A heroic effort from Juuse Saros took an extra eighteen seconds for the Preds to lock down. We’ve got your recap right here.
The game opened with a moment of silence for those affected by the tornadoes on Saturday before moving to puck drop.
The Flyers had a strong initial shift but capped it off with a penalty, as Tyson Foerster went to the penalty box for slashing. Nashville gave up a shorthanded chance, though Saros had the save, and got a few shots of their own on Flyers goalie Samuel Ersson. Almost as soon as the teams returned to even strength, Luke Schenn took a roughing penalty and it was the Preds’ turn to head to the penalty kill.
Nashville was able to kill the penalty off, and regular play resumed. Halfway through the period, Filip Forsberg made a great cross-ice pass that allowed Alex Carrier to set up Gustav Nyquist for the first goal of the game. Cam Atkinson almost tied it up moments later on a breakaway, but Saros made the initial save and stopped the follow-up attempt.
A wild scramble in front of Ersson’s net resulted in–after some confusion, from refs and TV announcers alike, about who exactly had taken what penalty–Dante Fabbro heading to the box for slashing. The Preds killed that one off, but then Luke Evangelista took a slashing penalty of his own. Again Nashville managed to kill it off, with some dedicated work from Saros, and finally escaped to intermission with no further penalties taken.
They were back on track as the second period started, though the Flyers continued to attack even without the skater advantage. Then Michael McCarron scored against the flow of play and the energized Preds got going in the Flyers’ zone. Despite a couple of good chances, they weren’t able to score again.
Another scuffle broke out after Ersson saved a Forsberg shot, which ended with the net off its moorings, Forsberg on the ice, and players from both teams participating in a lively discussion. No penalties were assessed, and play resumed.
Halfway through the period, the Preds got another chance on the power play as Garnet Hathaway was called for high-sticking. Again the Flyers’ penalty kill was up to the task, putting in good work and keeping the Preds out of the offensive zone. With Hathaway out of the box, Philadelphia was energized further, going back strongly on the attack.
Hostilities finally erupted into a fight late in the period as Jeremy Lauzon and Nicolas Deslauriers picked up five each, and Deslauriers got an additional two for unsportsmanlike conduct. This time the Preds were able to get set up, but not score, and just after the penalty expired Sean Couturier scored to get the Flyers on the board with 23 seconds left in the period.
The Preds started the third by taking a too-many-men penalty, but were able to kill the penalty and even get a couple of shorthanded chances towards the end. Unfortunately, Philadelphia went back on the attack, pressing harder as the period went on. A massive missed call as Travis Konecny physically hauled Nyquist away from the puck in the neutral zone allowed the Flyers to tie the game off the rush seconds later.
Despite the chanting of “Ref, you suck!” from the arena, and visible displeasure from everyone associated with Nashville on the ice and on the bench, it wasn’t reviewable, and play continued. Finally, the Preds had some energy to their game, attacking vigorously and making Ersson work hard to keep the score even. He succeeded, and the game headed to OT.
Just seconds into the extra frame, Forsberg finished off his own first attempt, getting the puck across the line on the second try when Ersson didn’t have the initial save.