The Predators miss out on their third straight opportunity to clinch the playoffs, losing to the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-2.
The Penguins were just too fast and too skilled for the Preds tonight, who struggled defensively. With Ryan Ellis out, the Preds tried to piece together their defensive unit, which included an emergency call-up of Stefan Elliott. As you might expect, there was a lot of miscommunication and poor decision making in the defensive zone and neutral ice. Trying to keep up with a number of world-class players is not easy. Phil Kessel scored the Pens first two goals, then later Kris Letang, Patric Hornqvist, and Nick Bonino added to the lead.