Saros, O'Reilly Lead Preds to Shootout Victory Over Avalanche

A 39-save effort from Juuse Saros - plus three more in the shootout - was enough to take down the League’s top team.

Ryan O’Reilly scored the only goal following overtime as the Nashville Predators defeated the Colorado Avalanche by a 4-3 final in a shootout on Tuesday night at Bridgestone Arena. The result sees the Preds beat the top team in the NHL for wins in five of their last seven outings.

Jonathan Marchessault, Reid Schaefer and Brady Skjei scored for Nashville in regulation, and Saros was excellent in a late-night triumph that saw the Preds play desperate and find success.

“It was huge to get two points, and that's a really good team,” Skjei said. “I thought at moments we really played well. Obviously got a little slow, I thought, in the second [period], but we'll take two points all night against those guys.”

“I mean, they're a pretty unbelievable team…but I think tonight we were pretty good overall,” Marchessault said. “Obviously, in the second, I think they were buzzing a little [more than we] would like, but we're a good team, too, and we found a way to win tonight.”

After Colorado took a 1-0 lead just 1:12 into regulation, Nashville struck back in quick succession. First, Marchessault put home his own rebound on the power play at the 4:05 mark, and then less than two minutes later, Schaefer emerged from the corner with the puck, drove to the net and used his reach to tuck one home past Scott Wedgewood to give the Preds the lead.

The Avalanche evened the score before the first period was out, and while the visitors controlled much of the second stanza, Saros and the Predators kept the score even at 2-2 entering the final frame.

In that last period, Skjei sent a floater from the point with just over seven minutes to play, and the puck found a way through traffic to give Nashville the lead once more.

“That was good - I just feel like I watched it for a long time,” Skjei smiled as he recalled his goal. “It wasn't the hardest shot in the world. [It was] nice to finally get one through, and hopefully can build on that and get a few more.”

But with just eight seconds in regulation, Cale Makar’s shot on the power play and with the extra attacker found twine to force overtime.

Both clubs traded chances in OT, but O’Reilly was the only one to score in the shootout as Saros turned aside three Colorado skaters to give Nashville the extra point - and one satisfying victory.

“I think we're a little bit battle tested, and we've been in a lot of these games,” Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette said. “We didn't deviate from the game plan. We executed what we talked about most of the game, especially in the third period. I thought we kind of found our game a little bit. They're a really good team. They put a lot of pressure on us, but we handled it. Like I said, I think a little bit of being battle tested through the year in those situations, and we hung in there… We just played our style, and we were rewarded with it.”

“We're playing fast and we're connected, and we're…helping each other out, being available, passing the puck crisply - it's a recipe for success for us,” Skjei said. “I thought the forwards did a great job tonight, like holding onto pucks down low behind their net. I think that's when we're really successful. There's definitely a number of things we're doing well, and we've got to keep building.”

Notes:

Preds defenseman Nick Perbix returned to the lineup from injury on Tuesday with Nashville electing to dress 11 forwards and seven defensemen. Tyson Jost was Nashville’s lone healthy scratch.

Luke Evangelista appeared in his 200th NHL game in Tuesday’s contest against Colorado.

Per NHL PR, Evangelista factored on Brady Skjei’s goal to give the Predators the lead in the third period and boost his career totals to 37-69—106 (200 GP). Among players to debut with Nashville, Evangelista eclipsed Thomas Novak (68) for the third-most assists through 200 career games behind only Marek Zidlicky (97) and Filip Forsberg (85).

Nashville’s two-game homestand concludes on Thursday when it hosts St. Louis before heading on the road to play both Colorado and St. Louis once more.