After five consecutive victories, the Nashville Predators’ longest win streak of the season ended Thursday night, as the team lost 4-2 at home to the New Jersey Devils.

With the defeat, the Predators remain with 77 points and clinging to the second wild card spot for the looming NHL playoffs.

Two penalties late in the third period were called on the Predators (34-29-9), and the Devils (37-32-2) took advantage of a second power play to record the win.

“It’s frustrating. Pisses me off a little bit how the game ended on that power play goal,” Steven Stamkos said. “It’s tough. The refs call what they see. No matter how much we scream and shout, they’re not changing the call once it’s made.”

Nico Hischier’s second goal of the contest, with 5:53 remaining in regulation, was the dagger to put the Predators away.

“They call what they see, and we deal with it,” Preds head coach Andrew Brunette said. “Unfortunately, it probably affected the outcome of the game. I’m not going into details. I think we left it up to chance, and you leave it up to chance; there’s going to be nights that happen like this.”

New Jersey got off to a quick start and picked up the first goal of the game on a one-timer set up by Devils defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler. He found Jack Hughes in the left circle for a slap shot that went off Jesper Bratt and beat Preds goalie Justus Annunen over his shoulder.

Nashville then conceded another goal to the Devils at the halfway point of the second period as they continued to chase the game. Bratt threaded a shot through traffic, ultimately going off of Hischier, in front of Annunen to give New Jersey a 2-0 lead.

“As a group offensively, I’d like for us to have the puck more in the offensive zone,” Brunette said. “I thought we threw some pucks away, uncharacteristically of this group. It’s probably crept into our game since the trade deadline, where we haven’t gotten to our flow a little bit.”

A couple of minutes later, following the Devils’ second goal, the Predators’ offense got rolling, scoring two goals in 1:51 courtesy of rookie Reid Schaefer and Stamkos.

Schaefer rushed up the ice after Devils forward Lenni Hameenaho fanned on an attempted slap shot. Fedor Svechkov grabbed the loose puck and fed the open Schaefer for a breakaway, which yielded his sixth goal of the season.

As Nashville’s offense picked up momentum, the top forward line went to work in the offensive zone to force a timely turnover.

Luke Evangelista poked the puck away from Hughes, and Stamkos hopped over to make a quick play. The veteran put home his 36th goal of the campaign, opting to go five-hole on his shot, to knot it up 2-2.

“Teams are ready for us. A team like New Jersey they probably should be a playoff team. They have a lot of pride in that room and have nothing to lose,” Brunette said. “We just move on, take what’s good. There’s a big belief in that room we’re right there.”

Now Nashville focuses on back-to-back home ice contests this weekend before embarking on a six-game road trip.

First, the Predators welcome the Montreal Canadiens Saturday evening for a 6 p.m. puck drop. Then the team flies to Tampa Bay for a matinee matchup against the Lightning on Sunday.

As it stands before games on Friday, the Predators remain in the second wild card spot. The team stands three points behind the Utah Mammoth for the top wild card spot and could claim that position with a few more wins, depending on how the Central Division foe performs.