The Nashville Predators concluded their slate of back-to-back games with a 5-0 loss against the New Jersey Devils on Sunday. It’s the eighth time Nashville has been shut out this season, extending their league-high statistic.
“It’s way too many times obviously. I think part of it is not creating enough but when we create we’ve got to get our shots through and get to the net,” Roman Josi said after the loss.
Devils goalie Nico Daws made 29 stops as he picked up his first career shutout in his 49th NHL game. Daws became the third German-born goaltender in NHL history to record a shutout. He joins Thomas Greiss and Philipp Grubauer.
“I thought we had some really good opportunities early to get ahead and we gave up a goal there early and put ourselves in a position to get the equalizer and move on,” head coach Andrew Brunette said. “We didn’t do it and I thought we chased a little bit when it was 2-0 and we gave up too much.”
New Jersey came out with a few chances early on to test Nashville goalie Justus Annunen in his tenth start of the season.
One chance came from a turnover committed by defenseman Luke Schenn when an intended pass to Roman Josi was picked off by Jack Hughes. Annunen remained composed to make the breakaway save, keeping it a scoreless contest.
Luke Hughes ended up finding Ondrej Palat in the slot to take a 1-0 lead over Nashville with 6:15 to play in the first period. It was a scramble for the puck and Hughes got to the loose puck and Palat buried it.
New Jersey kept the offensive chances flowing in the second period and Annunen continued to stand tall. He stopped Nico Hischier on a breakaway after the Devils captain broke free in the neutral zone.
Not long later Hischier found defenseman Dougie Hamilton for his ninth goal of the season to make it 2-0 in the second frame. With his goal, it became his fourth point in two nights after returning from the 4 Nations Face-Off break.
“No, I haven’t. I feel for the group. It’s tough. We thought we got out of it there for a while and now we’re back in it and things aren’t going well for anybody,” Brunette said addressing if he’s seen a season like this before.
“All of the things for scoring that I feel is important we do, we just don’t score. It’s frustrating for them, it’s frustrating for me and it’s been a very trying year that way.
“The effort was there. A little disappointed in what we gave up. That was a big focal point for our group was we knew as a group we were going to get our looks, as we did tonight, we just can’t give it the other way too much.”
Seamus Casey extended the Devils lead before the second period came to a close. The Hughes brothers worked together to find an open lane and Casey rifled a wrist shot from the blue line past Annunen to make it 3-0.
As the final period got going forward Gustav Nyquist saw Steven Stamkos working his way to the front of the net. Nyquist looked out of the corner of his eye to feed Stamkos a puck but Daws turned away the shot in close quarters.
Then the Devils went to the powerplay early in the final frame and Stefan Noesen extended their lead to 4-0. Hischier set him up for a one-timer from behind the net.
Tomas Tatar added some salt to the wound halfway through the frame as he extended New Jersey’s lead to 5-0. His shot banked off of Andreas Englund and into the net.
“We feel like we’re building something then we take a step back,” Josi said of his team’s effort.
“We talked a lot before the break and after the break and it’s tough right now. It’s a tough season, it’s tough mentally but we have a clear goal as a team. We want to build something here in the next 26 games. We’re trying to get to an identity and get to our game and find some consistency which is something we’ve not done this year.”
Up next the Predators welcome the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers to town on Tuesday. Pete Weber and Jay More will have the call right here on 102.5 The Game.
Follow Nick Kieser on Twitter/X: @KieserNick
Photos courtesy of Nashville Predators
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