The Nashville Predators had issues weathering the storm that was the Carolina Hurricanes from puck drop. The Predators' struggle to get anything going saw them fall to Carolina, 4-1, on Wednesday at Bridgestone Arena. 

Filip Forsberg spoiled Pyotr Kochetkov's shutout bid in the third period, scoring his ninth point in six games and his fourth goal in two games. On the assists, it was Ryan O'Reilly's 14th point in 10 games and Steven Stamkos' sixth point in four games. 

The Predators had a little bit of a push in the third period, but it wasn't enough. 

Despite the loss, Saros made 33 saves on 36 shots and allowed three goals. It was his ninth 30+ save performance of the season. Nashville was outshot, 37-26, on the night. 

Here are three takeaways from Predators' loss to the Hurricanes. 

Stalled offense 

Saros did all the heavy work in the first period as the Predators' offense struggled immensely. Despite being down just 1-0, Nashville was outshot, 19-5, in the first period and saw Jackson Blake score his ninth of the season off a rebound in front of the net.

Carolina is the top puck possession team in the league, spending 46.2% of their total possession time this season in the offensive zone. On the flip side, they are not in their own zone for long, with just 35.6% of their total possession time spent in the defensive zone. 

Nashville struggled to not only get their offense going, but get the puck off Hurricanes sticks. 

"They're fast, and I thought we played slow for the first part of the game," Predators head coach Andrew Brunette said. "It took a little while to kind of get into the game for us and then a little bit of the game plan wasn't executed. 
We turned over pucks at the blue line and credit to them, they got great sticks and back pressure." 

Following the 5-2 win over the St. Louis Blues on Monday, Filip Forsberg credited the teams breakout effort and was one of the reasons why the Predators had been playing so well as of late. 

On Wednesday, the Predators' breakout struggled consistently, whether it was making a pass to get it going or turning the puck over. Nashville gave away the puck 18 times on the night. 

"It's a little bit of both. 
We need our D back faster and our forwards need to come back and support better," Forsberg said. "Whether it's getting puck battles higher up on the walls, trying to get the pucks out that way or coming lower, try to create some separation."

Penalties sting Preds again 

While Nashville was able to keep its PIM below 10 minutes, penalties were still an issue in the final result.

It was a one-goal game for the majority until Nick Perbix took a delay of game penalty in the third period. On the power play, Sebastian Aho scored off a one-time feed into the slot by Jackson Blake to put the Hurricanes up by two. 

Less than two minutes later, Seth Jarvis scored off a one-timer on Saros' glove side to bump the lead to three goals. One penalty derailed any chance that Nashville had to get back into the game. 

"We knew it was gonna be a muddy game. One goal game, and then we'd take a kind of a senseless penalty, and two goals is gonna be really hard against this team (Carolina), especially the way they're playing right now," Brunette said. 

Penalties have been a continuous issue for the Predators all season. In their last meeting against the Hurricanes, Nashville put Carolina on the power play six times and they'd score twice. On Wednesday, the Hurricanes had four opportunities, scoring on one. 

Carolina also has one of the worst power plays in the league, sitting at 15.5%. 

Saros keeps Nashville in it 

This could've been a 10-0 game if Saros had not been in net. 

In addition to making nearly 20 saves in the first period alone, Saros recorded his ninth 30+ save performance of the season, making 33 saves on 36 shots. He continues to prove that he is crucial to the Predators' nightly success. 

Even after the loss, Saros is still flirting with a .900 save percentage, now a .897 and is now below 3.00 goals against average at 2.95. On the month, his save percentage is sitting at .920. 

"Juice (Saros) kept us in the game for the first period, then we actually started taking over," Forsberg said. "We keep working through the whole thing, and didn't get the result that we wanted in a third, but we certainly created enough chances for it." 

Up next: Toronto Maple Leafs (15-12-5, 6th Atlantic) at Nashville Predators (13-16-4, 8th Central) on Saturday, Dec. 20 at 6 p.m. CST at Bridgestone Arena