The Nashville Predators were left to wonder what might have been even after collecting four out of a possible six points during a road trip consisting of three games against Eastern Conference foes.
The task won’t get any easier upon returning home Tuesday as the Predators open a three-game homestand against the defending Western Conference champion Vegas Golden Knights.
The Predators have been off since Saturday, when they fell 3-2 to the Ottawa Senators in a shootout. The Golden Knights will be completing a back-to-back road set after taking a 4-2 loss against the Minnesota Wild on Monday in Saint Paul, Minn.
The Predators went 1-0-2 on their Canadian trek, which began when they squandered an early three-goal lead in a 5-4 overtime loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Oct. 6. Nashville overcame a two-goal second-period deficit two nights later by scoring the final five goals in a 5-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens, who reached the Eastern Conference finals last spring.
On Saturday, the Predators jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period, but Drake Batherson forced overtime for the Senators by scoring with 1:23 left in regulation. Ottawa, one of just four teams in the NHL with at least 10 points, escaped in the shootout.
“I feel it’s been a little common in the past few games — we kind of lay off the gas a little bit and let teams back in the game,” said Jonathan Marchessault, who scored Nashville’s second goal on Saturday. “One point is good, but I mean, at the end of the year, they’re pretty hard to get those points. So it would be nice to be able to close on games.”
Opening was the problem on Monday for the Golden Knights, who gave up three goals in a span of 5:07 in the back half of the first period as their four-game winning streak was snapped.
The multi-goal deficit was the third of the season for the Golden Knights. Their winning streak was highlighted by a 4-3 shootout victory over the Maple Leafs last Thursday in which Vegas fell behind 3-0 within a span of eight-plus minutes in the first period.
The Golden Knights gave up the first four goals to the visiting Anaheim Ducks on Oct. 2, when Vegas scrambled back by scoring three times in the third period of a 4-3 defeat.
Vegas, which is the lone Western Conference team with 10 points, edged within a goal again on Monday, when Rasmus Andersson scored early in the second period and William Karlsson tallied just before the midway point of the third.
The Golden Knights pulled Carter Hart with about 90 seconds left but didn’t record a shot before Joel Eriksson Ek collected an empty-netter for the Wild at the 18:38 mark.
“We’re a resilient group,” Golden Knights defenseman Brayden McNabb said. “But we don’t want to get in the habit of always trying to come back. We want to play with the lead.”
The Predators won two of three games last season against the Golden Knights, including a 4-1 victory on March 21 in the lone matchup at Nashville. Steven Stamkos had two goals and an assist in the latter contest.
