In Nashville, home ice could not keep the Predators from the losing end of a match with the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday night.
Anthony Cirelli struck twice for the Lightning in a 4-1 win.
“I think it was an ideal start for our team,” Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said. “To have as little work as [McElhinney] had in the first period (six shots) was probably good for him. And then we settled in as a team and the only thing that really hurt us in this game was taking the penalties (3-for-4 on penalty kill).”
Tampa improved to 8-1-1.
“He (Cirelli) also has to play against pretty formidable lines every single night,” Cooper said. “He’s spent a little bit of time in the League and now the offensive side of the game is coming. I think he’s got a little more confidence on the power play and, I don’t know, getting rewarded for playing a great 200-foot game. It’s just a matter of time.”
Curtis McElhinney made 22 saves for the win.
“I think the first couple periods were phenomenal on our end,” McElhinney said. “We did a great job and got a lot of big blocks. A good job on the kill. They snuck one by at the end, but overall, just a great performance from the team.”
Dante Fabbro picked up the Preds’ only marker on the night.
“It’s frustrating for sure,” the Predators’ Roman Josi said. “It’s such a short season and it’s important to get off to a good start. Playing in your division the whole year, consistency is a huge thing. Like I said, that’s something we need to figure out and we need to figure out quickly. It’s got to come from us. We need to figure it out. We don’t have any time to play inconsistently. We’ve got to find a solution quick.”
Nashville played with an empty net late to try and rally from a 1-2 deficit, but Blake Coleman and Steven Stamkos potted markers into the gaping maw of the net for the final scores of the night.
Pekka Rinne made 31 saves
“We’re certainly searching for reasons where we can be more consistent and trying to show them when we do it right what it requires, this is what needs to be done,” Predators head coach John Hynes said. “And then at times we do it. Sometimes we do it and we don’t do it long enough. It seems like when we get behind, we do it more often and more consistently. If I had the answer to the riddle at this point then we’d be able to solve it, but it’s on all of us to be able to solve it.”
Nashville dropped to 5-7-0.
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