Tommy Novak Powers Preds to 5-4 OT Win Over Ducks

Tommy Novak scored at 1:12 of overtime to lift the Nashville Predators to a 5-4 win over the Anaheim Ducks Sunday at Honda Center.
Juuse Saros made 33 saves in goal for the Predators, who moved to 33-24-7 on the season.
The Predators, who went to overtime in three of their last four games, finished their six-game road trip with a 4-1-1 record.

THE STORY

Philip Tomasino got things started on the power play, receiving a pass from Dante Fabbro and firing a shot to John Gibson's glove side to give the Preds a 1-0 lead at 9:01 of the first period.

Novak followed up at 13:40 with his second goal in as many games, gathering the loose puck and snapping a wrist shot into the high slot to widen the lead to 2-0.

Mason McTavish got the Ducks on the board at 15:44, beating Saros on his glove side from the circle to cut the deficit to 2-1 at the end of the first period.
Frank Vatrano tied things up for Anaheim early in the second period, taking Cam Fowler's pass and snapping a shot from the circle to make it 2-2 at 4:46.
Kiefer Sherwood broke the tie at 1:47 of the third period, receiving a drop pass from Novak and banking it home from behind the net to put the Predators up 3-2. Yakov Trenin scored off a wrap-around attempt from Cole Smith to widen Nashville's lead to 4-2 at 13:36.

Trailing by two, the Ducks scored two goals in two minutes to force overtime. Troy Terry brought Anaheim within one at 17:39 of the third period with a one-timer from the right circle, and McTavish tied it 4-4 with 26 seconds remaining when he chipped in a rebound with Gibson pulled for the extra attacker.
Just over a minute into the 3-on-3 overtime, Novak finished a pass from Tomasino on a 2-on-0 for the 5-4 final.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Tommy Hockey
Novak led all skaters with three points (2g-1a) and now has three goals in his last two games after he scored Nashville's lone goal in regulation on Saturday vs. Los Angeles. His OT game-winner was the first of his NHL career, and he also assisted on Sherwood's goal in the third period to give him 27 points (12g-15a) in 32 games with Nashville since being recalled from Milwaukee (AHL) on Dec. 19.

Tommer Through Traffic
Tomasino scored his second power-play goal of the season and Nashville's 11th power-play goal in the last 12 games dating back to Feb. 18 vs. Florida. Of Tomasino's seven total points (4g-3a) since his season debut with the Preds on Feb. 13 vs. Arizona, four of them (2g-2a) have come on the man advantage.

Chief Kief
Sherwood's goal was his second with the Predators this season and first since being recalled from Milwaukee (AHL) on Feb. 23. Sherwood, who made the Predators roster out of training camp and skated in five games with the team before being reassigned to Milwaukee, scored his only other NHL goal this season against the San Jose Sharks at the NHL Global Series in Prague, Czechia, on Oct. 7. It was the first goal scored by any player in the 2022-23 NHL season.

Another Milestone for the Captain
With two points (2a) on the night, Roman Josi reached 600 points in his NHL career. Per NHL PR, Josi also recorded his sixth 40-assist season, the most in franchise history and three more than the next-closest skater (J-P Dumont, 3).

Josi recorded his 566th and 567th career points on Dec. 21 at Chicago to pass David Legwand (566) for the most in Predators history. Josi became the second defenseman to lead an active NHL franchise in points, joining Boston's Ray Bourque. His 567 career points were the 27th-most by a defenseman through his first 791 career games in NHL history.

THEY SAID IT

Novak on scoring the overtime-winner:
"It was unreal. It's something you kind of dream about, scoring an OT winner. So, it was an unreal feeling and it was great to get the win too... I've obviously been getting more comfortable and the offense is starting to come a little bit more. That shot doesn't always go in, but it was a good break. And I thought we dug deep tonight. It's tough playing back-to-back, and we found a way to win it."
Sherwood on his bank-shot goal in the third period:
"It was a fortunate bounce. [Novak] made a great play to push their D back, so I was going to shoot the puck but then I saw their D kind of go down on one knee. So after that I just instinctively tried to take it around the net and hit [Novak] back door because I thought he was open. But, it ended up being a fortunate bounce that went in... I didn't know if it was in or on the outside of the net. I've been getting a lot of chances lately and they haven't been going in, but then that one pings in. Sometimes that's just how they go. The biggest thing is just trying to play the right way and eventually everything will work itself out."
Tomasino on closing out the road trip with two wins:
"It was definitely a really long road trip and it's been hard on all of us... But I think we battled hard, especially these last few games. Going into [Los Angeles] was a grind out game and then tonight was a huge win. I think it just speaks to the character of our group and the resiliency and it just [shows] how hard we're willing to compete for each other. And it definitely feels nice going back home with these wins, and we have a nice little home stretch coming up. So, it's going to be fun, for sure."
Coach Hynes on Nashville's effort in the back-to-back and concluding a six-game trip:
"I really liked our effort tonight and I give our guys a lot of credit. It's been a long trip in a lot of different time zones and tonight we knew we had to be able to dig deep, obviously playing back-to-back and then the clocks moving ahead with a little bit of a shorter rest. So I really commend our guys. I thought we had a really good start to the game, a little bit of a lull early in the second. Credit to Anaheim, I thought they made a good push and tied the game. But I thought as the game went on, we dug deep and found a way to win in overtime. And it's critical. We got nine out of 12 points on the road trip and went 4-1-1. So that's a credit to the players."

UP NEXT

The Preds will return home for the first time since Feb. 28 to host the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday. The puck drops at 7 p.m. CT, and the game will be broadcast on Bally Sports South, 102.5 The Game and El Jefe Radio.