Andrew Brunette, Ryan O’Reilly explain Nashville Predators’ heartbreaking loss to Flyers

The Nashville Predatorswho have already piled some up devastating loss this seasonsomehow outdid himself on Wednesday in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Philadelphia Flyers.

With a 2-1 lead in the third period, the Predators appeared poised to win their third straight game at Bridgestone Arena. Then Flyers forward Morgan Frost tipped a goal past Juuse Saros to tie the game with 11 seconds left, followed by Sean Courturier stealing a win for Philadelphia in overtime.

Another heartbreaking loss has snowballed the Predators season, dropping to 7-12-4 and tied with the Chicago Blackhawks for last place in the Western Conference.

The goal by Frost was especially frustrating for the Predators, who controlled play throughout the game. They outshot the Flyers at that point and had several empty net chances to put the game away.

Predators coach Andrew Brunette said a lack of focus in the final seconds cost them the game. A pass from Couturier came in from the blue line, then was tipped by Travis Sanheim and Frost on its way into the Nashville net.

“We fell asleep a little bit,” Brunette said of Frost’s goal. “(The Flyers) are pretty good off the rush and we gave them an easy target.”

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Perhaps the most frustrating part of this loss is how well the Predators played 5-on-5. While Nashville’s 5-on-5 game has been a major weakness all season, they owned puck possession against the Flyers.

According to Natural Stat TrickThe Predators had 67 shot attempts to the Flyers’ 40 during 5-on-5, the most they have had all season.

Predators forward Ryan O’Reilly said the 5-on-5 play was encouraging, but ultimately, scoring remains an issue.

“Sometimes we tipped the ice,” O’Reilly said. “Had all the momentum, but you have to score.”

Despite the season’s high number of shot attempts, the Predators managed only 27 on goal. Part of the problem was the Flyers’ stout defense, which blocked 32 shots.

“It was there for us, we just didn’t score,” O’Reilly said. “It’s frustrating again. It should be two points but it wasn’t.”

The Predators now need to regroup quickly to face the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday (2 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network) at Bridgestone Arena.

Alex Daugherty is the Predators beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Alex at [email protected]. Follow Alex on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @alexdaugherty1. Also check out our Predators exclusive Instagram page @tennessean_preds.

This article originally appeared on the Nashville Tennessean: Andrew Brunette, Ryan O’Reilly explain Predators’ heartbreaking loss