Jonathan Marchessault Scores Twice as Predators Fall 4-3 to Flames

Nashville ties franchise record with eighth straight loss, falls to 7-16-6 on the season.

Jonathan Marchessault scored twice and Tommy Novak tallied his first goal since October, but the Nashville Predators could not hold onto the lead and fell to the Calgary Flames, 4-3, Tuesday at Bridgestone Arena.

Nashville took the lead on three separate occasions, but some second-period breakdowns would wind up costing the Predators the game. The Predators also had to deal with an injury to captain Roman Josi, who did not return after a lower body injury in the first period. Juuse Saros made 24 saves in the loss.

Nashville has tied a franchise record with eight straight losses, going 0-5-3 over that stretch.

Forsberg - Stamkos - Marchessault
Pärssinen - Svechkov - L'Heureux
Jankowski - Novak - Evangelista
Smith - McCarron - Sissons

Wilsby - Josi
Skjei - Blankenburg
Del Gaizo - Schenn

Saros
Annunen

Extra: Nyquist, Carrier, O'Reilly, Lauzon*

*Ryan O'Reilly is week-to-week with a lower-body injury, while Alexandre Carrier is week-to-week with an upper-body injury. Additionally, Jeremy Lauzon has been placed on Injured Reserve with a lower-body injury.

The team announced at the start of warm-ups that Gustav Nyquist would not play in Tuesday's game due to illness. He is listed as day-to-day.

Nashville's newly-formed top line of Filip Forsberg, Steven Stamkos and Marchessault got things rolling with a strong offensive zone possession. Stamkos drove wide to find Forsberg; Forsberg passed back to Stamkos, who threw the puck to the middle to find Marchessault for the finish.

The Flames responded a couple of minutes later with a fortunate bounce to tie the game at 1-1. Saros initially stopped the puck, but it bounced behind him in the crease and Roman Josi's stick inadvertently knocked it in. Nazem Kadri was credited with the goal for Calgary. 

The Predators had a quick answer 30 seconds later with another excellent passing play, this time from the third line of Mark Jankowski, Tommy Novak and Luke Evangelista. Jankowski skated the puck through the neutral zone and handed it off to Evangelista, who fed it back to Jankowski for a no-look drop pass that found Novak in front of the net to put Nashville back on top, 2-1.

The Flames tied it up just over two minutes into the second period on an impressive play from Walker Duehr, who played the puck off the wall, beat his man and set up Kevin Rooney for the tying goal. 

The score remained tied until 7:41 of the frame, when Forsberg and Marchessault combined for another impressive goal off the rush. Forsberg's backhand pass found Marchessault in front of the net, where he buried a wrist shot to retake the one-goal lead for Nashville.

The Flames came roaring back at 13:49, when Brayden Pachal ripped a shot from the right face-off circle past Saros to tie things up at 3-3. 

Mark Jankowski was assessed a minor penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct at 16:48 of the second period to give Calgary the man advantage. With seven seconds remaining on the power play, Jonathan Huberdeau cashed in on a rebound to give the Flames their first lead of the game heading into the second intermission.

Despite sustained pressure from the Predators in the offensive zone, Flames protected the one-goal lead for the entirety of the third period for the 4-3 final.

The Predators are back on the road Thursday for a Central Division matchup against the Dallas Stars Thursday at American Airlines Center. The puck drops at 7 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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