NASHVILLE — The Nashville (2-2-3) scored with no time left to force overtime, but couldn’t find the breakthrough in extra time as the Predators fell 3-2 in a shootout to the San Jose Sharks (4-3-0).
The action kicked off with the first fight of the Predators’ season as defenseman Nic Hague dropped the gloves with center Zack Ostapchuk. The pair traded blows before Hague pulled Ostapchuk’s sweater over his head, and they both went into the penalty box for fighting less than three minutes into the game.
San Jose cracked the scoreboard first when Tyler Toffoli dug the puck from behind Nashville’s goal and found Mason Marchment streaking down the slot. Marchment one-timed his shot past Juuse Saros at 5:30, giving the Sharks a 1-0 lead.
Hague and Ostapchuk stayed busy in the first period, with Hague putting San Jose on the power play at 12:06 after a hooking penalty. Nashville killed the Sharks’ penalty, then immediately went on a power play of their own as Ostapchuk’s high-sticking gave the Predators a four-minute double-minor at 14:52. The Predators mustered two shots on goal, had five shots blocked, and put two more wide of the net to come up empty with the extra-man advantage. The Predators tallied a season-high 29 shot attempts in the first period but went into the first intermission trailing 1-0.
San Jose and Nashville traded fruitless power plays in the second period. Igor Chernyshov went to the box for the Sharks at 6:46 for interference, and Reid Schaefer checked into the sin bin for the Predators at 9:35 for hooking. The Predators spent most of their own power play chasing the puck in their defensive end, but successfully killed the visitor’s advantage, frustrating San Jose’s special teams unit for the second time.
At 16:34 in the second period, Saros kept the Predators within reach, sprawling to deny a dangerous attempt by Will Smith. Schaefer took his second penalty of the night at 18:40 for high-sticking, giving the Sharks a power play to close out the second period.
Smith got the better of Saros at 4:28 in the final period as Michael Kesselring kept the play alive on the boards and backhanded the puck to Smith in the slot. The 21-year-old went far post and doubled San Jose’s lead.
Nashville finally got on the board midway through their fourth power play of the night when Ryan O’Reilly poked a rebound past Alex Nedeljkovic from a Jonathan Marchessault shot at 9:05. O’Reilly’s third goal of the season halved the deficit and brought Bridgestone Arena to life.
The Predators pushed hard in the final 10 minutes, pulling Saros in the final two minutes for an extra attacker, and found the equalizer with 0.8 seconds remaining. Steven Stamkos corralled a bouncing puck and sent the game into overtime with his fourth goal of the season.
San Jose and Nashville battled to a stalemate in the overtime period, forcing a shootout. Nashville sent Ryan O’Reilly, Filip Forsberg and Ross Colton to the spot, but none could score to match Macklin Celebrini’s shootout goal.
The Sharks blocked 24 Predator shots and killed three power plays as Nashville struggled to generate quality offensive chances throughout the evening. Sharks goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic blocked 32 shots for his second win of the season, but Nashville couldn’t consistently threaten the San Jose goaltender, as the offense still searches for connectivity through the neutral zone and in the offensive zone this season.
Nashville returns to Bridgestone Arena on Saturday to face their Central Division foe, the St. Louis Blues, at 7 p.m. CT to close out the homestand.
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