The Nashville Predators fell to the Dallas Stars by a 5-1 final on Thursday night at American Airlines Center. The result sees the Preds extend their skid to five games as their three-game trip comes to an end.
Steven Stamkos scored the lone Nashville goal on the night, and the Predators controlled play for the first half of the game before Dallas tallied five unanswered - including four in the third - to finish the night.
“We had a really good first period and did the things that we wanted to do,” Stamkos said. “We know they're a really good offensive rush team. We didn't give them much in the first and then kind of halfway through the game, you could tell we were starting to turn some pucks over and feed the rush. And [it] just felt like it was a matter of time before one burned us, and it did… Our game right now, obviously, all year has been struggling to score goals, so we’ve got to try to defend and that’s not the case right now.”
“I thought it was really good for 40 minutes,” Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette said. “[We were] getting a little loose at the puck halfway through the second period. Great first [period] and kind of beat ourselves in the third. Kind of a point of emphasis was we just can't seem to be consistent for 60 minutes of taking care of the puck. We kind of gave them a turnover right from the start, and then we just unraveled on this. Unfortunately, it's been a little bit of the story of the year, and we couldn't grab it.”
Nashville outshot Dallas by a 16-5 mark in the game’s opening 20 minutes, but neither team was able to find the back of the net. In the second stanza, however, the visitors struck first as Stamkos converted on a no-look shot through the legs of Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger to give the Preds a 1-0 lead.
But with less than a minute remaining in the middle frame, former Preds Matt Duchene and Mikael Granlund teamed up with the latter redirecting a shot past Justus Annunen to tie the score through 40 minutes. Mason Marchment gave his club the lead early in the third, and the Stars added three more to finish the night and send the Preds back home with just six games to go in the regular season.
“Let’s try to put together some quality efforts,” Stamkos said. “The results are the results. But tonight, I thought [there was] a lot of self-inflicted stuff that's correctable. Obviously, we’ve got a lot of young talent in the lineup that got the chance to show what they can do at this level. So try to help them take advantage of that. Like I said, try to put together some honest efforts here.”
Notes:
Prior to Thursday’s game, the Predators recalled forward Ozzy Wiesblatt from Milwaukee. The rookie winger recorded five hits in his fifth NHL contest.
Predators forward Matthew Wood joined the team in Dallas after signing his entry-level contract last week, but he has yet to make his NHL debut. Nashville defenseman Spencer Stastney also missed Thursday’s game and is day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
The Preds will now head home to host the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday evening at Bridgestone Arena before the New York Islanders come to town on Tuesday.
