Andrew Brunette’s disappointment was unmistakable after the Nashville Predators’ 5-3 loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Jan. 20.

“We weren’t ready to compete,” Brunette told reporters after the loss at Bridgestone Arena. “They outworked us. Outcompeted us. They wanted it more than we did in the first period. That was pretty evident for everybody that watched the game.”

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As it turns out, Brunette’s disappointment has been growing over the last three days − he’s still stewing about the 7-2 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Jan. 17.

“For some reason, what happened near the end of the Vegas game carried into the first period tonight,” he explained.

The Predators followed an impressive 7-3 win over the Colorado Avalanche with a poor result to the Golden Knights. Brunette was especially upset his defense allowed five goals in the third period − leaving backup Justus Annunen with little help − to turn a close game into a blowout.

The Predators (23-22-4, 50 points) fell behind 4-0 early in the second period against the Sabres (27-17-5, 59 points). Brunette decided to pull goaltender Juuse Saros with just over 16 minutes left in the second period.

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“I didn’t like where (the game) was going and I didn’t feel it was fair to (Saros),” Brunette said. “I didn’t feel it was fair to (Annunen) last game. The residual effect of the last 12 minutes of the Vegas game into the first 23 minutes of tonight.”

Brunette added that pulling Saros was intended as motivation for his skaters, rather than punishment for his goalie.

“You don’t feel good for your goalies, so I hope (the rest of the team) gets mad. They should be upset that they let their goalies down two games in a row when they hung in there with us through different games in this stretch,” Brunette said.

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Incidentally, Brunette’s motivation tactic almost worked. The Predators scored two goals in the second period, then added another in the third to make it 4-3 with just over 10 minutes to play. Ryan O’Reilly scored twice and added an assist to get the Predators within reach of tying the game.

But a late empty net goal by Buffalo ended the comeback and Nashville walked away with zero points for the second straight game.

“This time of year, when we know these points are so valuable, you can’t take solace in saying you played a good second half of the game,” Brunette said. “The game was lost in the first period.”

Next up, the Predators host the Ottawa Senators on Jan. 22 (7 p.m. CT, FanDuel Sports Network).

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Alex Daugherty is the Predators beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Alex at jdaugherty@gannett.com. Follow Alex on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @alexdaugherty1. Also check out our Predators exclusive Instagram page @tennessean_preds.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Andrew Brunette explains why he pulled Juuse Saros in second period