The Buffalo Sabres converted on the power play four different times and Sam Reinhart recorded a hat trick as the Nashville Predators fell, 7-4, to the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night at Bridgestone Arena.

The loss ends Nashville’s two-game winning streak, and coupled with other action in the League on Saturday, the Predators will have to wait for their potential Central Division and conference-clinching scenarios.

Nashville held a 4-3 lead late in the second period when Scott Hartnell hit rookie Victor Antipin behind the Sabres’ net. Antipin immediately fell to the ice following the collision and needed a stretcher to exit the playing surface. Hartnell was given a boarding major and game misconduct at 14:09 of the second and the Sabres scored three goals on the subsequent man advantage to take a 6-4 lead into the second intermission.

“It was on the forecheck. I saw the guy reverse the puck. I just tried to rub him out. I think his chin hit the glass,” Hartnell said. “You see the guy laying there – your stomach gets all turned upside down. You see the stretcher and all that kind of stuff and it made it feel worse, so, it was an unfortunate play and I hope Victor’s all right.”

Although the three power-play goals in four minutes gave the Sabres their first and only lead of the night, Predators Head Coach Peter Laviolette said problems were present in his team’s game prior to the game-defining five minutes.

“It was average at best,” Laviolette said. “The 5-on-5 play I thought was OK. OK, a lot of nights, doesn’t win. We were able to have a lead, but I don’t think [we out-chanced] them or outplayed them at that point, 5-on-5. At the end of the day, you go to the penalty box as much as we did, we’ll lose the game. It cost us tonight.”

“They took it to us from start to finish,” Predators winger Austin Watson said. “They played like a team with nothing to lose. They are well coached. I’m sure [Buffalo Head Coach Phil Housley] had them fired up over there to come in here and play a good game and we didn’t match it.”

Nashville had a 3-1 lead early in the second period, courtesy of goals from P.K. Subban – who set a career-high with his 16th tally of the season – Watson and Kyle Turris, but Ryan O’Reilly scored the first of four power-play goals in the middle frame to pull Buffalo to within one.

Two of Buffalo’s three goals on the major power play came from Reinhart, and he finished off the hat trick in the third as Juuse Saros came in to relieve Pekka Rinne.

The Predators will now have little time to regroup as they have a date with the Lightning tomorrow evening in Tampa Bay, a test against one of the League’s best.

“We have to address it,” Josi said of the result. “It’s a quick turnaround with tomorrow’s game, but we’ll definitely address this. We’re a pretty honest group and we know that wasn’t good enough.”

“It’s a huge game tomorrow,” Watson said. “Everybody knows that. It’s a great opportunity for us to bounce back. I don’t know how much we will look at this or whether we will just look to Tampa – that’s up to the coaching staff. We will do what we have to do to get our minds right and get away from that hockey game and get back to playing Predators hockey because that wasn’t it.”

Notes:

Saturday night’s contest marked the 1,100th career game for Preds forward Mike Fisher.

Preds forward Eeli Tolvanen made his NHL debut on Saturday night, finishing with one hit in 13:34 of ice time.

Nashville will now jet off to Tampa Bay to begin their final road trip of the season. They’ll face the Lightning on Sunday (at 5 p.m. CT) before heading across the state to take on the Panthers on Tuesday. The Preds will then head to Washington for their second to last game of the season for a meeting with the Capitals on Thursday before returning home for the season finale next Saturday against Columbus.

AJ Rollman of CHS baseball

After a last minute schedule change, the Coffee County baseball team hosted 3 games on Friday at Powers Field as part of the Warrior Spring Classic.  Coffee County played host to a pair of teams from Illinois.  Coffee County dropped a 5 to 1 decision to Glenbrook South in the first game for the Red Raiders.  In the nightcap, Coffee County edged Lake Park 3 to 2.

In game #1, the Titans of Glenbrook South were able to cobble together scores in the 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th innings to build a 4 to 0 lead.  Coffee County was able to get runners in scoring position in each of the 1^st six innings but were unable to get a run across the plate.  The Red Raiders scratched a run in the 7^th inning when Hayden Skipper drove home Jacob Langham with an RBI single.  Skipper finished with a double and a single.  Langham had a pair of walks and a single and scored Coffee County’s lone run.

In the nightcap, a walk-off single by Nathanial Tate in the bottom of the 7^th inning gave Coffee County a thrilling 3 to 2 win.  After the Lancers walked Skipper to load the bases, Tate lined a 2 strike pitch to centerfield to score Langham for the win.  A.J. Rollman pitched 2 innings of relief with 4 strikeouts to get the win.  Rollman also finished with a pair of hits and 1 RBI.  Skylar Bratcher had a double and a walk.

The Red Raiders will conclude play in the Warrior Classic on Saturday.  Coffee County will take on Blackman at Blackman.  First pitch is scheduled for 5:30 PM.

Brady Nugent of Westwood baseball

The Westwood baseball team welcomed Middle Tennessee Christian to Looney Riddle Field on Friday night.  Despite a furious 7^th inning rally, the Rockets dropped the conference contest to the Cougars.  Westwood fell by a final score of 12 to 8.

Westwood matched MTCS score for score through 4 innings.  The visiting Cougars added 3 runs in each of the last 3 innings to build a 12 to 5 lead going into the bottom of the 7^th.  The Rockets were able to push 3 runs across in the 7^th on RBIs from Trent Thompson and Connor Smith before MTCS shut down the rally.  Thompson, Brady Nugent and Luke Beachboard all finished with 2 hits.

Westwood returns to the diamond on Monday when Fayetteville comes to Manchester.  First pitch is set for 6 PM at Fred Deadman Park.

The Coffee County Red Raider soccer team concluded play in the Myrtle Beach Tournament on Friday with a pair of games.  The Red Raiders opened the day with a 2 to 1 win over Belton Honea Path of South Carolina.  The Red Raiders dropped the nightcap 7 to 0.

In the morning contest against Belton Honea Path, the Red Raiders got off to a fast start as they got a goal in the 4^th minute from Leo Suarez after an assist from Tyler Walker.  In the 16^th minute, Suarez pushed a corner kick to the front of the net that Briggs Haithcock headed into the goal.   The Red Raiders maintained that lead to intermission.   The Bears scored in the 68^th minute but the Raiders were able to hang on for the win.

In the afternoon contest, injuries and depth issues proved to be too great a handicap as Coffee County fell to the host Seahawks of Myrtle Beach High.  Myrtle Beach scored 4 goals in the 1^st half and added 3 more in the 2^nd half to grab the win.

The Red Raiders return home to return to district action in the coming week.  The Red Raiders will host Lincoln County on Tuesday night at the Raider Soccer Field.   That match kicks off at 7 PM.

Thursday Prep Results
> CHS Soccer fell to Seneca, SC – 3 to 1 – See the story HERE
> CHS Softball HOSTS Tullahoma – Postponed, Make-up date is TBD
> WMS Baseball at Cascade – Postponed, Make-up date is TBD

Friday Prep Schedule
11:00 AM – CHS Boys’ Soccer vs. Belton Honea Path, SC – Myrtle Beach Tournament
11:00 AM – CHS Baseball vs. IC Catholic, IL – Warrior Classic at Wilson Central
1:30 PM – CHS Baseball vs. Dickson Co – Warrior Classic at Wilson Central
4:00 PM – CHS Boys’ Soccer vs. Myrtle Beach, SC – Myrtle Beach Tournament
5:00 PM – WMS Baseball HOSTS MTCS