The Nashville Predators scored one late, but it wasn’t enough to topple the Montreal Canadiens, losing their second straight 4-1 Saturday, March 28 at Bridgestone Arena.

Forward Zachary L’Heureux scored the lone goal for Nashville as it ends off its three-game homestand going 1-2. Goaltender Juuse Saros stopped 28 shots on 32 faced. The team remains in a wild card spot thanks to a win by Utah against Los Angeles.

“I think they were just better than us, they were faster,” captain Roman Josi said. “We seem like we couldn’t really break out well. We had some good faces, but in all they were definitely the better team.”

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Canadiens winger Ivan Demidov scored the game’s opening goal at 8:26 after a line change prompted a turnover in the neutral zone. The Predators turned over the puck 18 times last night, two less than the Canadiens.

Center Oliver Kapanen made it a two-goal lead for Montreal in the middle frame. The Canadiens continued the goal-scoring in the later stages of the period. Winger Cole Caufield scored his 45th goal of the season and center Alex Newhook scored his 11th.

It is the first time the Predators failed to register a goal in first periods since a 3-1 loss against Edmonton earlier this month.

“The urgency levels got to rise all over the ice. Tonight we didn’t execute,” Head Coach Andrew Brunette said. “When you don’t execute against a team that is fast and young, you’re kind of chasing it and play slow. We played slow a lot of the night and therefore it’s hard to sustain or get into any zone time.”

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The Predators needed 56:26 to find the back of the net. L’Heureux caught the puck on a funny rebound off the boards to hand Nashville its only tally of the night. The recently extended winger has two goals on the season. Defenseman Ryan Ufko and center Matthew Wood assisted on the goal, giving fans something to write home about as the youth tallied.

“I feel like we’re at our best as a team when we’re cycling down low and winning battles down there and possessing the puck. It feels like it’s not quite clicking in that sense right now,” winger Luke Evangelista said.”

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Nashville will need to rub off the lost as it flies out to Tampa Bay to take on the Lightning. The Lightning are 6-2-2 in their last ten games. The Predators will look to snap their losing streak with a big win against the cup contender. A mixture of youth and veteran presence will be the key to tonight’s matchup.

“We just got to forget it and move on,” Brunette said. “It’s something we’ve been doing all year. We’re still in it. The schedule’s a little bit of a factor in what we’re doing. If you don’t execute, you can’t play fast, and we didn’t play fast.”

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