January 20, 2026 — The Nashville Predators couldn’t overcome an early deficit, falling 5-3 to the Buffalo Sabres at Bridgestone Arena before 17,159 fans. Despite Ryan O’Reilly’s two-goal performance and Filip Forsberg’s three-point night, Nashville was unable to complete a comeback after spotting Buffalo a 4-0 lead.
The loss drops Nashville to 23-22-4 on the season, while Buffalo improves to 27-17-5 with the victory.
Goaltending Battle
The Predators utilized both netminders in the contest, with Juuse Saros absorbing the loss before giving way to Justus Annunen in relief.
Goalie
Decision
GA
SA
SV
SV%
TOI
Juuse Saros (NSH)
L
4
18
14
.778
23:54
Justus Annunen (NSH)
–
0
13
13
1.000
34:09
Alex Lyon (BUF)
W
3
34
31
.912
60:00
Game Flow
Buffalo seized control early as Noah Ostlund scored twice in the opening period, with Konsta Helenius adding a third to make it 3-0. Tage Thompson extended the lead to 4-0 early in the second before Nashville mounted its response.
O’Reilly got the Predators on the board at 10:09 of the second period with assists from Forsberg and Brady Skjei. Forsberg cut the deficit to 4-2 less than two minutes later, with O’Reilly providing the helper.
Point Leaders
Player
Team
G
A
PTS
+/-
S
TOI
Ryan O’Reilly
NSH
2
1
3
+2
4
20:42
Filip Forsberg
NSH
1
2
3
+1
7
19:38
Konsta Helenius
BUF
1
2
3
+2
4
14:43
Peyton Krebs
BUF
1
1
2
+2
2
12:31
Noah Ostlund
BUF
2
0
2
+1
3
16:58
O’Reilly completed his two-goal night at 9:30 of the third period, pulling Nashville within one at 4-3, but the Predators couldn’t find the equalizer. Peyton Krebs sealed the victory with an empty-net goal at 18:14.
By The Numbers
Nashville outshot Buffalo 34-32 and dominated possession with a 63.8% Corsi percentage but struggled with finishing, converting at just 8.8% compared to the Sabres’ 15.6%. Both teams went 0-for-2 on the power play, with all goals coming at even strength.
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