The Nashville Predators were haunted by familiar demons Sunday at Bridgestone Arena, as they couldn't surpass the 2-goal mark in a 3-2 loss to the Dallas Stars.

Nashville took a 2-0 lead on goals from Jonathan Marchessault and Spencer Stastney, but Dallas scored three unanswered to hand the Predators (4-4-2) their fourth loss of the season. Both teams were playing the second game of a back-to-back set, with Nashville defeating the Los Angeles Kings in a shootout on Saturday.

“I think it was a good effort for a back-to-back,” Marchessault said. “I thought we had good energy. We kind of let them linger around instead of taking over the game. It’s a disappointing outcome, but I think our effort was pretty good overall.”

Jason Robertson had two assists for the Stars (5-3-1), and Casey DeSmith made 24 saves. Justus Annunen, making his first home start of the season, made 24 saves for Nashville.

The Stars were without Roope Hintz, who suffered an upper-body injury in the third period of Saturday's game against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Marchessault gave the Predators a 1-0 lead at 8:02 of the first period on a rebound in front of the net on the power play. Stastney gave the Predators a 2-0 lead at 7:15 of the second period on a snap shot from the left circle that beat DeSmith blocker side.

Oscar Bäck, making his season debut for Dallas after missing time with an undisclosed injury, scored for the Stars to make it 2-1 at 9:36 on a redirection from between his legs on a shot by Radek Faksa.

Wyatt Johnston tied the game 2-2 at 16:29 of the second period on a 2-on-1 rush created by a turnover by Justin Barron in the offensive zone.

Mikko Rantanen scored the game winner in the third period on the power play. 

“To me, it was all puck management,” Predators head coach Andrew Brunette said. “I think we wanted to get cute a little bit at the blue line. We wanted to play a little slower, and we had great success and a lot of shot quantity, puck possession when we did a certain thing. We’re not going to be a rush team. We’re going to have to be a certain type of team, and we’re kind of fighting that at different times in the game.”

Fedor Svechkov healthy scratched for first time in 2025

After posting 0 points and a -5 rating through nine games to start the year, Predators center Fedor Svechkov was healthy scratched for the first time this season against Dallas.

Steven Stamkos shifted to center on Nashville's second line, playing with Tyson Jost and Luke Evangelista on the wing.

Predators finally break power play drought

The Predators entered Sunday's game with the 31st-ranked power play in the NHL (6.9%), while Dallas (34.6%) ranked first. But it was Nashville that struck first on the man advantage in this one when Jonathan Marchessault shoved in a rebound at 8:02 of the first period.

Marchessault's power-play tally was the Predators' second of the season and their first since Steven Stamkos' on Oct. 16 at Montreal. 

A total of five penalties were called in the first period alone – three on the Predators and two on the Stars. Dallas was unable to convert on either attempt in the first period, including a 5-on-3.

Dallas puts an end to Nashville's PK perfection

The Predators entered the game as the only team in the league who had not yielded a power-play goal at home this season. Their penalty kill was perfect at Bridgestone Arena through 23 opportunities, but that came to an end in the third period against Dallas.

The Stars took their first lead of the game at 10:44 of the third period when Mikko Rantanen scored the go-ahead goal with one second remaining on the delay of game penalty to Nic Hague.

Next up: Nashville hosts the Tampa Bay Lightning Tuesday at Bridgestone Arena, concluding a five-game homestand.