You would think a 6-3 victory would satisfy Nashville Predators coach Andrew Brunette.
For the most part, that’s how it was. The victory, Nashville’s fifth in a row, puts the Predators further ahead in the wild card race and takes two points off the San Jose Sharks, a team chasing them in the standings.
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But the way the second half of the game unfolded on March 24 at Bridgestone Arena worried Morena.
The Predators built a four-goal lead in the first period, then made it 6-1 in the second period before seeing the Sharks dominate possession in the second half of the game.
“It’s hard to keep the accelerator down when you’re up five goals,” Morena said. “It took us a while to get going in the second…we took some penalties and had some learning experiences.”
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Nashville Predators and Steven Stamkos fight the San Jose Sharks in search of the wild card
Nashville Predators right wing Matthew Wood (71) celebrates his goal against the San Jose Sharks during the first period at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., Tuesday, March 24, 2026.
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Nashville Predators and Steven Stamkos fight the San Jose Sharks in search of the wild card
Nashville Predators right wing Matthew Wood (71) celebrates his goal against the San Jose Sharks during the first period at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., Tuesday, March 24, 2026.
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Nashville Predators and Steven Stamkos fight the San Jose Sharks in search of the wild card
Nashville Predators right wing Matthew Wood (71) shoots the puck and scores a goal against the San Jose Sharks during the first period at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., Tuesday, March 24, 2026.
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Nashville Predators and Steven Stamkos fight the San Jose Sharks in search of the wild card
Nashville Predators right wing Matthew Wood (71) celebrates his goal against the San Jose Sharks during the first period at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., Tuesday, March 24, 2026.
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Nashville Predators and Steven Stamkos fight the San Jose Sharks in search of the wild card
Nashville Predators right wing Matthew Wood (71) celebrates his goal against the San Jose Sharks during the first period at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., Tuesday, March 24, 2026.
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Nashville Predators and Steven Stamkos fight the San Jose Sharks in search of the wild card
Nashville Predators right wing Luke Evangelista (77) scores a goal past San Jose Sharks goalie Alex Nedeljkovic (33) during the first period at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., Tuesday, March 24, 2026.
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Nashville Predators and Steven Stamkos fight the San Jose Sharks in search of the wild card
Nashville Predators defenseman Brady Skjei (76) celebrates his goal against the San Jose Sharks with center Ryan O’Reilly (90) during the first period at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., Tuesday, March 24, 2026.
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Nashville Predators and Steven Stamkos fight the San Jose Sharks in search of the wild card
Nashville Predators center Ryan O’Reilly (90) battles San Jose Sharks right wing Adam Gaudette (81) during the first period at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., Tuesday, March 24, 2026.
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Nashville Predators and Steven Stamkos fight the San Jose Sharks in search of the wild card
Nashville Predators right wing Luke Evangelista (77) celebrates his goal against the San Jose Sharks during the first period at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., Tuesday, March 24, 2026.
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Nashville Predators and Steven Stamkos fight the San Jose Sharks in search of the wild card
Nashville Predators center Ryan O’Reilly (90) battles San Jose Sharks left wing Igor Chernyshov (92) during the first period at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., Tuesday, March 24, 2026.
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Nashville Predators and Steven Stamkos fight the San Jose Sharks in search of the wild card
Nashville Predators right wing Luke Evangelista (77) celebrates his goal alongside San Jose Sharks defenseman John Klingberg (3) during the first period at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., Tuesday, March 24, 2026.
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Nashville Predators and Steven Stamkos fight the San Jose Sharks in search of the wild card
Nashville Predators defenseman Roman Josi (59) celebrates his goal against the San Jose Sharks during the first period at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., Tuesday, March 24, 2026.
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Nashville Predators and Steven Stamkos fight the San Jose Sharks in search of the wild card
Nashville Predators defenseman Roman Josi (59) celebrates his goal against the San Jose Sharks during the first period at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., Tuesday, March 24, 2026.
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Nashville Predators and Steven Stamkos fight the San Jose Sharks in search of the wild card
Nashville Predators left wing Filip Forsberg (9) celebrates his goal against the San Jose Sharks with center Fedor Svechkov (40) during the first period at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., Tuesday, March 24, 2026.
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Nashville Predators and Steven Stamkos fight the San Jose Sharks in search of the wild card
A catfish is removed from the ice before a game between the Nashville Predators and the San Jose Sharks at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., Tuesday, March 24, 2026.
Several Nashville penalties led to two goals for San Jose. The Sharks scored early in the third period to make it 6-3, creating some nervous tension in Bridgestone Arena. Surely the Predators wouldn’t blow a five-goal lead?
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They didn’t do it thanks to their veteran players, Morena said.
“We had to struggle a little bit and our veterans got a little testy,” Morena said.
Morena didn’t blame his team for a big scoring touch in the first period, but simply emphasized that this loss of focus won’t work in a bid to make the playoffs. He congratulated his veterans for lifting the team out of complacency.
“(6-1 up), we feel like we’re really in a good place,” Morena said. “But we have to understand that there will be momentum shifts in games. We’re still learning.”
Nashville Predators use balanced attack to defeat San Jose Sharks
The Predators’ attack in the first half was not a dominant line. It was the whole team.
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Five different scorers found the back of the net: Filip Forsberg, Matthew Wood, Roman Josi, Luke Evangelista and Brady Skjei. Then Steven Stamkos made it six with his power-play goal early in the second period.
“Everyone came ready to play,” said Filip Forsberg, who finished with a goal and two assists.
This was the sixth time the Predators scored six or more goals in a game this season, and the first time they scored five goals in the first period since 2009.
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Nashville’s attack wasn’t about shot volume, it was about placement and timing. In the first goal, a pass from Fedor Svechkov took Forsberg directly into the goal area, against the momentum of goalkeeper Alex Nedeljkovic. Evangelista’s goal came off a sharply angled pass from Ryan O’Reilly, perfectly lofted over the sticks of two Sharks defenders. Stamkos’ power-play goal in the second wasn’t a powerful one-time shot, it was a well-placed wrist shot that snuck through traffic in front.
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“We’re being rewarded, which is good, but we did a lot of things right,” Forsberg added. “We were putting pucks behind their defensemen and scored a couple goals, which is huge. We set the tone for the rest of the game.”
Alex Daugherty is the Predators writer for The Tennessean. Contact Alex at jdaugherty@gannett.com. Follow Alex on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @alexdaugherty1. Also check out our exclusive Predators Instagram page @tennessean_preds.
This article originally appeared in Nashville Tennessean: Why Andrew Morena Said Predators’ Veterans Were ‘Grumpy’ in 6-3 Win
