And sure, the Predators certainly would have preferred it not be necessary to have to erase a four-goal hole just for a chance at a single point. Frankly, they were embarrassed by allowing four goals on just eight shots in the first period that saw Juuse Saros pulled in favor of Justus Annunen.
For a team coming off an emotional victory and riding a three-game win streak with the final outing of a five-game homestead underway, things were not looking good.
“We owe [Saros] one for sure,” Preds defenseman Nick Blankenburg said. “We didn't help him out one bit on those first goals. He’s bailed us out many times, so we owe him one.”
However…
“But at the end of the day, we found a way to win, and good teams find a way to win. That was a fun one at home.”
Tommy Novak gave his club a bit of life in the opening period, Fedor Svechkov and Justin Barron brought the Preds to within two in the second stanza, and after four more goals in the third - courtesy of Jonathan Marchessault, Roman Josi, Blankenburg and Filip Forsberg - nobody was quite sure what to believe anymore.
“A tough one to make sense of,” Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette said moments after the final horn as he searched for words to describe what he had just witnessed.
But the belief the Predators could come back no matter how large the deficit?
“It comes from our group,” Brunette said. “You're proud of them. They haven't given up all year, and they hadn't given up in that game, and they kept pushing for this. It’s nothing I did. They did it all. They wanted it and they went out and got it.”
And it wasn’t just the fact the Preds wanted the two points and took care of business - but in this line of work, things simply need to go in your favor from time to time.
Consider the way the final 20 minutes played out.
First, Steven Stamkos barely held the puck onside before he found Marchessault at the side of the San Jose net less than 30 seconds into the third period to bring Nashville to within one.
Then, Ryan O’Reilly became an unsung hero by not even touching the puck.
After Josi made an acrobatic play to hold in a San Jose clearing attempt with his hand to stay onside, the most likely recipient of the puck would have been O’Reilly in the near vicinity. However, had Nashville’s alternate captain touched the biscuit, he would have been called for a hand pass.
Instead, the veteran centerman had the awareness to fend off a Sharks player to allow Josi to receive his own keep-in and keep the play alive. Moments later, Forsberg found the captain for a one-timer to tie the game at 5-5.
“That’s such a smart play,” Josi said of O’Reilly. “Such an underrated play that probably a lot of people don't see. And first of all, just to make that decision to not touch it, and then also controlling the guy's stick to not be able to touch it - he’s one of the best. He's been doing it for, I don't know, 15 years now. He's one of the best with the stick and the way bats pucks down, the way he wins battles with a stick. I think if you watch him closely for a game and just watch the stick, it's unbelievable how many stick battles he wins, and he did it there, too.”