Filip Forsberg
Filip Forsberg’s sixth career hat trick wasn’t enough as the Nashville Predators fell to the Edmonton Oilers, 5-3, on Saturday afternoon at Bridgestone Arena. It’s Nashville’s first defeat at the hands of the Oilers in their past 14 meetings.
Saturday’s contest saw the Preds have their chances throughout, including a pair of hit posts, but Nashville never had the lead, and the group knows the game won’t be won on opportunity.
“It’s always frustrating to lose in our own building,” Preds defenseman Mattias Ekholm said. “We should always expect to win here. I think we should take it as a positive that we’re battling… We never gave up, we were there the whole game. We’re really working our butts off and trying to do the right thing, but sometimes it just doesn’t happen for us, and tonight was one of those nights.”
“This group takes a lot of pride in playing well, and some nights you play well and you’re just not going to win, but I think there’s a lot of things we could’ve done better,” Preds Captain Roman Josi said. “We could have defended a lot better in front of Juuse (Saros) and we didn’t do that. Guys take a lot of pride in that, and we’re not happy about the result and about the way we defended.”
Edmonton held a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes courtesy of a goal from Drake Caggiula, and Leon Draisaitl made it 2-0 when he beat Juuse Saros on the power play less than five minutes into the second.
The Predators got on the board before the middle frame was out when Filip Forsberg blasted home a shot on the man advantage for his eighth of the season. But, just seven seconds after that, Connor McDavid gave his club the two-goal lead right back on a partial breakaway, the final tally through two periods.
After Draisaitl got his second of the day just 4:19 into the third, Forsberg recorded goals nine and 10 on the season to complete the hat trick, but that was as close as the home team got before Edmonton iced it with an empty-netter late in regulation.
Forsberg was the bright spot on the afternoon, hitting the 10-goal mark in just 11 games, faster than any player in franchise history.
“Right now, Filip’s playing on a really high level,” Predators Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. “You have to credit his two linemates, too. Ryan [Johansen] is making some terrific plays. [Viktor] Arvidsson is the motor that makes it go. All three of them are playing at a high level, but Filip, for me, in the last two games probably has close to 25 attempts at the net. When he puts the puck at the net like that, it’s going to go in the back of the net. He just has to continue to release it.”
From here, the Predators will face Vegas, Tampa Bay and Boston over the next week, three more opponents who are sure to test the Preds as they look to avoid consecutive losses for the first time this season.
“We’re playing solid enough hockey to win, but at the same time we’re taking too many penalties,” Forsberg said. “We’re going to regroup over the weekend and come back Tuesday and be ready to go.”
Notes:
Filip Forsberg and Connor McDavid’s goals seven seconds apart are tied for second as the fastest two goals from both teams in Predators franchise history. The record is five seconds, set on Dec. 4, 2003, at Columbus (Rick Nash, Scott Walker).
Miikka Salomaki, Matt Irwin and Frederick Gaudreau were scratched for Nashville.
The Predators host the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday night before departing for Tampa Bay for a one-game trip later in the week.
The annual Coffee County Red Raider Alumni Basketball Game will be held on Saturday at the Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gym. The game is scheduled to tip off at 6 PM and the public is urged to come out and attend. The event will be a fund-raiser for the Red Raiders and cost of admission is $2 but donations above and beyond that are welcome.
