Five games late but the Nashville Predators honored revered veteran Ryan O’Reilly for skating in 1,000 NHL games on Saturday evening. O’Reilly’s 1,000th game was in Vancouver five games ago as Nashville started a road trip.
O’Reilly became the second Predators player to score the night he was honored with a silver stick. Former Predators forward Mike Ribeiro was the other to score a point the evening he was honored (2/6/16).
The Predators fell to the Arizona Coyotes 7-5 after a rough road trip going 1-4 overall. Nashville saw the most combined goals in a matchup this season at 12 in the loss to the Coyotes.
“Tonight it was just mistakes,” head coach Andrew Brunette said. “There was a bad change, a faceoff goal, two penalty kill goals, it’s hard to win in this league giving up that many.”
Brunette wants to see the leadership take over and understand how dire improvement is after a loss like this. However, he stated it’s his job that this group understands how they can make a turn, it’s twofold as Nashville moves on.
After the game, O’Reilly reflected on how he needed to be a better leader out on the ice in the loss.
“It’s something I have to do a better job at, changing us and finding a way to get out of this funk right now because it’s not good by any means,” O’Reilly said.
“I was brought in to be a leader and guide us, and that’s something I have to do a better job of for sure of changing us and finding a way to get out of this little funk we’re in right now. It’s not good by any means.”
Confidence is another component of this team needing a boost after going 1-5 in their last six games.
“That’s something I don’t have an answer for,” O’Reilly said in terms of where to find confidence. “Everyone is different, it’s something you have to search for. Confidence comes with working hard and doing things the right way. That’s something we have to practice going into our next game and keep fighting. There’s still belief in here, it’s not going to be easy.”
Nashville had five skaters who scored two points or more to kick off the five-game homestand. Forsberg led the way with two goals and an assist.
Prior to the game, Brunette stated he wanted to see the powerplay pick up, but instead had four goals come at even strength while going 1-for-4 on the powerplay.
“I liked our gaps and our attention to detail,” Brunette said. “I thought we created enough and played well enough to win a hockey game. When you beat yourself up on all those little things it’s hard to win in this league.”
Goaltender Juuse Saros made 19 saves in a frustrating loss to the Coyotes and Brunette would like to work on the on-ice and mental aspects of the game moving forward.
“They go hand in hand a lot of the time,” Brunette said. “For sure there’s frustration, like I said we’ve left points on the board in probably 12 or 14 of our games here. That’s frustrating for me and I know it’s frustrating to them. It’s a little bit of a redundancy, we talk about it day in and day out and we keep doing it.”
Center Cody Glass returned to the team after missing the last eight games. He was paired with wingers Jusso Pärssinen and Philip Tomasino for the first time this season.
“As the game got going I thought he got better and better,” Brunette said. “I liked his line combination, we had to shorten the bench a little bit but he was playing well enough to play more. It was good to see him back in the lineup and it makes us a deeper team.”
Brunette added that he thought all four lines played with a purpose but were just unable to maintain the lead.
Nashville had several miscues out on the ice, a notable one being when Nashville was on the powerplay in the first period. Defenseman Troy Stecher sat in the penalty box for interference in the first period and J.J. Moser found him down the ice as he broke free from the sin bin for Arizona’s first goal of the contest.
Forward Michael Carcone had his second multi-point performance of the season for Arizona and his third in the NHL. His second goal late in the second period was the dagger needed to keep the Predators at bay moving forward. Forsberg scored his second of the night but it wasn’t enough to rally back.
Defenseman Sean Durzi scored on the powerplay and from that point, the Coyotes came out with two points as they exit Nashville.
The Predators have the next two days off from game action and are set to host the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday evening.
Here’s the full tribute video for O’Reilly’s 1,000th game celebration:
Congrats to Ryan O’Reilly on being honored for playing 1,000 games! @PredsNHL pic.twitter.com/ApZPyb6G1W
— 102.5 The Game (@1025TheGame) November 12, 2023
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