Andersson, meanwhile, continued to make noise in the back half of the frame, snuffing the Predators' only true scoring chance by dropping to one knee and blocking a shot after Mikael Granlund was given a prime look from the slot.
Late in the period, emotions bubbled over and this took a true playoff feel.
First, Erik Gudbranson and rookie heavyweight Tanner Jeannot dropped the mitts for a spirited bout that shook the very foundation of Bridgestone Arena with every clubbing right hand.
Then, on the ensuing faceoff - before the puck had even dropped, in fact - a pair of 40-goal scorers in Matthew Tkachuk and Matt Duchene started swinging wildly, resulting in a massive bruhaha that involved nearly everyone on the ice.
Two were each given a minor penalty, with an additional 10-minute misconduct tacked on to Duchene for setting the whole thing off. However, that did little to resolve any lingering animosity, as the players took a seat and continued barking at one another inside the box.
Finally, after a Flames powerplay expired, Milan Lucic and Mark Borowiecki went toe-to-toe at centre - the Big Man earning the decision with a series of rights clean on the button, followed by a thunderous takedown.
The Flames out-shot the Preds 9-6 and the teams combined for 34 penalty minutes in the fight-filled stanza.
The Predators - who entered the night looking to clinch a playoff spot - weren't going quietly, mind you. The homeside levelled the score less than five minutes into the second, as Norris Trophy runaway Roman Josi wired home his 22nd of the season and team-leading 92nd point.
Philip Tomasino tapped the puck back to Josi after Ryan Johansen won the offensive-zone faceoff, and Josi had all sorts of room to walk in and unload a clapper from the tops of the circles.
The Predators took a 2-1 lead at 8:08, as Duchene capitalized on a bit of a broken play to score his team-leading 42nd of the campaign. Off the rush, Chris Tanev partially blocked a Mikael Granlund offering, but the rebound popped right to a streaking Duchene at the far circle, who had the yawning six-by-four staring him down.
Vladar had no chance on the play.
The Flames immediately settled the game down and got right back to work on offence. And at 13:14, they brought the game back on even terms courtesy of - who else?! - No. 29.
Dube took a touch pass from former Predator Calle Jarnkrok and took off, weaving his way through the neutral zone before galloping inside the blue and firing a shot upstairs. He did get a bit of help, as the puck ramped up off the stick of Mattias Ekholm, but they all count the same.
No one is doing it better than the 23-year-old right now, who has eight goals in his last seven games (for a team-leading nine this month), and a career-high 18 on the season.
