An early three-goal deficit was too much for the Nashville Predators to get out of in a 4-1 loss to the Seattle Kraken on Thursday at Climate Pledge Arena.
The Predators’ first game of the 2026 calendar year was the fifth straight game that they were tasked with having to battle back.
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“We had our looks in the the third, but obviously the starts have been an issue here,” Roman Josi said. “It’s hard to be behind, especially against a good, defensive team. We have to figure out our starts and come out like we did in the second and part of the third.”
Matty Beniers scored nearly four minutes into the game, tipping in a shot from Ryker Evans, which he picked up off a Nick Perbix turnover.
Halfway through the period, Jamie Oleksiak scored on a long wrist shot to make it 2-0. It took the Kraken 10 seconds after the Oleksiak goal to find the back of the net again as Beniers netted his second goal of the game off a Jordan Eberle rebound.
Seattle found the back of the net three times on just six shots. Juuse Saros stayed in the net, making 19 saves on 22 shots on the night.
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Roman Josi got the Predators on the board in the second period on the power play. Nashville has now scored at least one power play goal in three straight games.
The Predators would pull Saros with around four minutes left in the game and Jared McCann capitalized, sealing the Kraken victory.
Nashville had the shot edge 25-23 and took just two penalty minutes. It also converted on one of the two power-play opportunities.
In the loss, the Predators fall to 18-18-4 on the season and fifth in the Central Division. Utah, which the Predators defeated on Monday, beat the New York Islanders to move ahead of Nashville.
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The Predators have two more games left in their seven-game road trip, taking on the Calgary Flames on Saturday and the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday.
“Calgary has been really good at home and we know how Edmonton plays at home,” Josi said. “We know when our game is right by the way we play. We didn’t do that in the beginning tonight and we need to do that right away.”
