Andrew Brunette is perplexed by the Nashville Predators’ overtime woes after their loss to the Penguins

It will be a strangely familiar sight for the Nashville Predators.

Enduring 60 minutes of regular time and forcing extra time to secure at least a point, only to see the opponent claim a victory in 3v3 play.

The Predators have lost seven of eight overtime periods this season, most recently a 5-4 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday at Bridgestone Arena. Bryan Rust scored his second goal of the game 1:07 into overtime to give Pittsburgh the win.

Rust’s goal came after a battle for the puck outside the Nashville zone when Filip Forsberg tried to jump up the ice for Gustav Nyquist. Defenseman Brady Skjei couldn’t switch, putting a tired player in a vulnerable position, which the Penguins took advantage of.

“Tonight we made it too easy for them,” Predators coach Andrew Brunette said. “One long shift and then we turned it over three times. I know we’re tired, but you wish you could get this back.”

Andrew Brunette on the Nashville Predators’ struggles in 3-on-3 overtime

Overtime wasn’t a big problem for the Predators last season – they finished 6-5 in overtime and 3-0 in shootouts. They are 1-7 this season and have yet to participate in a shootout.

When asked to explain this season’s problems, Brunette seemed to chalk it up to bad luck.

“I wish I knew,” Brunette said. “If you look at all these games, we had a chance to win the game early… but we don’t and then they come and score. If you look at all our games last year, that was probably the case. “Pretty similar where they had a chance and then we got it back and scored. It’s a kind of roll of the dice.

Overtime losses guarantee at least a point, but Nashville (9-17-7, 25 points) needs every point it can get.

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“We’re trying to cut it,” Brunette said. “I’m just trying to get back to .500 at home and go from there. We missed some games and won some too. We’re just trying to make a little run.”

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

This article originally appeared on the Nashville Tennessean: Andrew Brunette is stumped by the Predators’ overtime woes after another loss