Top Five Wins in 2022-2023: Game Three

The Nashville Predators faced an April stretch of games with serious postseason consequences. On April 19, 2022 Nashville welcomed the surprise darling of the Pacific Division Calgary Flames to Bridgestone Arena. The season was coming down to the wire, and Nashville was looking for an important two points to help solidify a wild card spot in the Western Conference. 

Juuse Saros started in net for Nashville, but his fellow Vezina finalist Jacob Markstrom sat this one out and instead the Flames started goaltender Dan Vladar. Nashville was coming off of a brutal 8-3 loss against the St. Louis Blues while Calgary took the ice after their previous night's win over the Blackhawks. 

The first period was a back and forth between two determined teams. There were several intense net front scrambles in front of Vladar early in the game. At 8:50 in the opening period, the post (and not Vladar) robbed Filip Forsberg of a goal. Former Nashville Predator Calle Järnkrok heard the same "sound of failure" coming from the post on a two on one in the second period. 

In the second period, Filip Forsberg finally opened the scoring on a power play. Nashville had to battle to get the puck into the offensive zone even with the man advantage, but Forsberg sent a one timer past Vladar to open the scoring. 

At this point in April, Forsberg and Matt Duchene were each chasing the 40 goal mark and the franchise record for goals in a single season. At 12:09 in the second,Duchene fell into the Predators record book - literally - as he tripped while corralling the puck that went into the net off of a Flames player. It may not have been the highlight reel goal Duchene would have chosen to set a franchise and career record, but there are no style points in hockey and history. 

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Nashville's celebration was short lived as nine seconds later Andrew Mangiapane scooped up a wandering puck and scored to make the score 2-1 after two periods. 

Mangiapane evened the game at 6:40 in the third period after Roman Josi got tied up with Saros in front of the net. Mangiapane found the meandering puck and easily tapped in into a gaping net. Regulation ended with a 2-2 tie. 

Each team had their chances in overtime to earn the extra point, but the game headed to a shootout for the final decision. Juuse Saros was unflinching under pressure, easily handling shot attempts by Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk. After misses by Forsberg and Duchene, Mikael Granlund scored on Vladar. Saros thwarted Tyler Toffoli's final attempt and Nashville claimed the hard fought victory. 

This game revealed a highlight of Nashville's season - the stand out performances of Filip Forsberg and Matt Duchene with their record setting seasons. The two found their mojo on a line together and pushed each other to take their games to the next level throughout the season. Juuse Saros had another strong performance in net as well, going 19-21 and stifling the stand out stars of the Flames, especially in the shoot out. 

This game was an important win for the Preds as the regular season wound down as Nashville needed the two points to stay ahead of Dallas in the wild card race. It's hard not to wonder if the postseason may have lasted just a bit longer if the Preds could have faced the Flames instead of the Avalanche in the first round. Ultimately, the Predators missed their chance to face the Calgary Flames in the playoffs after an absolute collapse in Nashville's final game of the regular season against Arizona.