Nov 8, 2025; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Dallas Stars left wing Jason Robertson (21) drives towards the goal as Nashville Predators defenseman Nicolas Hague (41) defends during the second period at Bridgestone Arena. Alan Poizner-Imagn Images
It took 17 games for defenseman Nicolas Hague to score his first goal as a member of the Nashville Predators. Through the first eight games to start the season, the 6-foot-6, 240-pound left-shot defender was on injured reserve after suffering an upper-body injury during the Preds’ pre-season opener.
Hague had one assist coming into Saturday afternoon’s contest against the Dallas Stars at Bridgestone Arena on Filip Forsberg Bobblehead Day.
When the 26-year-old Hague finally netted his first goal as a Predator after nine games and 168 minutes of ice time, he wasn’t celebrating after the game. The Predators had just lost another one-goal game and suffered their fourth straight loss.
“There are no moral victories,” Hague said simply when asked about his goal following Saturday’s 5-4 loss to Dallas.
Indeed. The Preds had their chances, but defensive lapses, failing to convert on four of five power-play opportunities and a sluggish first period resulted in their sixth one-goal loss 17 games into another disappointing start.
Hague’s goal came at the 4:43 mark of the second period after the Stars had taken a 2-1 lead on a Roope Hintz goal. Hague took a feed from Nick Blankenburg at the left point and put a shot past Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger glove side to tie the game at two. Erik Haula earned the secondary helper.
The very first GOLDEN Haguerbomb 🤩 pic.twitter.com/CcyErpYrQ5
— Nashville Predators (@PredsNHL) November 8, 2025
Hague picked up his second assist of the season just 27 seconds later when Ryan O’Reilly fed Forsberg, who scored a goal on his Bobblehead Day to put the Preds in the lead 3-2.
The lead was short-lived, as Dallas tied the game before Steven Stamkos netted a power-play goal to put Nashville back in front, only to see it slip away with two goals by the Stars in the span of 47 seconds.
“We weren't good enough from the start,” Hague said. “Just too many costly mistakes and they compound now and came back to bite us today.”
For the game, Hague logged 22:21 of ice time with two shots on goal and a +1 rating. He came into the day with one assist through eight games.
The Preds acquired Hague last June from the Vegas Golden Knights along with Vegas' own conditional third-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft in exchange for forward Colton Sissons and defenseman Jeremy Lauzon.
Hague then signed a four-year, $22 million contract with the Preds. at his introductory press conference in July, he expressed a desire to be a more offensive-minded defender.
"I think there's more to give [in my game] offensively," Hague said in July. "In juniors, I was an offensive guy, and when I came into the NHL, there's a heavy focus on defending in this league. You're not going to make it anywhere if you do that."
In 373 career NHL games, Hague has recorded 86 points (21-65-86) with a +17 rating. The Preds were looking to get younger and stronger on defense, qualities Hague possesses.
Every bit of scoring touch Hague can add will certainly be a bonus, however, especially when so many close games have been lost early in the season.
Hague would feel better if his goals led to more actual victories, not moral ones.
"We're not going to outscore everybody every night," Hague said Saturday, echoing the same sentiments of Steven Stamkos a couple of weeks ago. "We gotta button it up... I'd rather win 1-0 , but you're going to have those (high-scoring games). We gotta grow up and mature a little bit as a group."
For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free.
FREE GIFT ISSUE + 12 ISSUES + FREE DIGITAL ARCHIVE + FREE SHIPPING*** Canada Post Strike update - as of October 15, 2025 - Please be aware that Canada Post is now in a rolling strike. While they are accepting mail, delivery times could be longer than expected. US orders are not impacted. WHAT'S INCLUDED IN YOUR PRINT & DIGITAL ARCHIVE SUBSCRIPTION > FREE GIFT ISSUE* of your