The Nashville Predators will look to move past the disappointment of a wild conclusion to a 3-2 overtime loss at Minnesota when they play host to the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday.
The Predators’ Steven Stamkos tied the game with just 0.3 seconds remaining to force overtime on Tuesday, but the joy was short-lived.
Wild forward Marcus Johansson was awarded the game-winning goal 3:38 into overtime after Predators goaltender Justus Annunen pushed from side to side and inadvertently knocked the net off its moorings.
Matthew Wood scored the other Nashville goal, and Annunen made 22 saves. The Predators have now lost five of their last six (1-3-2).
“I think we deserved that last goal to tie it,” said Nashville coach Andrew Brunette. “I was happy for (Stamkos). It was a hell of a shot. There’s only a few players in the history of the NHL who can make that shot. He made it.
“We just had trouble scoring a little bit, but we hung in there, and it was good to get a point. I would have liked to go on to the shootout or play a little bit longer.”
Filip Forsberg has paced the Predators with six goals and 11 points through 15 games.
Annunen, Nashville’s likely starter Thursday, is still in search of his first win of the season (0-2-1). The 25-year-old has a 3.70 goals-against average and an .872 save percentage in three games.
Nashville, which is 3-5-2 over its last 10 games, host the Flyers to open a brief two-game homestand. The Predators are 4-3-2 on home ice this season.
Thursday is the second of two meetings in the last week.
Trevor Zegras scored a pair, Jamie Drysdale and Travis Konecny also scored as Philadelphia earned a 4-1 home ice win over Nashville on Oct. 30. Wood had the lone tally for the Predators.
The Flyers head to Nashville to conclude a two-game road trip following a 5-4 shootout win in Montreal on Tuesday.
Bobby Brink scored twice as Philadelphia jumped out to a 3-0 first-period lead. However, Montreal responded with four unanswered second-period goals. Nikita Grebenkin forced overtime with his first of the season midway through the third, and Zegras netted the shootout winner as Philadelphia won on the road for the first time this season (1-2-1).
“We just got some good momentum going on the bench and then obviously we had the two quick power-play goals, which kind of gave us life,” said Zegras, who has a team-leading 11 assists and 15 points in 13 games. “Then we knew that they were going to come back with a big push in the second, and I thought we did a great job keeping our composure and tying it up and obviously taking it to the shootout.”
Owen Tippett and Brink share the team lead with five goals each through 13 games.
Dan Vladar, Thursday’s expected starter in goal, made 16 saves in the win over the Canadiens to improve to 5-3-0 with a 2.33 goals-against average and a .912 save percentage.
–Field Level Media
