Duchene Scores in Double Overtime as Preds Win Game 3 Over Hurricanes

There's no place like home - especially when it comes with a double-overtime victory.
Matt Duchene scored at 14:54 of the second OT session, and the Nashville Predators defeated the Carolina Hurricanes by a 5-4 final in Game 3 on Friday night at Bridgestone Arena. The result gives Nashville their first victory in three tries against the Hurricanes and cuts Carolina's series lead to a 2-1 count.
In front of 12,135 fans - the largest crowd to see an NHL hockey game since the pandemic began in March of 2020 - the Predators rebounded after being shut out in Game 2 and scored five times to collect an emotional win that was powered in large part by those clad in Gold.
And Duchene was ecstatic to play the role of hero.

"[To pump up and win for] the crowd here that I've been dying to play in front of in the playoffs for so long, that was just amazing to play here at home," Duchene said. "I was really disappointed last year that we went to the bubble and we didn't have games here. [They're the] best fans in the NHL. It's just incredible to play here, and we needed that. It feels good, and we're going to enjoy it tonight, and it's right back at it because we're still down in the series. We got some traction and scored a few more goals, and we've got to take the next one and hold serve here."
"It feels really good," Preds Head Coach John Hynes said. "It's obviously a hard-fought battle, I thought both teams really competed hard tonight and it's nice we find a way to win and get ourselves back into the series here in the win column. It's certainly nice - obviously we were in the bubble last year [in the playoffs] where our fans were here - and they've been fantastic. To be able to come home and have a good game, have a win, get ourselves back in the series, I think for the players, the fans, the organization, it's a good night."

Ryan Ellis, Filip Forsberg, Mikael Granlund and Ryan Johansen scored in regulation time for the Preds, and goaltender Juuse Saros tied a postseason franchise record with 52 saves in Game 3 for his first-career playoff overtime win in the third-longest game in Predators history.
"It was a big game, and I thought we played well throughout," Forsberg said. "I felt we were in control of the game for most part, Juice made some huge saves throughout the game and I think it was another step in the right direction. I think we've been getting better from Game 1, we got better in Game 2 and I thought we got better tonight too and obviously got rewarded with a big win."

The hometown crowd was electric from the start with country-music superstar Keith Urban performing the National Anthem and former Titans running back Eddie George getting the fans hyped, and their energy only rose when Ellis threw a shot from the point into the twine fewer than five minutes into the contest to give the Preds their first goal since the second period of Game 1 and a 1-0 lead.

Carolina got it back late in the period when Sebastian Aho beat Saros, but then just as he did in Game 1, Forsberg deked past Alex Nedeljkovic with another beautiful move in tight to give Nashville a 2-1 advantage after 20 minutes.
In the second stanza, Carolina evened the score once more when Jordan Staal tallied his third of the series, and Vincent Trockeck gave the visitors their first lead of the night on the power play.

But then, Nashville was awarded a 5-on-3 man advantage, and they capitalized as Granlund pounced on a loose puck right on the goal line to send the crowd into a frenzy and send both teams into the intermission tied at three.

Johansen put the Preds up once more just five minutes into the third, but Brett Pesce tied the game at 4-4 with under four minutes to play in regulation and force overtime.
Saros made 13 saves in the first OT - and eight more in the second - before Duchene took a pass from Preds Captain Roman Josi and converted on a partial breakaway when he roofed the puck past Nedeljkovic for his second-career overtime winner in the playoffs.
And just like that, the Predators were right back in the series.

"It's a big one, especially here at home," Hynes said. "It's special. I mean, you're in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and you see your team and your players go to battle the way that they went tonight for five periods. To be able to find a way to win a game with our backs against the wall, you're either going to take that game and go down 0-3, or you're going to put yourself right back in the series and we were able to do that. So, really proud of the team. Guys played so hard, answered the bell and it's kind of what we've done down the stretch here when we've had to answer the bell in big games and important times. The response from the group has been great, regardless of who's been in the lineup, and that's why we're sitting here today after a win in the first round of the playoffs."

The Predators will enjoy their triumph for the rest of the evening, but they also know they're still looking at a series deficit. They can change that and make it a best-of-three instead if Sunday afternoon's contest goes their way too, and that will be the focus as the weekend begins.
But Friday's outing was meaningful, especially in front of the Smashville faithful.
"It was another special moment in Bridgestone with our fans, and they were terrific all night," Ellis said. "Loud and everyone was standing, especially later in the game, and every chance I think our bench started standing, our crowd was standing and it was exciting. It was a special moment to share with them."

Notes:
In franchise history, Nashville is 4-3 in playoff games that go at least two overtimes.
The Preds are now 8-10 all-time in postseason overtime.
Juuse Saros (52 saves) matched a Preds franchise record for the most saves in a Stanley Cup Playoff game, a mark set by Dan Ellis (52 in Game 5 of the 2008 CQF).
Matt Duchene is the fourth player in Preds history to score the winner in a contest which required multiple OTs, joining Matt Halischuk (Game 2 of 2011 Round One), Mike Fisher (Game 4 of 2016 Round Two) and Kevin Fiala (Game 2 of 2018 Round Two).
Preds forward Viktor Arvidsson missed Game 3 with an upper-body injury and is day-to-day, but forward Calle Jarnkrok returned to the lineup after missing Game 2 due to non-COVID illness.
Nick Cousins played his first game of the series for Nashville, and Ben Harpur also re-entered the lineup in place of Erik Gudbranson. Forwards Brad Richardson, Rem Pitlick, Rocco Grimaldi and Michael McCarron, defensemen Tyler Lewington, David Farrance, Jeremy Davies and Dante Fabbro, as well as goaltender Kasimir Kaskisuo were also scratched in Game 3.
Game 4 between the Predators and Hurricanes is set for a 1:30 p.m. CT start on Sunday afternoon at Bridgestone Arena. Game 5 is now necessary and will come on Tuesday in North Carolina with a start time to be determined.