The last time these teams met the Predators kept their playoff dream alive a little longer by eliminating the Flames in a shootout. Plenty has changed for the Predators since April 10, but they'll still rely on young talent and good goaltending tonight.
Last April, a pieced together Nashville Predators team headed to Calgary to play the Flames in a game that would result in one team being eliminated from the wildcard race. The Predators were surprising the league — and themselves perhaps — as young players called up from Milwaukee filled in for injured veterans and line up holes left by trade deadline moves.
Nashville got on the board first as Egor Afanasyev scored his first NHL goal in his 17 games with the Predators with an assist from Mark Jankowski who battled for the puck behind the net and found Afanasyev in the slot. The Flames tied the game up in the second period as Troy Stecher scored on Juuse Saros who was screened by Jonathan Huberdeau. Nashville pulled ahead once again in the third period as Zach Sanford cleaned up a loose puck that slipped behind goaltender Jacob Markstrom, but a turnover in the defensive zone resulted in the tying goal by Mikael Backlund and regulation ended with a 2-2 score.
Both Saros and Markstrom came up with big saves in the three on three overtime and neither team could score, so a game that decided the end of one team's postseason hopes went to a shootout. Huberdeau scored first on Saros, Neither team scored in the second round. Calgary's Nick Ritchie missed to start the third round of the shootout, and then it came down to Cody Glass. Glass scored on Marktrom to keep Nashville's hopes alive. Saros and Tommy Novak won the game with a big save on Mikael Backlund and a gorgeous game winner by Novak.
It was another surprising win for a Predators team that picked itself up after injuries and trades and found ways to win games late. While Nashville was ultimately eliminated from the wildcard just 24 hours later, the shootout win over Calgary gave Predators fans hope that a roster reset focused on developing young players could be an exciting new chapter.
A lot has changed since April 10. A new head coach, new system, and new roster make tonight's game very different. Only one of Nashville's four goal scorers from that April game will be on the ice in Calgary. Afanasyev is back in Milwaukee with the Admirals, Zach Sanford has played one game for the Arizona Coyotes, and Cody Glass is still day-to-day with a lower body injury. Tommy Novak will play tonight on a line with Luke Evangelista and Kiefer Sherwood, a trio that has kicked off the new season with a hot start. That young line could be a difference maker in the rematch tonight if they can finish offensive chances.
It's too early in the season for either team to call this a "make or break" game when it comes to playoff aspirations, but that isn't to say that tonight's game isn't important to both. Calgary has struggled to get wins early going 3-7-1 in their first eleven games while the Predators are trying to get to a .500 record with a win tonight.The stakes aren't nearly as high as they were on April 10, but the tone of tonight's game likely will be.