Preds Keep Playoff Hopes Alive with 3-2 Shootout Win Over Flames

The Nashville Predators kept their Stanley Cup Playoff hopes alive with a thrilling 3-2 shootout victory over the Calgary Flames Monday at Scotiabank Saddledome.
Juuse Saros made 43 saves in goal for the Predators, who moved to 41-31-8 on the season and remain three points behind the Winnipeg Jets in the race for the final Western Conference Wild Card spot.

THE STORY

The Predators got on the board first when Egor Afanasyev capitalized on a Calgary turnover and scored to give Nashville the 1-0 lead at 5:49 of the first period.

Immediately after the Flames successfully killed their fourth penalty of the game, Troy Stecher netted the equalizer for Calgary at 7:41 of the second period.
Zach Sanford put the Predators up 2-1 at 4:02 of the third period when he knocked in a loose puck behind Jacob Markstrom's pad, but Mikael Backlund tied it 2-2 at 8:03 with a one-timer that snuck past Saros to send the game to overtime.

Cody Glass scored in the third round of the shootout to keep the Preds alive, and Tommy Novak scored the game winner in the fourth round for the 3-2 final.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

E-Goal
Afanasyev's first-period tally was the first goal - and point - of his NHL career. Entering Monday's game, Afanasyev had recorded 19 shots in 17 games with the Predators dating back to his NHL debut on March 11 at Los Angeles.

Parss-IN-en
Juuso Parssinen returned to the Predators lineup for the first time since suffering an upper-body injury on Feb. 23 at San Jose. Parssinen, who made his NHL debut on Nov. 12 vs. the Rangers, has 23 points (5g-18a) in his first 43 career NHL games. He tallied his seventh career multi-point game on Feb. 21 vs. Vancouver (2a).
Despite missing Nashville's previous 23 games entering tonight's contest against Calgary, Parssinen is 12th among NHL rookies in assists (18) and tied for 17th in points. His 23 points since Nov. 12 - his NHL debut - are tied for the 13th-most among NHL rookies in that time span.

Quick Hits

THEY SAID IT

Afanasyev on Nashville keeping its playoff hopes alive:
"All the guys are excited… I feel like we don't really have a lot of pressure because guys are just trying to have fun. But at the same time we're all working as a unit and I think that's why it's been working for us. So we've just got to keep going the same way."
Sanford on the win:
"It's fun. These are the games that you grew up dreaming about. And when you can play a sort of playoff style game before the playoffs, it's a lot of fun. I've only been back here for a few games but to jump in and see how this group is doing under the spotlight is pretty cool."
Novak on winning a high-stakes game:
"We've kind of been in that situation for a bit now so we're kind of used to it. But both teams came in to battle. There was a lot of special teams and neither team really capitalized much on them. And then going through OT and then getting the win in the shootout was really big for us."
Novak on the play of Saros:
"He means everything in this group. He's amazing every night. Literally every night he keeps us in every game and always gives us a chance to win even in games where we're getting kind of steamrolled a bit sometimes. He's always there backstopping us, making amazing saves. And he never seems to have an off night. He's been amazing this year."
Head Coach John Hynes on the win:
"It was a high stakes game for both teams and I thought it was a hard fought effort on both sides. Obviously, to get it to overtime, both teams played hard and fortunately we were able to win in the shootout. But that's what this time of year is about. And I think you want to be able to enjoy it and that's why you play and why you coach - to be in meaningful games at the end of the year. Tonight was one and fortunately we wound up on top."

UP NEXT

The Predators will return home to host the Minnesota Wild at Bridgestone Arena on Thursday. The puck drops at 7 p.m. CT, and the game will be broadcast on Bally Sports South, 102.5 The Game and El Jefe Radio.