Preds Give Up Four Goals in First Period, Lose at Home to Flames 6-3
The Calgary Flames came ready to play while Andrew Brunette called the Nashville Predators' performance "sloppy hockey".
Preds Give Up Four Goals in First Period, Lose at Home to Flames 6-3The 21-16-1 Nashville Predators welcomed the 16-16-5 Calgary Flames to Bridgestone Arena Thursday night for a Western Conference game with two valuable points up for grabs. Both teams entered tonight's game off wins Tuesday night.
Tonight Dan Vladar got the start in net for the Flames while goal leader Blake Coleman played on a line with Andrew Mangiapane and Mikael Backlund.
The Predators got off to a tough start as Michael McCarron headed to the penalty box at 3:12 for a hook. The Flames rank near the bottom of the league on the power play, but once they set up in the offensive zone, the Predators couldn't clear the puck. Saros survived a frantic net front flurry, but at 4:45 Connor Zary scored on a shot from the circle.
Less than a minute later, Saros juggled a shot from Blake Coleman and the puck ended up in the back of the net to give the Flames an early 2-0 lead. Nashville's top line quickly went to work. Ryan O'Reilly corralled a rebound and found Filip Forsberg in front of Vladar. Forsberg scored at 6:09 to make it a one goal game again.
The momentum from Forsberg's goal was short-lived as Nazem Kadri stole the puck from Roman Josi and skated the length of the ice to score at 7:57. Play went back and forth, but as the period wound down Colton Sissons tipped a Dante Fabbro shot past Vladar to make it 3-2.
A collision in the slot between Noah Hanifin and Luke Evangelista drew two penalties — and interference call on Hanifin and an embellishment call on Evangelista resulting in four on four play. At 18:44 Rasmus Andersson skated into the slot and scored to give Calgary a 4-2 lead heading into the first intermission.
The second period opened with a Predators penalty committed by Luke Schenn at 2:10. Part way through the penalty kill, Rasmus Andersson was whistled for holding the stick of Michael McCarron. Neither team could convert on the four on four, and the Predators weren't able to get anything past Vladar on their shortened power play time.
Calgary outshot Nashville 9-1 through the first half of the second period. At 12:43 Phil Tomasino headed to the box for a trip. Juuse Saros came up with big saves, and the successful penalty kill gave Nashville momentum. They enjoyed a long shift in the offensive zone but couldn't capitalize on the opportunity. With less than one second remaining in the period, Noah Hanifin scored to give the Flames a 5-2 lead heading into the second intermission.
Kevin Lankinen started the third period in net for the Predators. Michael McCarron threw a shot on net from the blue line, Vladar bobbled the puck, and it went in at 2:15 to make it a two goal game.
Nashville continued to battle for puck possession in the third period. They had stretches of extended offensive zone time, but Vladar made the saves when the Predators were able to get the puck through the defenders.
After a two on one chance for the Flames was broken up, Kevin Lankinen paused with the puck behind the net. Elias Lindholm came in from behind and stole the puck from the goaltender and found Yegor Sharangovich for a goal at 14:04.
Les than a minute later Phil Tomasino was whistled for a penalty after he tangled with Dennis Gilbert. Gilbert was tended to by the trainers and had to be helped off the ice. After review, the referees assessed a match penalty to Tomasino for a slew foot. The Predators killed off the five minute penalty, but the game ended with the Flames defeating the Predators 6-3.