It was a goalie duel within the Saddledome tonight, as Juuse Saros and Dustin Wolf each stored the slate clean for the primary two durations regardless of a number of spectacular probabilities. The breakthrough got here properly into the third, as Saros allowed the objective and Wolf skated off with a career-first NHL shutout.
The Flames bought a possibility early when Brady Skjei took a roughing penalty at simply 1:43, however though they despatched all types of rubber in the direction of Saros, he held on. The Preds pushed again after that, getting some beauty and incomes a penalty of their very own when Jonathan Huberdeau cross-checked Roman Josi.
Whereas the facility play bought just about nothing finished, the penalty kill bought an opportunity to shine moments later when Colton Sissons — who doesn’t appear to love Alberta a lot — bought referred to as for high-sticking not fairly midway by way of the interval. Cole Smith and Gus Nyquist mixed for a pair of nice shorthanded probabilities, however Wolf dealt with the saves.
The Flames pushed again however weren’t in a position to rating regardless of some good possibilities of their very own in the direction of the tip of their energy play. A pair of coincidental roughing penalties between Michael McCarron and Martin Pospisil close to the tip of the Sissons penalty stalled each groups’ momentum for some time, earlier than they returned to cautiously buying and selling probabilities. Brayden Pachal and McCarron fought late within the first, which as soon as once more appeared to pull the offense again to a crawl.
Within the second Calgary slowly gained the higher hand, drawing out their zone time and forcing the Preds to defend — and Saros to work — for prolonged durations of time. Then the sport slowed down once more, till Alex Provider took a holding penalty at 16:14 and Jeremy Lauzon by accident cleared the puck over the glass simply seconds into the penalty kill.
The Preds did an outstanding job of killing the 5v3, with Josi out for nearly the entire time and nice work from Saros and the opposite skaters as properly. They completed the interval sturdy and narrowly dodged one other penalty early within the third, as Provider was pushed into Saros’s web throughout a Flames flurry and helped it off its moorings whereas he was within the neighborhood.
The Flames continued to press, and at last broke by way of at 6:37 of the third when Daniil Miromanov scored on a faceoff play. Nashville rallied, with Phil Tomasino drawing a penalty to offer the Preds an opportunity. Saros needed to make a spectacular save on a shorthanded 2-on-0, however did, and the Preds weren’t in a position to generate a lot of their very own with their energy play.
Because the interval wound down, Head Coach Andrew Brunette pulled Saros with two minutes to go, and Blake Coleman’s empty-net objective at 18:51 — off a stolen move — sealed the sport.
