The Preds faced off against the New York Rangers this afternoon, in an attempt to rebound from a disappointing game against Minnesota on Thursday. While their on-ice play was largely good, their results weren’t what they must have hoped for.
Ryan O’Reilly opened the scoring, collecting a cross-ice pass from Liam Foudy–fresh off the healthy scratch list–and putting it past Igor Shesterkin to get the Preds on the board. Nashville continued the attack, with some great performance by Phil Tomasino not being rewarded, and eventually got a power play for their efforts.
Spencer Stastney drew a tripping penalty from Barclay Goodrow, and the Preds got their first look at the Rangers’ exceptional penalty kill. For most of the duration, the Rangers were handling it, but the Preds stayed on the puck. With only a little while left with the skater advantage, Roman Josi looped his way through the offensive zone and scored to put the Preds up by two.
Kiefer Sherwood almost got a third goal with twenty seconds left in the period, but Shesterkin responded just in time, shutting him down and letting the buzzer run out. The Rangers almost immediately got on the board to start the second, as they completed a passing sequence that fooled Kevin Lankinen and let Vincent Trocheck set up Jacob Trouba to score. 2-1 Preds.
Gustav Nyquist was able to draw another penalty just a couple of minutes later, sending Ryan Lindgren off for hooking and giving the Preds another chance on the power play. While the Rangers were able to kill it off, they didn’t look as impressive this time, and the Preds continued to attack. Panarin got a great counterattack off the rush, and Lankinen made an even better save. The Rangers continued to press, and the Preds committed a too-many-men penalty as the puck was played into a line change.
O’Reilly and Yakov Trenin attacked shorthanded to start the penalty kill, and while the Rangers got the puck back briefly, Colton Sissons then scored shorthanded to restore the Preds’ two-goal lead. It worked out for the Preds, as the Rangers–energized by that–settled in for a sustained attack, and Chris Kreider managed to score just as the penalty expired. 3-2 Preds.
Juuso Pärssinen then hit Nick Bonino into the boards hard enough to earn a penalty and the ire of one of Bonino’s teammates. This time, the Rangers scored right off the faceoff, tying the game at three. As the Preds fought to stabilize the game, they got another power-play opportunity, courtesy of Lindgren again. Nashville attacked vigorously, and a shot in the scramble rang iron, but no luck.
The third period began with chances at both sides and end-to-end play. The Preds got an early power play opportunity when Michael McCarron was shaken up by a high stick, but although they threatened, Shesterkin and the goalposts had it handled. Another good Nashville effort as the skater advantage expired had Pärssinen’s attempt interrupted by Will Cyulle, just out of the penalty box.
The Rangers then took the lead with a pinball shot off a faceoff, deflected in off of Jeremy Lauzon and credited to Lindgren. A “let’s go, Predators” chant broke out in the arena a few minutes before the midpoint of the period and then again a minute or so after, trying to rally the team–nice to hear, since there had also been audible Rangers fans present.
As the period wound down, the Rangers continued to press, before Filip Forsberg and Pärssinen led a counterattack that had Shesterkin fully out of his net and a massive scramble, but no luck. Nashville pulled Lankinen for the extra attacker in the last few moments of regulation, but the Rangers hung on for the win.