Saros, Duchene Lead Preds to Overtime Win Against Flames in Calgary

Juuse Saros kept his team in it, and Matt Duchene ended it.
Nashville's netminder turned away 38 shots, Luke Kunin tallied his first goal of the season and Duchene found twine in overtime to give the Predators a 3-2 victory over the Calgary Flames on Tuesday night at the Scotiabank Saddledome. The result extends Nashville's win streak to four games and puts the Preds at 5-4-0 on the season.

Starting a six-game road trip by facing a Calgary team that had won six straight of their own, the Preds followed the lead of their goaltender and gritted out a victory away from home.
In a first period that had a little bit of everything - including a 20-9 shot advantage for Calgary - the visitors owned a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes. First, Ryan Johansen won an offensive-zone faceoff, and Kunin tipped in an Alexandre Carrier point shot for his first goal of the season and a 1-0 lead midway through the frame.

After Matthew Tkachuk evened the score for Calgary on the power play, Filip Forsberg answered with less than two minutes to play when he beat Flames goaltender Jakob Markstrom low to the glove side to give his club the lead once more.
That score held through the second stanza, but defenseman Oliver Kylington found another equalizer for Calgary that forced the game into overtime - Nashville's second straight game to require extra time.
And in OT, it was Duchene who played the hero, after he buried a cross-ice pass from Mikael Granlund into the back of the net just 1:37 into the session to give the Preds two more points to begin the excursion.
Saros finished with 38 saves on the night for his fourth win of the season.

Tuesday Storyline:

They don't ask how, just how many.
On a night where the Predators admittedly weren't at their best, their goaltender was magnificent, and they still found a way against one of the NHL's hottest teams.
"We got unbelievable goaltending," Granlund said. "I do not think we were even close to our best tonight, but it's tough to win in this League, and you don't apologize if you win a game. We know we were not at our best, and we found a way."
"It wasn't our best game, but we had games early in the year where we played really well and didn't get the result we probably deserved," Duchene said. "All day long, Juice was our best player tonight and stole it for us. But we did enough to win. We had some big kills when we needed it and some timely scoring, especially in the first. We got dominated in the first, it was probably our worst first period in a while, going even back to last year, so Juice was great for us."

Saros was the star of the night, but it was Duchene who sealed the victory, and he almost wasn't even on the ice to finish it off.
"I was probably top five most tired I have ever been during a shift," Duchene said of the game-winning goal. "I was a bit of a tripod in the D-zone there, and the boys out there, Granny and Ekky, did a good job picking up my slack because I couldn't move, and I was going to go off. I thought Ekky and Granny we're gonna go 2-on-1, but Ekky fell, so I'm like, 'Ah, I'll just hang in it,' and Granny put a great pass on my stick and I was just able to get the shot off."
Ultimately, the Predators won their fourth straight contest, and while the effort wasn't what they were looking for, the result was the perfect way to begin the six-game trip that continues tomorrow night in Edmonton.
"You want to start off on the right note, especially with the back-to-back tomorrow," Duchene said. "So, we've got obviously a high-flying Oilers team - two of the best, if not the two best offensive players in the League, and we've got to regroup here and be ready and learn from tonight and not let it happen again for a while."
"The only difference in this one was I think there were lots of times earlier this year where we've said whether we got the result or didn't get the result, we liked a lot of our process," Preds Head Coach John Hynes said. "Tonight, our process wasn't very good. But we found a way to win the game. So, now we've got to rectify that to make sure we can continue to give ourselves opportunities to win."

Highlight of the Night:

They Said It:

Matt Duchene on Juuse Saros:
"I mean, he's played so well all year, and he was outstanding tonight. What more can you say? He's outstanding. He's one of the best goaltenders in the League, and he showed it tonight."

Notes:

Preds forward Filip Forsberg left the game in the third period with an apparent injury and did not return. Coach Hynes did not have an update on Forsberg's status following the game.
On Tuesday night in Calgary, Preds forward Mikael Granlund skated in his 600th NHL game.
Nashville's lineup remained unchanged on Tuesday with Rocco Grimaldi, Ben Harpur and Philippe Myers serving as scratches.
The Predators continue their six-game trip in less than 24 hours when they travel north in Alberta to face the Oilers in Edmonton.
The two points earned Tuesday night puts Nashville fourth in the Central Division with 10 points, just two points behind the St. Louis Blues, Winnipeg Jets and Minnesota Wild, who each have 12.