The Nashville Predators and Detroit Red Wings each looked to get their first win of the season as they faced off in Michigan tonight. Unfortunately, tonight’s win belonged to the home team, thanks to some great work by goalie Cam Talbot and some more missed opportunities from the Preds’ skaters.
Juuse Saros returned for Nashville after missing the season opener, and the Preds got out to a good start. Filip Forsberg drew a hooking penalty that might have saved a goal, and the top power play unit — playing in the second half of the skater advantage — got some good looks at Talbot which the team took back into 5v5 play.
Jeremy Lauzon and Dante Fabbro collided with Detroit captain Dylan Larkin, who went off the ice in pain; Lauzon drew the ire of the fans for the hit, but no penalties were called on the play. The Red Wings started to pull back into the game as the period went on, forcing a couple of consecutive icings the Preds struggled to escape and then drawing a slashing penalty from Steven Stamkos.
Saros started off the penalty kill making a sequence of heroic stops, before the rest of the skaters stepped up and finished the kill off more strongly. Just as the Preds had, the Wings kept their power play momentum despite not being able to score. However, Nashville quickly worked their way back in, piling on the shots and chances to end the period.
JT Compher got the scoring started for Detroit early in the second period, as — for the second game in a row — the Preds doubled their opponent in shots on goal in the first period, only to promptly allow the first shot in goal in the second. This time, however, after some more pressure from the Red Wings, Nashville was able to get the puck out of their end and make Talbot do some more work.
Unfortunately, that didn’t last long, as the Red Wings hemmed them back in and forced Lauzon into a penalty. The penalty kill was on its heels, but blocked shots and closed out lanes, making Saros’s job easier than it might have been while still harder than he would probably have liked. Nashville then got another power play of their own, as Larkin headed off the ice to the sin bin.
Despite some pretty passing, the Preds weren’t able to convert on their power play; Alexandre Carrier almost scored as it expired, but shot just high. Nashville continued to attack as the period wound down, with Stamkos having another spectacular near-miss, and managed to draw another power play when Moritz Seider took a tripping penalty with a minute left in the second.
Nashville used the tail end of their power play to establish themselves in the offensive zone to start the third. The Red Wings’ counterattack was still a threat, with Saros having to come way out of the net to play as the only defender back at one point. When the Preds failed to clear after one of those quick counters, Detroit made it 0-2 at 6:35 on a perfectly-placed Andrew Copp shot that banked off the post and then in off Saros.
While the Preds continued to try to get some goals in, even pulling Saros didn’t prove to be enough. Larkin added an empty-netter with 19 seconds to go, sealing the deal.