Edmonton Oilers still can’t solve Predators

Juuse Saros loves playing the Edmonton Oilers.

Saros, who recorded a 46-save shutout against the Oilers last December, made 31 stops as the Nashville Predators beat the Edmonton Oilers 3-0 Saturday night at Rogers Place.

“We face him next week, on Saturday, so we’ve got to find a way to get one by him,” Oilers forward Milan Lucic said.

LISTEN BELOW: Milan Lucic

After a scoreless first period, P.K. Subban opened the scoring with a shorthanded goal. He beat Cam Talbot from his off wing on a two-on-one with 6:46 left in the second. Viktor Arvidsson struck just 1:28 later to make it 2-0 Predators.

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The Oilers couldn’t manage many opportunities against a tight-checking Predators team. They had a goal mouth scramble on a power play in the third but couldn’t jam it past Saros. McDavid and the Oilers’ top line was held pointless for this first time this season.

WATCH: P.K. Subban torches the Oilers with shorthanded snipe

“He’s an explosive player and when you hear a guy like Sidney Crosby call him the best player in the world, it says a lot,” Predators defenceman P.K. Subban said of McDavid. “All you’ve got to do is just watch him out there. He’s so fast he makes quick plays, and he’s tough to play against. But I thought collectively as a five-man unit on the ice we did a good job of trying to keep him to the outside and when he did come into the middle, just swarm him.”

“Nights where the big guys don’t get on the scoreboard, sometimes you’ve got to get a bounce from an unusual suspect and we didn’t quite get that tonight,” head coach Todd McLellan said

Roman Josi added an empty net goal in the final minute.

“I thought we played a pretty hard, solid game,” McLellan said. “We checked, we skated, we battled–we had a better start.”

LISTEN BELOW: Todd McLellan

The Predators have won 13 straight games against the Oilers, but the Oilers will have a shot at redemption next Saturday in Nashville.

“I thought our effort was pretty good. But sometimes good isn’t good enough against the elite teams,”  Lucic said.

The Oilers (3-3) will host Pittsburgh on Tuesday.

–with files from Brenden Escott and Scott Johnston