Andrew Brunette and Ryan O'Reilly talk about the Predators' loss to Carolina Wednesday night. The Nashville Predators returned to the ice Wednesday night after the holiday break but could not get the home win over the Carolina Hurricanes. Carolina took a 2-0 lead in the first period with two power play goals and played with a lead through the remainder of the game to win 5-2. After the game, head coach Andrew Brunette talked about Nashville's performance. "I thought we were a little careless at times," Brunette said. "I think it was an emotional game. I thought we were excited to play — maybe a little bit too rambunctious a few different times." Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAzMjIxMzQxNTE4ODk4NzU1/usatsi_22181262.jpg] Brunette said the team took too many penalties and had trouble killing them off. "When you're not killing too many penalties tonight, it's tough to take penalties," Brunette said of Nashville's five penalties, one of which was a double minor. "We lost the special teams battle." The Hurricanes scored on their second and third power play chances in the first period to get out to an early lead, and the Predators were forced to chase the game. Even when Nashville pushed back, mistakes would interrupt that momentum. "A little bit disappointed. Again, little momentum goals. When we get ourselves back in the game, we turn a puck over, then we take a penalty and then we lost everything we had going for us," Brunette said. It reminded Brunette of how the team played earlier in the season when the Predators struggled to kill penalties and put themselves in bad positions. "It reminds me a little bit of early in the year. We were doing some things that were really good and some things that weren't great," Brunette said. "We just got to kind of bang our head on the wall here a little bit and sort it out." The loss Wednesday night was Nashville's second in a row, and the team has gone 2-3 in their last five games. This weekend they play another back to back against the Detroit Red Wings on Friday and Washington Capitals on Saturday. Brunette is hoping the team can clean up the issues that cost them the game Wednesday night against the Hurricanes. Hurricanes Capitalize on Power Play Chances, Defeat Predators 5-2 [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/nashville-predators/game-day/hurricanes-capitalize-on-power-play-chances-defeat-predators-5-2] Predators Recall Goaltender Yaroslav Askarov Ahead of Tonight's Game [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/nashville-predators/game-day/predators-recall-goaltender-yaroslav-askarov-ahead-of-tonights-game] Predators Loss to the Stars: "Too Many Passengers Tonight For Whatever Reason" [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/nashville-predators/game-day/predators-loss-to-stars-too-many-passengers-tonight-for-whatever-reason]
