O’Reilly lays into himself after latest Preds loss: ‘Can’t make a six-foot pass to save my life’
Nashville Predators veteran Ryan O’Reilly pointed the finger squarely at himself after the team suffered its latest loss Thursday, 3-1 to the Philadelphia Flyers.
O’Reily scored Nashville’s lone goal in the loss, which dropped the team to 5-7-4, but was not happy with his play.
“For myself, No. 1 centre, turn the puck over everywhere, can’t make a six-foot pass to save my life,” O’Reilly told reporters. “We’re not going to have much success if I’m playing pathetic like that. It’s stupid.
“I don’t know the answer. I’ve had one good year in my career. I don’t have an answer, that’s for sure.”
The 34-year-old forward’s self-criticism may have been a bit harsh for a career that has seen him score 309 goals and 834 points 1,168 career games and win a Stanley Cup in 2019 with the St. Louis Blues. He has six goals and 10 points in 16 games this season.
O’Reilly, though, was part of the Predators team that fell well shy of expectations last year, finishing third-last in the Western Conference after loading in the off-season. on Thursday, he called on himself and his fellow veterans to turn the season around.
“The last few games, I’ve been making mistakes left and right,” he said. “You can’t expect to win like that. There’s frustration everywhere. Guys are working, a lot of guys are working. You do what you can. It falls on leadership and we have to be the ones to get over it.”
Nashville fell victim to a strange call in overtime Tuesday in their loss to the Minnesota as the Wild scored after the net came off its moorings.
The Talking Point: Were the Preds robbed, or was it the right call? Marcus Johansson’s overtime-winner against Nashville came after Predators goalie Justus Annunen dislodged the net and Johansson shot the puck into where the net should have been. TSN Hockey analyst Bruce Boudreau weighs in on whether or not the Preds were robbed by the officiating crew.
On Thursday, Nashville netminder Dan Vladar shut the door after allowing O‘Reilly’s first-period market, finishing with 23 saves on 24 shots.
“It’s nice having the puck in the offensive zone, but if you don’t win games it’s disappointing,” O‘Reilly said. “You’re pissed off. We want to win games, it’s as simple as that. Yeah it’s better than defending the whole time, but I’d rather defend the whole time and win the game than the other way around.”
The struggling Predators will take on the 7-4-3 Dallas Stars on Saturday.
