Five different Nashville skaters found the back of the net, but the Predators ultimately fell to the Minnesota Wild by a 6-5 final in overtime on Wednesday night at Bridgestone Arena. The result sees the Preds drop their final home game before the Olympic break, and while they were aiming for two points, they’ll still certainly take one in the standings.
“It was kind of a back-and-forth game, and I thought we did some really good things,” Preds Captain Roman Josi said. “[We] had some [moments] where we played really well, and some where we didn't. You wish to be on the other side at the end, but that's obviously a really good team, and we went back and forth with them. We need points every game. You wish to get two, but you still got points in the last five games. Every point matters.”
“It was kind of one of those games when you know the [Olympic] break is coming,” Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette said. “I don't know if the focus on both teams was all that high. I think we scored three goals in our own net. It’s just one of those games… I think [our resilience to come back again is] a great sign for our group, and a point in our League, we'll take it. It's a really good hockey team. Felt we just didn't grab that consistently through the different stretches of the game. And when you play teams that are like that, you're going to pay a little bit. All in all, that was a pretty strange game.”
Minnesota’s Matt Boldy recorded a hat trick in the first period, but the Preds scored three of their own as well. After the Wild took a 2-0 lead, Filip Forsberg got Nashville on the board with a power-play goal, and following Boldy’s third of the night, Steven Stamkos tallied on the man advantage as well.
Erik Haula tied the score before the opening period was out, and early in the second stanza, it was Luke Evangelista who put home a rebound to give the Preds their first lead of the night. Former Predators winger Yakov Trenin tied the game for Minnesota later in the frame, and that score held until late in the third when the Wild got a bounce to take the lead.
But, just moments later, Josi got a bounce of his own to tie the score once more and force OT. However, it was Jared Spurgeon who tallied with less than a minute in the extra session to give the visitors an extra point.
The Olympic break is now fully in sight, and the Preds will head to Washington to face the Capitals on the second half of a back-to-back where they’ll look to win the week once more.
“We're definitely battling for our life in the past couple of weeks and months,” Preds forward Jonathan Marchessault said. “It's at that time of the year for us; it's catching up and playing playoff hockey a little bit. We're just trying to get in and keep moving forward.”
“We’ve got three periods left,” Evangelista said. “These points matter more to us than anyone in the League. And we know that. We know the position we're in. We just got to give it our all for three more periods. Find a way to scratch out two points. These are huge, huge games for us.”
Notes:
Prior to Wednesday’s game, the Preds recalled forward Reid Schaefer from Milwaukee, and the rookie appeared in his 26th contest of the season.
Defenseman Nic Hague returned to the Nashville lineup after missing time with a lower-body injury. Forward Ozzy Wiesblatt and defenseman Justin Barron were healthy scratches against the Wild.
Per NHL PR, Steven Stamkos passed Mario Lemieux (236) and tied Brendan Shanahan (237) for the seventh-most power-play goals in NHL history.
Roman Josi tied Erik Karlsson and Zdeno Chara (both w/ 41) for the third-most game-tying goals by a defenseman born outside of North America. The only others with more are Nicklas Lidstrom (54) and Sergei Gonchar (51).
The Predators will finish off a back-to-back set tomorrow night when they take on the Capitals in Washington for their final game before the Olympic break.
