Takeaways From Nashville Predators Loss In Winnipeg

Oct 16, 2025; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens center Nick Suzuki (14) plays the puck against Nashville Predators left wing Michael Bunting (58) during the third period at Bell Centre. David Kirouac-Imagn Images

The Nashville Predators concluded their four-game Canadian road trip Saturday night in Winnipeg against a Jets team that came into the game winners of their last three.

Whether that was a factor, or a case of fatigue after playing four games in six days, the Jets made things look easy with a 4-1 win at Canadian Life Centre.

“Not a good first period by us,” Preds Captain Roman Josi said following the game. ”[We] kind of came out sleepy. They were definitely the better team.”

It was by far the Predators’ most lethargic performance of the young season, dropping their record to 2-2-2.

Mark Scheifele scored a power-play goal, former Pred Nino Niederreiter scored another and Logan Stanley put the game away for the Jets. Vladislav Namestnikov added the final Jets goal, while Michael Bunting lit the lamp for the only Preds goal.

Scheifele put the Jets on top 1-0 with a power-play goal at 2:39 of the opening period off a setup from Kyle Connor. Scheifele set a new Jets/Atlanta Thrashers franchise record for total points with the tally.

Former Predator Nino Niederreiter increased the Jets lead to 2-0 at 10:25 of the first from a Vladislav Namestnikov pass. Stanley increased the lead to 3-0 with his second goal of the season at the 5:26 mark of the third. Namestnikov scored Winnipeg’s final tally, also on the power play, at 16:52.

Bunting scored the lone goal for Nashville at the 18:56 mark of the final frame.

Here are takeaways from the game.

New Look, Same Results

Jonathan Marchessault sat out Saturday night’s game with a lower-body injury. Preds head coach Andrew Brunette inserted Nick Blankenburg into the lineup for his season debut.

Blankenburg not only saw action at both defense and forward in an 11-forward, seven-defensemen look, but quarterbacked the power-play first unit.

The Preds were looking for any sign of life from a unit that was 2-for-19 coming into the game. The first and second units had some good looks and even a 5-on-3 opportunity, but once again failed in execution to get the final shot in the net.

During one power-play sequence in the second period, the Preds have several good shots, but Jets netminder Connor Hellebuyck was up to the task. At one point in the period, the Preds had a 7-1 shots-on-goal advantage on Winnipeg, six coming on power plays.

On the night, the Preds went 0-for-4 with the man advantage, continuing a disturbing trend.

Even the penalty-kill unit, which hadn’t allowed a single 5-on-4 goal coming into the game, gave up two to the Jets, who went 2-for-3 on the power play.

The Offense Has Hit A Wall

After four goals each in Ottawa and Toronto to start the four-game road trip, the Predators offense has faltered, managing just three goals over the last two games.

Coming into Saturday, Erik Haula (2g-2a), Jonathan Marchessault (2g-2a) and Roman Josi (1g-3a) all have four points through five games, followed by Perbix (2g-1a), Filip Forsberg (1g-2a) and Luke Evangelista (3a) with three points apiece.

Marchessault is currently out of the lineup, Stamkos has only one goal through six games and Evangelista is still looking to light the lamp for the first time this season. Even Forsberg, who led the team in scoring last season, has fallen silent.

“We’ve got to keep building,” Josi said. “We’ve got to have better starts than we did today. And then we’ve got to find a way to score some goals… Our defense has been good. I think we still have a lot of potential offensively… The power play has to be better. We played well in the last two periods, but we’ve got to just find a way.”

There were some spurts against the Jets. Hellebuyck was tested on two different occasions in the second period Saturday, but slammed the door each time. The Preds outshot Winnipeg 15-4 in the period.

Bunting’s goal broke Hellebuyck’s shutout. Other than that moral victory, the net might as well be a brick wall.

Brunette, while pointing out the inconsistencies of the team’s play, nevertheless felt the four-game road trip had some positive things to build on.

“Well, I think you see the images of when we play a certain way, and it’s a good picture,” Brunette said. “So, for us going forward, we need to be a little bit more consistent with that right from the puck drop. And for the most part, through this trip, we have been. So, to me, it was a good road trip.”

Michael McCarron Drops The Gloves

If all else fails, fight.

The Predators were looking for anything to provide a spark. At 8:28 of the middle frame, 6-foot-6 Michael McCarron went toe-to-toe with 6-foot-7 Logan Stanley. Both received five-minute majors for fighting.

It was great entertainment for the fans at Canadian Life Centre, but it didn’t put the puck in the net for the Predators. In fact, Stanley got the last laugh by scoring his second goal of the season for a 3-0 Jets lead in the third period.

The Predators will limp back to Bridgestone Arena to start a five-game homestand that begins Tuesday against the Anaheim Ducks.

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