Nashville can't solve Ullmark at Madison Square Garden

New York City, NY - The Nashville Predators went to the historic Madison Square Garden, and had a frustrating 2–1 loss to the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Monday night, undone by an early first-period surge from the Rangers and a masterclass in net by Linus Ullmark.

New York scored twice in the opening period and rode that cushion the rest of the night, shutting down Nashville’s push despite the Predators carrying long stretches of zone time in the second and third periods.

Nashville falls to 4-14-0, 

FIRST PERIOD COSTS NASHVILLE

The Rangers struck early. At 3:40, Morgan Frost found space in the slot and buried a setup from Adam Fox and Esa Lindell, giving New York the quick 1–0 lead.

Nashville answered on special teams.
At 8:50, Ilya Lyubushkin blasted home his first goal of the season on the power play, finishing a clean puck-movement sequence from Oskar Sundqvist and Marcus Pettersson. For a moment, it looked like the Predators had seized momentum.

But New York responded just 1:17 later. Former Predator Colton Sissons struck at 10:07, redirecting a pass from Vladimir Tarasenko to restore the Rangers’ lead for good.

ULLEMARK SHUTS THE DOOR

Despite 25 shots — including several high-danger looks from Lawson Crouse, Reilly Smith and Nino Niederreiter — Nashville couldn’t crack Linus Ullmark again. The Rangers goaltender stopped 24 of 25 for a crisp .960 save percentage, earning the game’s second star.

Nashville goalie Tristan Jarry played well himself, turning aside 28 of 30 (.933), including multiple key stops during a heavy Rangers cycle in the third period.

SPECIAL TEAMS SOLID, BUT SCORING DRIES UP

The Predators’ penalty kill went a perfect 3-for-3, continuing its strong form. The power play went 1-for-4, but Nashville couldn’t generate the tying goal late despite a man-advantage with 1:22 left.

Marcus Pettersson quietly logged 26:24, the team high, while Lawson Crouse led all Nashville forwards at 22:24.

Faceoffs were a bright spot — the Predators dominated the dot 41–49, with Mark Jankowski going 14–26, Nino winning 15, and Maxim Tsyplakov a sharp 5-8.