Predators collapse in third period and shootout. Vancouver seizes victory with timely goals and decisive shootout mark.
After taking a two-goal lead in the second period, the Nashville Predators gave up a pair of goals in the third period and went scoreless in the shootout, falling to the Vancouver Canucks, 4-3, on Thursday at Rogers Arena.
Ryan O'Reilly, Filip Forsberg and Steven Stamkos all failed to score as Jake DeBrusk scored the lone goal in the shootout.
It's Nashville's first shootout loss of the season and just the Canucks fourth win of the 2026 calendar year. The Predators have also lost five straight overtime/shootout games.
Tyson Jost scored twice for Nashville, recording his first multi-goal game since May 13, 2021, when he had two goals as a member of the Colorado Avalanche in a 5-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings. He also has three goals in the last two games.
Matthew Wood scored his 14th goal of the season, shooting the puck from the left corner, and it deflected off of Vancouver's Liam Öhgren and into the net. That score gave Nashville a two-goal lead.
Marco Rossi scored off a rebound to cut the Predators' lead down to one with five minutes left in the third period. With a minute left in the game and the extra attacker on, Filip Hronek scored to tie the game.
Despite picking up the loss, Juuse Saros had a massive performance, making 24 saves on 27 shots. The Predators were outshot 12-5 in the first period with Saros making a handful of big saves to prevent Vancouver from expanding its lead.
A victory would've tied the Predators with the San Jose Sharks for the final Wild Card spot in the West, with 68 points; however, the Sharks would've had the tiebreaker over them in wins.
Sitting at 67 points, Nashville is in a three-way tie with Seattle and Los Angeles. With the most losses and more games played of the three, the Predators don't have the tiebreaker.
The Predators will look to keep pushing for the playoffs on Sunday against the Edmonton Oilers at 7 p.m. CST.