Monday night, the Nashville Predators lost in the final second of overtime to the Vancouver Canucks.
Just 24 hours later, they found a bit of late-game magic of their own in regulation against the Minnesota Wild at Grand Casino arena in St. Paul.
Steven Stamkos, who hadn’t scored a point in 10 games, came up with his biggest point of the season thus far to send the game into overtime. It looked as if Lady Luck was about to smile on the Preds for a change.
Alas, overtime dealt another frustrating blow to the Predators. Marcus Johansson was credited with a goal at 3:38 of bonus time, even though the puck never actually went in the net.
Preds goalie Justus Annunen knocked the net off its moorings, and the officials determined that it was intentional, therefore awarding the goal to Johansson in a 3-2 victory for the Wild.
Preds head coach Andrew Brunette was unhappy at the ruling.
“The explanation was, in (the referee’s opinion), it was a goal,” Brunette told reporters. “I disagree with his opinion, but that’s the way it is.”
Kirill Kaprizov notched a power play goal to get the Wild on the scoreboard first at 10:44 of the opening period. Matthew Wood tied things up at 5:16 of the second period with his third goal in four games.
Zeev Buium put the Wild back ahead 2-1 at 16:01 of the middle frame on another power-play tally, after a feed from Brock Faber. Then came Stamkos’s missile just as the clock ran out in regulation.
The Predators have yet to win a game in the overtime period. They’ve gotten two points in two nights, but it’s tough to count the small victories when the bigger ones are just out of reach.
Here are three takeaways from the loss.
The Preds Set The Pace
Maybe it was the home gold sweaters the Preds wore to St. Paul. Maybe it was the frustration of letting Monday’s game slip out of their grasp.
Whatever the reason, the Preds brought a lot of energy despite having played less than 24 hours earlier, then hopping a plane to St. Paul.
Three different Preds hit or grazed the post in the first period with nothing to show for it. Ozzy Wiesblatt just missed getting his first career NHL goal in his 17th game when he clanged one on a penalty kill. Steven Stamkos and Fedor Svechkov, still looking for his first goal of the season, also had shots ring off the post.
Even when Kaprizov put the Wild ahead 1-0, the Preds kept up the high energy into the middle frame. At one point, they held possession for over two minutes, firing shot after shot against Minnesota goalie Filip Gustavsson. Then, Wood worked his magic to tie things up 1-1.
As the Preds know all too painfully well, it only takes one shot to score a goal. Buium’s tally put Minnesota ahead 2-1. It looked as if the Preds would see another regulation loss despite outplaying their opponent until Stamkos broke his dry spell and caused a temporary celebration for the Preds.
Annunen, who stopped 22 of 24 shots, had knocked the net off earlier in the game. In overtime, it cost him and the Preds a win.
Matthew Wood Is Finding His Groove
If there was one player one might have guessed would inject some life into the Predators once he returned to the lineup, it would be Matthew Wood.
The 20-year-old winger found the net again Tuesday, his third goal in four games. He also had a couple other chances in the game.
It had to feel good for Wood to score in the state where he played his collegiate hockey. The Preds’ first-round draft choice in 2023 played his final college season at the University of Minnesota, totaling career highs in goals (17) and points (39) in 39 games for the Golden Gophers.
Wood looks confident in his own skin, buzzing around the puck and being aggressive. On Tuesday, he took four shots on goal in 12:07 of ice time with a +1 rating.
How long he can keep this pace up is anybody’s guess. The NHL is full of ebbs and flows, and he will have down periods. Right now, though, he’s feeling it. He needs to bottle up some of that net magic and pass it around to some of his teammates.
The Penalty Kill Has Come Back To Earth
As important as offense and defense are in any game, it’s often the third phase that makes the difference.
Special teams played a crucial part in Tuesday’s Preds loss, particularly the penalty kill, which had been humming along nicely all season.
Coming into the Minnesota game, the Predators’ penalty kill ranked sixth in the NHL at 84.8 percent and had killed off 29 of the past 35 power plays they have faced.
It was bound to come back down to earth at some point. Over the last two games, the PK has given up multiple goals in each.
Kaprizov scored the Wild’s first goal on a power play after Annunen was screened on the play. Buim’s goal also was on a Wild power play at 16:01 of the second.
For the night, the PK went 1-for-3. To be fair, the Wild power play was no slouch. It ranked fifth in the NHL at 29.4% (15-for-51).
The Preds’ power play, which had two goals for the first time all season Monday, had several great looks against the Wild, but could not convert on its two opportunities.
The penalty kill has been the most consistent phase of the Preds’ game all season. It’s unrealistic to think it will be perfect every night, but it needs to stay hot for the team to have a chance over the course of the season, especially in close games.
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