P.K. Subban of the Nashville Predators [Photo by nhl.com]
Preds center Ryan Johansen whacked home the tying goal at 18:44 of the third, but Dylan Larkin cut to the slot and won the game for the Red Wings at 4:34 of overtime. The contest ends Nashville’s two-game win streak with a less than desirable result as the team begins a season-long, six-game road trip.
“Awful,” Predators Head Coach Peter Laviolette said of his team’s performance. “We lost every 50-50 puck battle. Our goaltender was incredible tonight, the way he played the game. We had three or four guys that showed up to compete on some pucks, and we had 15 that didn’t. You’re never going to win that way. It’s impossible. It’s very, very, very disappointing how soft we were.”
Goaltender Pekka Rinne kep his club in the game, but the positive of a point in the standings and a three-game point streak is only a small amount of solace following a frustratingly inconsistent effort from the Predators which they say cost them a victory.
“It just wasn’t good enough tonight,” Johansen said. “We took two steps in the right direction and took a step back tonight… Pekka gave us a chance, and it’s hard to win on the road. The good thing is we play again tomorrow night, and hopefully we can come away with a game that we’re proud of.”
It took the Preds the majority of the opening period until they registered their first shot on goal, but it was P.K. Subban who struck in the final three minutes of the frame for his first since returning from injury to give his club a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes.
Just three minutes into the middle stanza, Craig Smith scored his second in as many games when he roofed a shot past Jimmy Howard for a 2-0 lead. But, goals from Andreas Athanasiou and Thomas Vanek saw Detroit even the score as the period went along.
Predators defenseman Anthony Bitetto countered shortly after the Wings made it 2-2, but the marker was called back for goaltender interference, and the teams entered the third period tied.
Detroit took the lead in the third on a goal from Tyler Bertuzzi, and Johansen’s late tally forced OT to give Nashville their 51st point in the standings before Larkin ended it.
“It was the same throughout the entire game,” Laviolette said of the effort. “Pekka, I mean, I can’t even count the amount of times we left him with nothing in front of him. Terrible.”
Nashville won’t have much time to dwell on the loss as they prepare to face the Canadiens in Montreal on Saturday night (at 6 p.m. CT), a chance to erase this one from the memory bank.
“The biggest [thing we need to change] is the start of the game,” Johansen said. “Make sure we’re ready, and not just to go out and have a solid start, but to dominate and set the tone for the game.”
Notes:
Forward Phillip Di Giuseppe made his Nashville debut on Friday night, registering two shots, three hits and three blocked shots in 11:48 of ice time.
Preds forward Miikka Salomaki left Friday’s game after taking a hard it along the boards and did not return.
Nashville’s trip continues on Saturday night in Montreal as P.K. Subban and Shea Weber face off at the Bell Centre. Next week, it’s onto Toronto, Chicago and Columbus before finishing in Carolina a week from Sunday.
