After the Nashville Predators fell 4-2 to the New Jersey Devils on March 26, Steven Stamkos was displeased at how the game unfolded.
In particular, Stamkos was upset at a third period penalty call to Matthew Wood that led to the Devils’ go-ahead goal.
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“It pisses me off a little bit the way that the game ended on that power play goal,” Stamkos told reporters at Bridgestone Arena. “I get it, it’s tough, the refs call what they see. No matter how much we yell and scream, they aren’t changing the call once it’s made. But it’s a 2-2 game, it’s coming down to the wire, they haven’t called a lot of penalties in the game.”
The slashing call on Wood came with 6:14 left in the third period and less than a minute after the Predators had killed off a tripping call on Fedor Svechkov.
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Nashville Predators in wild card race vs New Jersey Devils. Our best photos
Nashville Predators center Steven Stamkos (91) shoots into New Jersey Devils goaltender Jacob Markstrom (25) during the first period at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., Thursday, March 26, 2026.
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Nashville Predators in wild card race vs New Jersey Devils. Our best photos
Nashville Predators center Steven Stamkos (91) shoots into New Jersey Devils goaltender Jacob Markstrom (25) during the first period at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., Thursday, March 26, 2026.
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Nashville Predators in wild card race vs New Jersey Devils. Our best photos
New Jersey Devils center Jack Hughes (86) celebrates his goal against the Nashville Predators during the first period at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., Thursday, March 26, 2026.
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Nashville Predators in wild card race vs New Jersey Devils. Our best photos
Nashville Predators left wing Zachary L’heureux (68) skates with the puck under pressure from New Jersey Devils defenseman Simon Nemec (17) during the first period at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., Thursday, March 26, 2026.
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Nashville Predators in wild card race vs New Jersey Devils. Our best photos
New Jersey Devils goaltender Jacob Markstrom (25) defends against Nashville Predators center Tyson Jost (17) during the first period at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., Thursday, March 26, 2026.
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Nashville Predators in wild card race vs New Jersey Devils. Our best photos
New Jersey Devils goaltender Jacob Markstrom (25) defends against Nashville Predators left wing Filip Forsberg (9) during the first period at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., Thursday, March 26, 2026.
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Nashville Predators in wild card race vs New Jersey Devils. Our best photos
New Jersey Devils right wing Connor Brown (16) and Nashville Predators center Fedor Svechkov (40) collide during the first period at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., Thursday, March 26, 2026.
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Nashville Predators in wild card race vs New Jersey Devils. Our best photos
New Jersey Devils defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler (71) fights for control of the puck with Nashville Predators right wing Luke Evangelista (77) during the first period at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., Thursday, March 26, 2026.
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Nashville Predators in wild card race vs New Jersey Devils. Our best photos
Nashville Predators right wing Luke Evangelista (77) passes the puck past New Jersey Devils defenseman Luke Hughes (43) during the first period at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., Thursday, March 26, 2026.
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Nashville Predators in wild card race vs New Jersey Devils. Our best photos
New Jersey Devils defenseman Simon Nemec (17) moves the puck away from Nashville Predators center Fedor Svechkov (40) during the first period at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., Thursday, March 26, 2026.
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Nashville Predators in wild card race vs New Jersey Devils. Our best photos
Nashville Predators center Fedor Svechkov (40) falls to the ice next to New Jersey Devils center Jack Hughes (86) during the first period at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., Thursday, March 26, 2026.
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Nashville Predators in wild card race vs New Jersey Devils. Our best photos
Nashville Predators center Tyson Jost (17) battles New Jersey Devils defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler (71) during the first period at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., Thursday, March 26, 2026.
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Nashville Predators in wild card race vs New Jersey Devils. Our best photos
A catfish is removed from the ice before a game between the Nashville Predators and the New Jersey Devils at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., Thursday, March 26, 2026.
“They just gave them a power play, we kill it off. There’s, in my opinion, no reason to call that particular play,” Stamkos said. “It is what it is. It just sucks with the magnitude of the game and the points for us this time of the year. … a penalty with seven minutes left in the game is tough, especially after we literally just killed one off.”
Stamkos added that the officials calling so few penalties earlier in the game dictated how the game was played.
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“You get a feel as the game goes on how they’re going to call the game. (New Jersey) doesn’t take a lot of penalties, we knew that before the game. We’re not going to get three, four, five power plays. We couldn’t afford to take three or four ourselves. We took two, they took one. It just sucks to miss out on at least a point in those situations.”
Predators coach Andrew Brunette was less forthcoming with his opinions on the call.
“(The officials) call what they see and we deal with it,” he said. “Unfortunately, it probably affected the outcome of the game.”
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With the loss, the Predators miss out on two points in the standings, but Nashville (34-29-9, 77 points) still holds the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
“I think we left it up to chance,” Brunette said. “When you leave it up to chance, there’s going to be nights like this.”
Alex Daugherty is the Predators beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Alex atjdaugherty@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: Why Steven Stamkos criticized officials on penalty call in Predators loss