Stamkos Scores Overtime Winner as Preds Defeat Wild

And to all a good night.

Steven Stamkos tallied the overtime winner as the Nashville Predators defeated the Minnesota Wild by a 3-2 final in OT on Tuesday night at Grand Casino Arena. The result sees the Preds enter the Christmas break on a three-game win streak with 10 victories in their last 14 overall.

Ryan O’Reilly and Roman Josi both scored on the power play, and Juuse Saros was excellent with 30 saves of his own, but Stamkos played the role of hero with the game-winning goal in his third consecutive outing - and a perfect exclamation point to conclude the night against one of the League’s top teams.

“We're starting to believe here,” Stamkos said. “This group has obviously gone through a lot of adversity the past year and a bit. We didn't have the start that we wanted to this season, but the growth is there and guys are starting to believe. And it's a funny thing - when you start rolling, you get some confidence. You have fun coming to the rink every day. It makes a big difference.”

After the Wild took a 1-0 lead on a Brock Faber goal in the opening period, the Nashville power play went to work. First, O’Reilly put home a Luke Evangelista rebound at the front of the net, and less than three minutes after that, Josi sniped a shot past Filip Gustavsson for a second tally on the man advantage and a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes of play.

Minnesota evened the score early in the second stanza with a goal from Joel Eriksson Ek, and that count held into the final frame and then overtime.

But, just 53 seconds into the extra session, Erik Haula went the length of the ice and made a beautiful centering feed to Stamkos who buried his 597th career goal in game No. 1,200. The marker gave his club two more points in the standings and an early Christmas gift headed into the break.

“Unbelievable play,” Stamkos said of the OT goal. “[Nick Blankenburg] did a good job of kind of sucking some guys in there and hit [Haula] with speed. And I saw him coming down the wing, and I just tried to skate as fast as I could to the net. He made a heck of a pass.”

Now, the Preds will enjoy three well-earned days off as the League breaks for the Christmas holiday, but Nashville will certainly be looking forward to what’s to come with a six-game trip on the docket as they return to play - and an opportunity to keep climbing in the standings.

“Obviosuly, you’d like to keep going, but it’s not like it’s a week off,” Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette said. “So, a few days, go back to work, back on the road, and I think everything we’ve gone through this year as a group, we’re pretty battle tested, we’re pretty resilient. I expect us to [get right back into the battle] when we get off the break.”

“You know what? We never quit,” Stamkos said. “Although it wasn't great at the beginning of the year, we've stuck with it. We've come to the rink every day, and we've worked. We have to play a certain style of game to be successful, and that's with the work ethic and the forecheck and the quick transition. And we've done that, and special teams are starting to roll. The power play, especially, wasn't going great early. It's starting to go, so a lot of things are connected now.”

Notes:

Nashville’s lineup remained unchanged on Tuesday with Jonathan Marchessault still day-to-day with a lower-body injury.

Per NHL PR, Steven Stamkos scored his 17th career overtime goal and moved into a tie for the seventh most in NHL history.

Stamkos became the third player in franchise history with the winning goal in three consecutive games, following Mike Fisher (3 GP from Jan. 23-31, 2012) and Steve Sullivan (3 GP from Jan. 5-9, 2007).

Stamkos also (97) passed Mats Sundin (96) for the 13th-most game-winning goals in NHL history.

The Predators will now have three days off for the NHL’s Christmas break before the schedule resumes on Dec. 27 with Nashville set to face the Blues in St. Louis. That contest will begin a six-game trip that will see the Preds finish the 2025 calendar and begin 2026 on the road.