The Preds took on the Penguins tonight at home as Nashville aimed to improve their winning streak to six.
First Period
The game started slowly, then began to pick up steam as Pittsburgh marshaled its attack. The Preds withstood a sequence from Evgeni Malkin and company, then came back up the ice for Michael McCarron to tip a Tyson Barrie shot and put the Preds on the board for the first goal of the game. (Apologies, the NHL embedding API has mucked things up – should be fixed by next game)
https://www.nhl.com/video/pit-nsh-mccarron-scores-goal-against-tristan-jarry-6341936542112
Undaunted, the Penguins continued to pile on the pressure, but a Jeff Carter tripping penalty finally gave the Preds a break. While they didn’t manage to score on the power play, they finally made it out of their own end, and a few minutes later McCarron scored his second of the period on a delayed penalty. With under a minute and a half left in the period, the Penguins didn’t manage to score either, but did push back again before intermission came and gave the Preds a break.
https://www.nhl.com/video/pit-nsh-mccarron-scores-goal-against-tristan-jarry-6341936542112
Second Period
Nashville started the second on the penalty kill, as Malkin got hold of Jeremy Lauzon’s stick when it went around him and held on for the whistle. Although the Preds were able to kill the penalty off, and even managed to try to muster some offense, Malkin took advantage of a line change to put the Preds on the board with a perfect shot at 5:49.
https://www.nhl.com/video/evgeni-malkin-with-a-goal-vs-nashville-predators-6341939264112
McCarron and rookie defender John Ludvig then fought, which didn’t do much if anything to halt the Penguins’ progress. Another Preds power play halted the onslaught briefly, but the Penguins went back on the attack, finishing the period strong.
Third Period
(Author’s note: Bryan stepped in for the final frame to relieve our fearless leader)
The Predators started the period on the power play due to a penalty in the final minutes of the second, but despite chances from both Roman Josi and Filip Forsberg, Nashville was unable to convert. With the penalty killed, Filip Forsberg had yet another beautiful chance that went off the crossbar, and the Penguins took it the other way, with Bryan Rust scoring the game-tying goal just 2:26 into the 3rd period, now both tied 2-2.
https://www.nhl.com/video/pit-nsh-rust-scores-goal-against-juuse-saros-6341944631112
Despite the 2 goal lead evaporating before their eyes, the Predators came out strong on the ensuing faceoff, and both Josi and Forsberg relentlessly tried to score behind great effort from Luke Evangelista. The momentum started to swing back to Pittsburgh, and a Jake Guentzel dive on a would-be interference call put Nashville back down a man at 14:32 in the third.
Pittsburgh couldn’t get it going early, with a blocked shot leading to a quick Colton Sissons shorthanded attempt, but it was 4 on 1, and even a between the legs move couldn’t get the shot on net. But the Predators would not relent, and they rushed the first unit for the Pens off the ice after multiple entry denials. Malkin, Crosby and Guentzel all created a great opportunity, but Juuse Saros was able to glove it down before Malkin could redirect it in the net. The Pens would get one final shot with just 20 seconds left, but time would expire. Cole Smith came out of the box, but Pittsburgh retained possession for awhile before Ryan McDonaugh made an excellent block to put Nashville back on the offensive before the TV break at 11:30.
The game continued back-and-forth (including some great saves by Juuse Saros) before Colton Sissons nearly created a golden opportunity on an odd-man rush. Despite not getting the shot on net, Nashville would swing momentum back in their favor. A Nashville flurry at the net resulted in a stoppage when Kris Letang’s helmet came off. There were questions by the broadcast team that it should’ve been a delay of game penalty, but nothing doing. Still, the Predators stayed aggressive in the final 6 minutes.
The Predators would get an odd-man rush that would be stopped, but then the game came to a halt at 4:16 when it seemed there was roughly 11 Pittsburgh players on the ice and one of them deciding to mix it up with Jeremy Lauzon. After some discussion by the officials, unfortunately, there was once again no call, so play would resume at even strength, Pittsburgh leading in shots 29-23.
Both teams would struggle to enter the offensive zone for anything resembling a full possession over the next 60 seconds, and the pace continued at a frantic gait. Saros would stop the puck at 2:14 and both teams used the time to plan, as both looked out for blood.
In the final 90 seconds, Roman Josi came off the bench like a rocket, getting a shot on goal, and was quickly joined by Forsberg, Nyquist and the rest of the top unit. A blocked shot got whistled down despite it not being that bad, and play stopped with 53 seconds left. The Preds would continue to control the puck for the final seconds, but couldn’t get much going, except one good shot from Colton Sissons and the Penguins would ice the puck with just 6.3 seconds remaining. Tomasino and Juuso Parssinen would get a shot on Jarry, but time ran out and the Predators headed to overtime for just the second time this season.
Overtime
Josi, Forsberg and O’Reilly started the game, and despite O’Reilly getting blasted on a nasty hit, Forsberg took it all the way himself, and ended the game just 14 seconds into OT, and the Nashville Predators win their sixth straight, and Forsberg continues to eye the Rocket Richard, with his 12th goal and 27th point of the season to seal the victory.
https://www.nhl.com/video/pit-nsh-forsberg-scores-goal-against-tristan-jarry-6341944610112
Three Stars
Third Star: F Gustav Nyquist
Second Star: F Michael McCarron
First Star: F Filip Forsberg