*Photo from Matchsticks and Gasoline*
If the hockey world is treated to this as a 7 game first round series, we're in for a treat. Matthew Tkachuk scored late in regulation, Elias Lindholm scored the winning goal, and the Calgary Flames defeated the Nashville Predators with a 5-4 overtime win on Tuesday night in Nashville.
The way that the standings are currently aligned, the Predators, who are the top wild card team, would face the Flames, the top team in the Pacific Division, in the first round of the playoffs, beginning next week. It was a playoff like atmosphere all game long, with tension and physicality and scoring at every corner, including Tkachuk's goal within the last second of regulation.
Flames forward and NHL veteran Milan Lucic said that "I'd have to say, I've played over 1,000 games now, and that's probably a top-five game that I've been a part of with the goals, the hits, the fights, the emotion, crowd. So it was a great game to be a part of."
The only goal of the first period came from Calgary's Dillon Dube, making it 1-0 after one period. 5:41 into the second period, Nashville captain Roman Josi got the Preds on the board, evening the game 1-1. Matt Duchene then scored 8:08 into the second, putting the Predators up by a 2-1 score. Dube would then score again for the Flames, making it a 2-2 deadlock after two periods.
On the power play to start the 3rd period, Filip Forsberg scored just 30 seconds into the period, putting Nashville ahead 3-2. Noah Hanifin tied it for the Flames 2:03 into the period with his 10th goal of the season. Forsberg then scored another power play goal at the 9:35 mark of the 3rd to make it 4-3 Predators. With less than a second to play in regulation, Tkachuk beat the buzzer to force overtime. Lindholm then scored 2:01 into overtime to cap a wild game.
Tkachuk said of his buzzer beating goal that "I couldn't hear, so I didn't know if it was actually in or not. When I came to the bench, they said it was in. It was just like, `What else can possibly happen in this game?' It was good to get that one and then get it in overtime."
With the Flames easing Jacob Markstrom's workload as the regular season winds down, rookie Dan Vladar got the start. Vladar performed well, saving 19 of the 23 shots he got from the Predators. That was good for a .826 save percentage, improving his record to 13-5-2 in his first full NHL season.
It was Juuse Saros who got the start for the Predators, being his usual self in net. Saros saved 30 shots before coming up injured in the 3rd period. Saros then got injured, forcing him out of action and backup David Rittich in. Rittich saved 3 of the 5 shots he faced, getting the OT loss in this one. Rittich's record is now at 5-3-4 on the season.
By securing overtime, the Predators officially locked down a playoff spot, which they also could have done with a regulation win. But the bigger story is the apparent injury to Saros. He has far and away been the clear number one, and if he has to miss any playoff time, it would be bad news for a Predators team that needs good goaltending to go anywhere. If he were to miss time, Rittich would become the starter and either Connor Ingram or Devin Cooley would be recalled from AHL Milwaukee to serve as backup.
Predators head coach John Hynes said of making the playoffs that "We certainly deserve to be in the playoffs, the way that I think we played all year and the way the guys have battled. No one picked us to be here. We talked about writing our own story and having a strong team identity and a strong team culture, along with a lot of talent. They worked their tails off for 80 games to get here."
Up next, the Flames have a road game with the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night, with Markstrom likely to get the start. The Predators face the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday, with Rittich in line to start.
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