this, we'll be better for it. We just have to believe that and keep putting the work in.”
Notes:
Preds defenseman Adam Wilsby did not play on Tuesday in Minnesota and is day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Additionally, defenseman Jeremy Lauzon left Tuesday’s game with a lower-body injury and did not return.
Predators forward Zach L’Heureux was given a match penalty for slew-footing in the second period, an automatic ejection from the game.
Per NHL Public Relations, Jonathan Marchessault’s goal was the 244th of his career, the second most among undrafted players since he entered the League in 2012-13 behind Artemi Panarin (281).
The Predators will now head back to western Canada to start 2025 with a back-to-back set in Vancouver and Calgary on Friday and Saturday. They’ll then head back to Winnipeg to close out the trip before returning home next weekend.
