The Nashville Predators will attempt to bounce back from a bad loss when they host the New York Rangers on Saturday in the finale of a four-game homestand.
Nashville was on a six-game winning streak to climb above the .500 mark before dropping a 6-1 decision to the visiting Minnesota Wild on Thursday.
“That’s not us,” Nashville forward Ryan O’Reilly said. “It’s disappointing because that’s a divisional team. That’s a big game for us. It’s definitely disappointing, but we have to move on and kind of regroup here and just get back and keep going ahead.”
Juuso Parssinen scored for the Predators, while Juuse Saros allowed four goals on 15 shots before being replaced by Kevin Lankinen in the second period.
Looking for their first seven-game winning streak since December 2021, the Predators fell behind 3-0 in the first period and never recovered.
“You can’t play at that level forever,” Predators coach Andrew Burnette said of the streak. “You’re a little disappointed that it dropped out that much. That kind of was a no-show game for us. So that was disappointing.”
Nashville’s Ryan McDonagh had an assist for his fifth point in as many games, all on assists. Luke Evangelista also had an assist and remains among the NHL’s top rookie point-scorers with 13 (three goals, 10 assists).
After watching their three-game winning streak end with a home loss to the Buffalo Sabres, the Metropolitan Division-leading Rangers bounced back with a come-from-behind 3-2 victory against the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday.
Jimmy Vesey batted home his own rebound with 4:15 remaining for New York, which has won eight of 10. K’Andre Miller tied it in the third and had an assist, Alexis Lafreniere had two assists and Igor Shesterkin made 25 saves for the Rangers, who won for the fifth time when trailing in the third period.
“The biggest thing with this group is realizing that we have a really good team and we have a good structure,” Miller said. “When everything is going, we’re usually winning those games. So it’s sticking to what we’re doing when we’re winning those games and trying to play a full 60.”
Artemi Panarin scored his 12th goal of the season, and Mika Zibanejad extended his point streak to five games (three goals, three assists) with his third-period assist.
Vesey scored his second game-winning goal of the season and continues his comeback from an early-season situation that saw him a victim of a roster crunch. He was scratched in two of the first three games.
“I said it at the time, he didn’t deserve to be scratched,” coach Peter Laviolette said of Vesey. “He’s a player that we count on and depend on for a lot of different things. Right now, he seems to be in a little bit of a groove. He’s playing really well.”
The Rangers got a boost as defenseman Adam Fox returned against Detroit after missing 10 games and played 21:31. At the time of his injury Fox was tied for second among NHL defensemen with 11 points (three goals, eight assists).
–Field Level Media
