Forsberg's milestone goal, Annunen's clutch performance, and a dramatic win propel the Predators into a playoff tie, igniting their Wild Card hopes.
Filip Forsberg recorded his 30th goal of the season as the Nashville Predators picked up a critical playoff race win over the Seattle Kraken, 3-1, on Thursday at Bridgestone Arena.
It's the first time Nashville has won back-to-back games since Feb. 2, tying them with Seattle for the final Wild Card spot. The Kraken have the tiebreaker with more regulation wins.
Ryan Ufko opened the scoring, netting his second goal of the season off a one-timer feed from Brady Skjei to make it 1-0 Nashville in the first period. It was Ufko's fourth point in five games.
Seattle responded in the final two minutes of the opening period as Frederick Gaudreau tipped in a cross-ice feed from Chandler Stephenson to tie the game.
In the second period, Jamie Oleksiak was called for interference on Steven Stamkos, putting the Predators on the power play. Ryan O'Reilly scored the game-winning goal, putting away a Forsberg rebound to make it 2-1 Nashville.
Forsberg iced the game on an empty net goal with a little over a minute left in the game to record his sixth 30-plus goal season and the third straight season he's put up that tally.
Justus Annunen picked up the win, making 25 saves on 26 shots. His start was unexpected as Juuse Saros was ruled out due to a day-to-day, upper-body injury, which was sustained in the morning skate.
Milwaukee Admirals goalie Matt Murray was called up at the last minute and arrived in the middle of the game to back up Annunen.
If the Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks both lose in regulation tonight, the Predators will be in a three-way tie for the final Wild Card spot. A win over the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday would push them over the threshold.