The Nashville Predators mounted a comeback effort late in the third period, but ended up falling to the Dallas Stars by a final score of 4-3 in their 2024-15 season opener Thursday at Bridgestone Arena.

Filip Forsberg had a goal on the power play and a pair of assists, and Jonathan Marchessault had two assists in his Predators debut. Scott Wedgewood, who got the start in net with Juuse Saros out day-to-day with a lower-body injury, allowed four goals – all in the second period – on 19 shots.

Roope Hintz opened the scoring for the Stars at 2:05 of the second period, and Jason Robertson scored 19 seconds later to extend Dallas' lead to 2-0. Forsberg's power-play tally came just over a minute later, but Mason Marchment scored twice to give Dallas the two-goal lead back.

Predators head coach Andrew Brunette made a key personnel switch in the third period, swapping centers Colton Sissons and Tommy Novak to put them on the second and third lines, respectively. Following the switch, Novak promptly scored on the breakaway to cut the Stars' lead to 4-2 at 4:37 of the third period.

"You're trying to spark something, trying to get something going," Brunette said after the game. "Tommy and Luke [Evangelista] have a little special combination. It seems like they like playing with each other. It's comfortable. It's putting a lot on Tommy to play with the new guys ... and [Sissons] kind of just fits in wherever you need him. I thought he played a heck of a hockey game, and he's one of those players you can trust in any situation."

Ryan O'Reilly made it 4-3 with a wrist shot from the right circle at 18:25 of the third period. Steven Stamkos hit one off the post with roughly 10 seconds remaining in regulation but couldn't find the back of the net as the Predators fell just short with the 4-3 final.

The Predators will be back in action Saturday on the road against the Detroit Red Wings.