You thought these two would settle things in sixty? You thought wrong. Tied after 20. Tied after 40. Of course, they would be tied after 60! Luke Kunin open and closed the curtain in Nashville. It took nearly 100 minutes but the Predators tied up the series before they head back to Raleigh. Things were off to a hot start in Nashville. Dougie Hamilton turned over the puck in the neutral zone and led to Luke Kunin scoring fifty seven seconds into the game. Emotions were high and bleeding over from Friday as both teams got chippy in front of Nashville’s net. Ben Harpur mopped up the ice with Nino Niederreiter. Niederreiter crosschecked Nick Cousins. Neither team was able to score on the 4 on 4. Carolina kept the shots flying through 20, outshooting Nashville 17-5. They were able to land one between the pipes with 1:57 left. After review, a double minor against Andrei Svechnikov was overturned. Eeli Tolvanen received a high stick from teammate Mattias Ekholm and then from Svechnikov. The penalty was overturned entirely. It could not be downgraded to a minor because of a rule change back in 2019.
Sebastian Aho’s backcheck. That’s it. That’s the sentence. Ryan Johansen scored the go-ahead goal about five minutes into the period. Nashville’s puck management and patience earned them that goal. Nashville has always been a team with an offensively talented defense. I mean, just look at SheaWeber’s freshly broken record by 2020 Norris Trophy winner, Roman Josi.. Alex Nedeljkovic had glorious saves that saved Nashville from taking a bigger lead. Matt Duchene went down the tunnel after throwing a big hit and cutting his face. Brock McGinn scored the tying goal with 1:55 to go.
Duchene returned to the bench for the final twenty. Ten seconds into the period, McGinn scored his second of the afternoon and Carolina’s third of the game. The Canes would go on their first penalty kill of the game after Dougie Hamilton tripped Josi. Nashville capitalized on the power play with a goal from Nick Cousins. Nashville had 3 goals on 18 shots. Svechnikov earned himself a two minute minor after crosschecking, sending the Preds back to the power play. Nedeljkovic was outstanding on the penalty kill and through the remainder of the third. Nashville looked beat by the time the second half of the third period rolled around. That’s not how you want to look against the speedy and skillful Canes. The Canes picked up on every one of the Preds’ mistakes and attempted to make the most of it.
It was a hard fought overtime. Two overtimes actually. Both ends of the ice were getting some serious wear. The Predators killed a delay of game penalty, keeping themselves alive. Duchene was nearly the hero for the second night in a row. Hamilton had a strong offensive presence as well. Bridgestone was rocking through regulation and they certainly did not disappoint come over time. We may have used the “I thought it was full capacity” line a few too many times in the last week but I stand by it. Luke Kunin opened and closed the show in Nashville this afternoon. Juuse Saros set a franchise record with 58 saves on the day. The Predators were outshot 61 to 43.
The teams square off on Tuesday in Raleigh. Tune in to see who takes the series lead.
Down the Frozen River 
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