Predators Waste 2-Goal Performance from Roman Josi, Fall to Lightning in OT

Roman Josi scored a pair of goals, but a high-sticking penalty by Filip Forsberg in overtime proved costly as the Nashville Predators fell 3-2 to the Tampa Bay Lightning Friday at Bridgestone Arena.

Predators goaltender Juuse Saros finished with 25 saves in the loss, while Lightning goaltender Jonas Johansson finished with 28. After dropping their second straight game in overtime, the Predators fall to 7-12-5 on the season.

How the Predators lined up vs. Tampa Bay

Forsberg – O’Reilly – Nyquist
Stamkos – Novak – Marchessault
Jankowski – Svechkov – Evangelista
L’Heureux – Sissons – Smith

Josi – Carrier
Skjei – Blankenburg
Wilsby – Schenn

Saros
Wedgewood

Extra: Del Gaizo, Pärssinen, McCarron, Lauzon*

Forward Michael McCarron missed his fourth consecutive game since being placed on Injured Reserve with an upper-body injury. Jeremy Lauzon is week-to-week with a lower-body injury.

Game Summary

The Predators scored on their first shot of the game just over a minute into the first period. After Steven Stamkos won the face-off, the puck landed on the stick of Josi, who floated a shot from the blue line past Jonas Johansson to give Nashville a 1-0 lead.

Nashville got some power play time at the beginning of the second period after trading a series of penalties with Tampa Bay, but a costly turnover by Josi just four minutes into the frame led to a shorthanded breakaway chance for the Lightning. Luke Glendening carried the puck into the zone and fed a cross-crease pass to Anthony Cirelli, who swatted the puck out of the air and into the net to tie the score at 1-1.

It didn’t take long for the Lightning to capture the lead, as Brandon Hagel fired a shot from the high slot, through traffic, past Saros to make it 2-1. The lead didn’t last long, however, as Mark Jankowski made a nice feed to Josi in the high slot for the Predators captain’s second goal of the game at 11:20 of the second period.

The score remained knotted at 2-2 through the end of regulation, taking the game to overtime. Forsberg was called for high-sticking against less than a minute into the extra frame, giving Tampa Bay a 4-on-3 power play. Following a face-off in the right circle, Nikita Kucherov fed the puck to Brayden Point, who went forehand-to-backhand at the left post to beat Saros at 1:01 of overtime for the 3-2 final.

Key Takeaways

The Lightning, who were already skating 11 forwards and seven defensemen, were down to 10 forwards less than five minutes into the game when Cirelli took a puck to the face in front of the Predators’ net off a shot from his own teammate. Cirelli returned to the game before the end of the period.
Kucherov did not play a shift for the Lightning in the second period but returned for the third.
With a pair of goals against the Lightning, Josi extended his point streak to four games. He has six points in that span (5 goals, 1 assist).

Up Next

The Predators hit the road to face the Minnesota Wild Saturday at 7 p.m. CT. 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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