Then, the floodgates opened.
With the Predators shorthanded, Nick Perbix found himself on a partial breakaway, but he dropped a pass back to Wood who was fresh out of the box, and he one-timed the puck over the line for a 2-0 advantage. After Boston got back to within one on a power-play goal, Erik Haula gave the Preds a two-goal lead once more when a shot deflected off him and into the net.
Then, Ufko collected his first career NHL point with a secondary assist on Filip Forsberg’s snipe of a power-play goal. Moments later, Josi’s point shot was tipped in by Wood for his second of the night and a 5-1 Nashville lead through 40 minutes of play.
The Bruins scored twice in the third period and eventually pulled their goaltender for an extra attacker, but Luke Evangelista iced things with an empty-netter for Nashville’s 28th win of the season to keep them in the hunt for a Wild Card spot despite the circumstances.
“Obviously, we're still there, making a playoff push,” Josi said. “I think you see a lot of guys [were traded] that meant a lot to this team. We were a tight group. We've been through a lot together. Even this year, the way we started, came back, and we battled. It's kind of always been about the group and the guys in this room. You would love to keep going with that group and make a playoff push. That’s not easy for anyone, and especially for guys who don't know what's going to happen. We're still in the playoff race. It’s OK to be frustrated about it, but at the same time, have that mindset of our goal is still to make the playoffs, and we'll do anything we can.”
Having played on the wing across his NHL career to this point, Wood found himself at the center ice position on Thursday night, and he seemed to thrive with the assignment. With a pair of goals and a dose of physicality, the 21-year-old put forth one of his most confident efforts yet.
“I was obviously put in a position to succeed, and I tried to make the most of it,” Wood said. “I try to have confidence in myself, and I know that I can do it and be that player. I feel like I showed it tonight and try to continue that momentum moving forward.”
“Through the middle of the ice, he might be our best player with his deceptiveness, his speed, his range, he makes plays, and I'm a big proponent of speed through the middle of the ice and carrying the puck,” Brunette said of Wood. “So, he fit a lot of check marks… He wants a role. He wants it bad, and he put the work in and is very comfortable. And I think obviously he had a great opportunity to play with [Forsberg] and [Evangelista] and he made the most of it tonight.”
With the Trade Deadline less than 24 hours away, the Predators will continue to control what they can control and prepare to face the Sabres on Saturday in Buffalo - another chance for two more points.
“It's an awesome group,” Josi said. “We've always talked about it, and we try to have a culture as a group of hard-working culture… Almost every night, we work pretty hard, and there's rarely nights where you don't see our group not working. It's not always a perfect game, but I feel like the work is always there, and I think you saw that tonight doesn't matter [the] circumstances. We still go out and try to work as hard as we can.”
Notes:
Prior to Thursday’s game, the Predators traded forward Michael Bunting to Dallas in exchange for Seattle’s third-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft.
As a result of that deal and three others made earlier in the week by the Preds, three forwards - Fedor Svechkov, Reid Schaefer and Joakim Kemell - as well as defenseman Ryan Ufko were all recalled from Milwaukee at different points on Thursday with Kemell arriving just before puck drop.
Preds centerman Ryan O’Reilly, who was injured on Tuesday night in Columbus, did not play Thursday and is day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
Per NHL PR, Filip Forsberg recorded the 80th multi-point period of his career and overtook teammate Roman Josi (79) for the most in Predators history.
Matthew Wood scored two goals in a period for the second time in 2025-26 (also Nov. 10, 2025). He became the second Predators rookie to do so twice in a single season, following Luke Evangelista (2x in 2022-23).
Forsberg recorded his 52nd career three-point game and passed Markus Naslund for sole possession of 12th most by a Swedish-born player. Peter Forsberg leads the list with 105.
Steven Stamkos (438-462—900 in 660 wins) collected two points in the Predators’ victory and is now one of just five active players to record at least 900 points in wins.
After the NHL Trade Deadline arrives at 2 p.m. CT on Friday, the Preds will head to Buffalo to face the Sabres on Saturday night to start a five-game road trip.
