Undisciplined stick penalties were, unquestionably, the downfall of the Nashville Predators in their back-to-back losses to the Dallas Stars and the Winnipeg Jets.
After the loss to Dallas, Predators Captain Roman Josi admitted that the sticks were loose that night and that he was just as guilty as anyone after committing two penalties on the night. The same penalties plagued them against Winnipeg a few nights later, and Mattias Ekholm was very frank about being unable to maintain momentum when your own sticks keep getting in your way.
In short, Ekholm explained that taking penalties is something that is going to happen over the course of any NHL game.