Hague, Stamkos Help Preds to Dramatic Victory Over Flames

In the dying moments of regulation, Nic Hague and Steven Stamkos delivered a thrilling triumph - just not in the roles one might assume.

Hague scored the winner with 29 seconds to play, and then Stamkos sacrificed to block one final shot as the Nashville Predators defeated the Calgary Flames by a 4-3 final on Saturday night at Scotiabank Saddledome. The result gives the Preds their first victory of 2026 and bumps them back up to just one point out of a Wild Card spot in the Western Conference.

Erik Haula tallied twice, and Michael Bunting had a four-point night to lead the Predators to a season sweep over three games against the Flames, but the previous two certainly weren't as dramatic as the one that played out in the province of Alberta on Saturday evening.

“It was a fun game to be a part of,” Bunting said. “When it's intense like that, physical, a lot of stuff that goes down, it gets you engaged, which makes it a little bit more fun and more meaningful. That’s a huge two points. They’ve been playing really well over there, and we knew that. And coming in here, they've been good. So, this was a huge two points - keep climbing.”

“It's a sign of a good team,” Hague said of the effort. “We believe we're a good team…and we just never backed down, whether it was physically or just go out there and play. We’re always able to kind of find our game again, and that's what good teams do. And it took us right to the end, and that's OK. We found a way, and a lot of great efforts from a lot of different guys tonight.”

In a first period that had a bit of everything, the Flames needed less than two minutes into the contest to take a 1-0 lead. Calgary appeared to have doubled that advantage shortly thereafter, but Nashville completed a successful challenge for offside. Then, moments later, Haula’s first of the night came when he tapped home a beautiful feed from Bunting past Flames goaltender Dustin Wolf to tie the game.

Haula then gave the visitors their first lead of the night when he converted off a 2-on-1 break, but after a moment of animosity that saw Cole Smith and Ryan Lomberg scrap before Michael McCarron and John Beecher picked up roughing and misconduct penalties, the Flames tied the game for a 2-2 draw after 20 minutes.

In the second stanza, the Preds began to lock things down, and after coming out of his net to play the puck, Wolf gift-wrapped a pass right to Bunting who fired it into the empty cage to give Nashville a 3-2 lead headed into the final frame.

But in that period, a Nashville turnover led to Blake Coleman tying the game with just over seven minutes to play. However, the visitors silenced the crowd before the night was done.

With just 29 seconds remaining in regulation, Hague’s blast from the left point found its way through traffic and into the twine, and then, with the Calgary net empty, it was Stamkos - the 600-goal scorer - who sacrificed his body to block one more Flames attempt before the final horn.

“That was a great shot by [Hague],” Bunting said. “That feels good, obviously, to get one there in the dying seconds. And then obviously a guy like ‘Stammer,’ that just shows the character. He’s got 600 goals and over 1,200 points, and he’s still laying the body on the line and blocking shots. So, that shows his character. He's a guy that we love being around, and we’ve got a great group in here. All of us like to be together, and we have a lot of fun. So, we want to keep this thing going.”

“I mean, the block from ‘Stammer’ is huge,” Hague said. “It's maybe not the first guy you think of when it comes to selling out at the end of the game to block a shot, but it just kind of shows what kind of player he is, and he does it all… That’s just kind of who we are. So, it's great to see. And everyone gets fired up for a moment like that… It's almost bigger than scoring a goal, right? It’s maybe [stopping one instead], so it's fun. I'm sure he's going to feel it tomorrow, but it makes it worth it, because we know we got the win.”

As far as Nashville’s bench boss is concerned, that final shot block from Stamkos epitomizes the Predators at this juncture of the season, and he couldn’t hope for anything more.

“I just think the grit that we've had all year - I mean, we've gone through stuff together,” Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette said. “We've stayed together. We've never been tighter, and this group continues to grow. We're growing every day. We're getting better, but we also believe in each other, and we're as tight as a group that I've been around. It’s pretty evident with ‘Stammer’ blocking a shot late in the game, and for a 600-goal scorer to lay his body on the line in a game in January just speaks volumes of his leadership and his character. We're in it together, and it's nice to get the win.”

Notes:

Defenseman Justin Barron was back in the Nashville lineup on Saturday for the first time since returning from injury, and the Preds went with 11 forwards and seven defensemen against the Flames. Matthew Wood was a healthy scratch, and Jonathan Marchessault remained out with a lower-body injury.

Per NHLPR, Erik Haula scored a pair of goals in 1:33, marking the fastest two tallies by a Predators skater since Luke Evangelista on March 21, 2023 (0:40).

Nic Hague (59:31) scored the latest go-ahead goal by a Predators skater since Alexandre Carrier on Jan. 13, 2024 (59:52).

Michael Bunting (1-3—4) posted his second career four-point game, following Feb. 26, 2022 (1-4—5 w/ TOR).

Nashville’s six-game road trip will conclude on Tuesday night in Edmonton when they face the Oilers before heading back to Tennessee for a four-game homestand of their own.