NEW YORK, NY — There was no beating around the bush in the Devils locker room.
The Predators outmatched them from start to finish, handing the team their seventh straight loss by a 5-1 final Tuesday night.
“It sucks. It’s a tough one to swallow,” forward Kyle Palmieri said. “Had a day off yesterday, and we didn’t show up to play today. There’s not much else to say about it.”
The Devils were coming off two closer games, including a 3-2 shootout loss to the Rangers on Sunday at Madison Square Garden. The Devils looked to return home and build off a better game, but they reverted to the team that was losing games by three or four goals to start the losing streak.
The Devils made more puck management mistakes, and captain Andy Greene said the Predators made them pay for all of them.
“We believe in here here that we were doing a lot of things right,” Greene said. “Not to continue that right now, tonight, is disappointing.”
Coach John Hynes said there were problems across the board for the Devils, and when asked if there were any positives to take away, he simply said, “No.”
Along with the struggles to generate goals, the Devils got another performance from goalie Cory Schneider that falls far below his own standards.
“Five has been too common lately and not what I’m accustomed to and not what I expect out of myself,” Schneider said. “Just have to find a way.”
