Nashville defenseman skated in his 1,000th NHL game tonight, but perhaps bigger in his mind was the search for the Predators’ first win of the 2024-25 season.
First Period
After spending the first three games of the season taking and maintaining a large lead in shots on goal, it would take a long time before Nashville could get a single one on the board. Finally, after trailing 9-0 in the category, the Predators would find paydirt not too much longer, after a Roman Josi point shot would get deflected in by Filip Forsberg, picking up his second of the season and giving the Predators their first lead of the season, 1-0 with 8:14 left in the first.
The deficit on shots would continue, however, as the Predators would only get one more shot in the next five minutes, and then a fight between Michael McCarron and Darnell Nurse would break out with 2:43 remaining, but the teams’ four-on-four luck from Tuesday would not hold, as Mattias Janmark would find Brett Kulak about twenty seconds later, erasing the Nashville lead and tying the game at one apiece.
The teams would trade shots in the final moments of the period, but the teams would head to the locker room for intermission tied 1-1.
Second Period
The second period started a bit more even, despite the fact that both teams had several shot attempts blocked in the early going. After a Filip Forsberg giveaway just seven minutes into the period, Jeremy Lauzon would (seemingly) play perfect defense on a streaking Connor McDavid, who held Lauzon’s stick, but of course, Lauzon would get sent to the penalty box. After a stellar penalty killing effort after a minute or so, yet another awful penalty would get called on Cole Smith for hooking Evan Bouchard, and Nashville would be faced with 16 seconds of a 5 on 3, and then 1:44 of a regular penalty kill. Luckily, Nashville would kill the penalty with some incredible defense, however, after the penalty time expired, a scrum in front of Juuse Saros would see the goaltender’s helmet kicked off right before the puck dribbled in the net, and the Oilers would take their first lead from a Jeff Skinner goal, assisted by Darnell Nurse.
A few minutes later, Jeremy Lauzon would take a high stick to the face that drew blood, and Vasily Podkolzin would draw a four-minute double minor and give Nashville a chance to claw back into an even game. After roughly three minutes or so of some decent chances, Roman Josi would fire a perfect pass towards the net, and new Predator Jonathan Marchessault would bat the puck out of midair and score his first in goal, and tie the game again at two apiece with 2:15 left.
But the momentum would not last. Less than a minute later, after an extended shift in the Predators’ defensive zone, Mattias Ekholm would find Connor McDavid who would send the puck up, surprisingly picking up his first of the year and giving the Oilers the lead once again as they headed to the second intermission.
Third Period
The first half of the third period would see both teams getting excellent chances on both ends of the ice, with several fantastic saves from both Juuse Saros and Oilers goaltender Calvin Pickard. As the teams reached the halfway point of the final frame, Nashville would try to pick up the pace, but continued to struggle keeping the puck in the Oilers’ end, having to fend off possessions by several Edmonton players, including former Predator Viktor Arvidsson. With five minutes remaining, Ryan O’Reilly would get a phenomenal chance to tip the puck in, but it would be deflected by Pickard, and the Predators entered the final five still looking for the game-tying goal. After another chance the other way, the Predators would finally find some luck with the officials, after Gus Nyquist would accidentally lift off Pickard’s mask with his stick, but no call was made, and the game continued on. Saros would get pulled at 2:15 and the Predators would attempt to tie the game up with the man-advantage. A great pass from Stamkos to O’Reilly would get deflected just wide, but it wouldn’t last much longer after that, as several attempts at the Nashville empty net would get thwarted by Roman Josi, but a final shot from Brett Kulak would find the net for his second of the game and it would seal an Edmonton victory, 4-2, and Nashville would fall to a season-opening 0-4-0.
(Unfortunate) Tweet of the Night
Three Stars of the Game
Third Star: Edmonton Connor McDavid – 1 goal
Second Star: Edmonton Brent Kulak – 2 goals
First Star: Nashville Roman Josi – 2 assists