The Nashville Predators snapped their six-game losing streak with a 6-4 win over the Buffalo Sabres Saturday at Bridgestone Arena.
Defenseman Brady Skjei scored two goals for his first multi-goal game as a member of the Predators, and forward Ryan O’Reilly recorded the first four-assist game of his career. Filip Forsberg also scored two goals for Nashville, and Jonathan Marchessault had a goal and three assists.
Justus Annunen got the start in net for the Predators after Juuse Saros started Friday’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks. Annunen made 25 saves for Nashville, while Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 17 for Buffalo.
The Predators head into the 4 Nations Face-Off break with a 19-28-7 record.
How the Predators lined up vs. Buffalo
Forsberg-O’Reilly-Marchessault
Stamkos-Svechkov-Nyquist
Novak-Sissons-Kemell
Smith-McCarron-Wiesblatt
Josi-Schenn
Skjei-Blankenburg
Gravel-Barron
Annunen
Saros
Extra: L’Heureux (day-to-day, upper-body), Evangelista (day-to-day, lower-body), Wilsby (day-to-day, upper-body)
IR: Lauzon, Jankowski
The Predators recalled forward Ozzy Wiesblatt from the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals ahead of Saturday’s game in light of several injuries to Nashville’s forward group. Zachary L’Heureux, who left in the second period of Friday’s game in Chicago with an upper-body injury, did not play Saturday and is listed as day-to-day.
Forward Luke Evangelista (lower-body) missed his third consecutive game, and defenseman Adam Wilsby (upper-body) missed his second; both are listed as day-to-day. Mark Jankowski, previously listed as week-to-week with an upper-body injury, was placed on Injured Reserve.
Game Summary
Tommy Novak got things rolling with his 11th goal of the season at 6:57 of the first period. Novak skated the puck in himself on a 2-on-1 and beat Luukkonen glove-side to give Nashville the early 1-0 lead.
Brady Skjei extended the Predators’ lead on a breakout at the 9:26 mark. Wiesblatt forced a turnover in the defensive zone to send the play back to Nashville’s end, and Skjei scored a tip-in goal on a tic-tac-toe play from Jonathan Marchessault and Ryan O’Reilly to put the Predators up, 2-0.
Buffalo got on the board at the 15:21 mark of the first period when Bowen Byram capitalized on a neutral zone turnover to cut the deficit to 2-1. Rasmus Dahlin tied it up three minutes later with a snipe that beat Annunen cleanly at the 18:25 mark.
Nashville scored two goals less than a minute apart in the back half of the second period. First, with Dylan Cozens in the box for roughing, Filip Forsberg scored 15 seconds into the power play to make it 3-2 at the 14:31 mark. Then, 18 seconds later, O’Reilly found Skjei in the high slot for his second goal of the night to widen Nashville’s lead to 4-2.
Alex Tuch got a goal back for Buffalo with a shot that beat Annunen from the left side at 17:43, but the Predators held on for a one-goal lead going into the third period.
Forsberg scored his second goal of the night with a one-timer from the left circle to put Nashville up, 5-3, at the 6:58 mark of the third period.
With 12 seconds remaining on a Skjei hooking penalty, Cozens scored on the power play to cut Nashville’s lead to 5-4. Zach Benson appeared to tie the score for Buffalo 30 seconds later, but a successful challenge by Nashville determined that the play was offside and the Predators held onto the 5-4 lead.
Marchessault scored into the empty net at 19:23 for the 6-4 final.
Key Takeaways & Notes
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Novak’s first-period tally was his second goal in as many games. He also scored in the third period of Friday’s loss to Chicago.
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With his power-play tally in the second period, Forsberg extended his team lead in points to 52. He is also second on the team in power-play goals with seven.
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O’Reilly became the first Predators player to record four assists in a single game since Roman Josi on Nov. 17, 2022. O’Reilly also joined Mikael Granlund (Nov. 30, 2021) as the second player in franchise history to record four primary assists in a game.
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Luke Schenn led all players with 11 hits on the night. Justin Barron led the way with six blocked shots.
Up Next
After a two-week break for the 4 Nations Face-Off, the Predators’ next game will be against the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday, Feb. 22, at Bridgestone Arena. The puck drops at 5 p.m. CT, and the game will be broadcast regionally on FanDuel Sports Network South and on ESPN+ for out-of-market customers in the United States.
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