NoSalt Lake City — The Nashville Predators’ shootout victory over Utah Hockey Club may not have much impact this season, but it might boost momentum for the next one. “We hung in there,” Predators coach Andrew Brunette said Thursday at the Delta Center after a 4-3 victory. “It was a gutsy road win for us.”
The Predators were behind 2-0 in the second period before rallying to take a 3-2 lead on Ryan O’Reilly’s goal at 3:17 of the third period. Utah’s Dylan Guenther knotted the game and sent it to overtime, where Filip Forsberg won in the shootout.
“There is no quitting here,” said defenseman Nick Blankenburg, who scored a power play goal in the second period. “We’re simply trying to build toward something at this stage. We’re not making the playoffs, so we’re just trying to learn and improve from this experience.”
The Predators, who were mathematically eliminated from playoff contention on March 27, will conclude the season with the third-best chances of winning the first overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft. Regardless of how the remaining three games go, the Predators will have an 11.5% chance of receiving the first choice in the draft lottery.
Nashville (29-42-8, 66 points) takes on the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday (9 p.m. CT, FanDuel Sports Network).
The Predators’ overtime penalty kill sets up a shootout triumph against Utah. Nashville won the game with Forsberg’s shootout goal, a beautiful forehand to backhand deke that easily past Utah goaltender Karel Vejmelka. However, the Predators’ penalty kill played a crucial role in the victory.
Fedor Svechkov was called for hooking defenseman Mikhail Sergachev with 2:10 remaining in overtime, forcing the Predators to hold off Utah’s 4-on-3 advantage.
Defensemen Brady Skjei and Justin Barron spent virtually the entire two minutes blocking shots and leaping into passing lanes to protect goaltender Juuse Saros. Utah had zero shots on goal during their power play, with Barron recording three blocked shots.
“We did a good job of not getting out of position,” Brunette said of the penalty kill. “In 4-on-3, they will occasionally try to bait you out. We stayed quite close. I absolutely enjoyed the stick detailing.”