Roman Josi made sure there would be no overtime on Saturday night.
Nashville’s captain scored the game-winner with 1:14 to play in regulation as the Predators came back to defeat the New York Islanders by a 4-3 final at UBS Arena. The result gets the Preds back in the win column and gives them four out of a possible six points to conclude their three-game trip.
Filip Forsberg scored twice, and Matthew Wood added a goal and a helper as the Predators came back for the 16th time this season - second-most in the NHL - and there was no better way to end a massive trip.
“We haven't been too good in OT [on this trip], so thankfully we ended before,” Josi smiled. “But a big win for us… I thought after [they got the lead in the first], we got to our game. I think the second period, especially, was really good. [We] had a lot of looks, a lot of chances, and found a way in the third. But I think the last two periods were more our style of play. It was a big win.”
“I loved our game besides the first part of the first period,” Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette said. “We were taking on quite a bit of water there…and it felt like the roof of the building was going to blow off. Then we settled in. And then I thought we controlled the game from then on out. You could see we do certain things, the team that we can be… [It was] really nice not to go to overtime. You know, this road trip, we felt we left maybe a point or two, and tonight we grab that point.”
The Islanders controlled the opening six minutes of the first period, and they found themselves up 2-0 - but, before long, the Predators had tied the game.
First, Forsberg needed just six seconds into a power play to snipe home his 21st of the season to get Nashville on the board. Then, Jonathan Marchessault found Wood in front, and the rookie one-timed a shot past Ilya Sorokin for his first tally since Dec. 6 to even the score.
“That was great,” Josi said of Wood’s goal. “I mean he's been so good for us. He's obviously a young kid, and you can just tell his skill, his shot, he's going to be an unbelievable player for a lot of years. It’s not easy [being in his] first year in the NHL, but he's doing an amazing job. He had a big game for us, and it was huge.”
New York regained the lead in the second stanza, but before the period was out, Wood’s cross-crease pass found Forsberg for his second of the night and a 3-3 draw after 40 minutes of play.
Finally, the only goal of the final frame came off the stick of Josi - the 200th of his career - as he carried the puck into the zone in a 4-on-4 situation, peeled back, and then walked in before perfectly placing a shot into the twine.
“It was an unbelievable effort,” Wood said of Josi’s goal. “He’s a really special player, a really special person, and it's a lot of fun to learn from him on and off the ice. Just how he handles himself and his leadership style, I really admire - so, I try to pick up a lot of stuff from him.”
As has been the mantra, the Preds found a way to “win the week” on the trip - and although they needed another comeback win on Saturday, there’s just something about this team when they find themselves behind.
“I think it speaks volumes of, one, the leadership of the team, but also the will and the compete and the never give up kind of attitude that we've kind of embraced, right from the first day of camp - and right from, actually, last spring when you kind of met with the leaders and talked about collaboration and how we're going to get to where we need to get to,” Brunette said. “And full credit to them, they've completely bought in, and they don't give up, and they show up every night. I'm very fortunate to have the leadership group that I have here.”
Now, the Preds will head home, and with just three games to go before the Olympic break, they’re hopeful this win will propel a few more before the hiatus.
“Three big games - I think you want to put yourself in a really good position before the Olympic break,” Josi said. “We talked about winning the week, and you won this week, and there's another week coming with some good teams. There’s going to be some big games, and we need some points.”
“Same thing - win the week,” Brunette said of the mindset. “This one got a little dicey early in the game…but we ended up winning the week. That's big. Now, we’ve got to turn the page and move on. It's a really big week for us. Heading into the break, we want to put ourselves in a position here to really get to where we want to go.”
Notes:
Defenseman Nick Blankenburg did not play Saturday night and is day-to-day with an illness. Andreas Englund rejoined the Nashville lineup and skated alongside Justin Barron.
Per NHL PR, Filip Forsberg notched his 51st career multi-goal game and moved within one of tying Markus Naslund (52) for the fifth-most by a Swedish player in NHL history. Mats Sundin leads the list with 81.
Roman Josi scored his 200th career goal and became the 24th defenseman in NHL history to reach the milestone. The last blueliner to score 200 goals faster than Josi (1,004 GP) was Shea Weber (912 GP on March 8, 2019).
Josi became the fifth defenseman born outside of North America with 200 career goals. The others: Nicklas Lidstrom (264), Sergei Gonchar (220), Zdeno Chara (209) and Erik Karlsson (204).
Josi recorded his 11th season with at least 10 goals. The only active defenseman with as many is Brent Burns (13).
Josi scored his 38th career game-winning goal and tied Erik Karlsson as well as Brian Leetch for 10th-most in NHL history by a defenseman.
With their three-game trip now complete the Predators will head home for two contests beginning Monday when the St. Louis Blues come to town. Nashville will then host Minnesota on Wednesday before traveling to Washington on Thursday for the final contest before the Olympic break.
