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Nashville Predators Special Teams Come Alive In Victory Over Golden Knights | Recap
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- Nashville Predators Special Teams Come Alive In Victory Over Golden Knights | Recap
The Nashville Predators score three goals on special teams, two on the power play and one short-handed, in a critical Wild Card race win over the Vegas Golden Knights, 4-1, on Saturday at Bridgestone Arena.
The win temporarily puts the Predators in the final Wild Card spot in the Western Conference for the first time this season. It's also the first time the Predators have won three in a row since Jan. 16. make
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They will need the Seattle Kraken to lose in regulation and the Los Angeles Kings to lose in regulation in order to hold onto the spot by the end of the day.
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Los Angeles (72 PTS) hosts Buffalo (LAK leads 1-0 at end of first period)
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Seattle (71 PTS) travels to Columbus (4 p.m. CST puck-drop)
"It honestly feels great to win this game," Ryan O'Reilly said. "It's a good team over there. It's a very disappointing start...We gotta find a way to get something in the first (period). If it wasn't for big juice (Annuen) there, it could have gone out of hand, quick."
Special Teams Carry Scoring
The Predators' power play has ebbed and flowed this season. After slumping in early March, the unit has finally found some consistency and even turned into a weapon.
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Nashville scored twice on the power play against the Golden Knights, with Steven Stamkos putting a one-timer feed from Filip Forsberg and O'Reilly then tipping in a shot/pass from Stamkos.
The conversion was Stamkos' 238th career power play goal, passing Brendan Shanahan for seventh all-time. He'd finish with three points on the day.
On the other end, the Predators' penalty kill found a way to find the back of the net as Tyson Jost capped off a 3-on-1 opportunity in the second period to put Nashville up 3-0.
According to Jost, it was a well-scouted play that created the opportunity and allowed the Predators to score. It was Jost's first career short-handed goal and his third point in five games.
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"We kind of pre-scouted that (Mitch) Marner was gonna kind of try and go over to the flank (bounce the puck off the boards). He (Brady Skjei) made a great read and a great pass by him. I heard Halsey (Erik Haula) barking. I didn't know it was a 3-on-1, but I kind of heard him behind me there."
The Predators' first goal of the night wasn't scored on the power play, but was a unique scoring chance.
Less than a minute into the game, Stamkos scored right off the face-off to put the Predators up 1-0. It was O'Reilly's first of two points on the day.
"He (O'Reilly) said, 'How about I try to snap one back to you, and you shoot it?' and I said, 'Sure.' And it worked," Stamko said. "Those are a dime a dozen type of plays where it comes so clean and fast. I don't think anyone, including the goalie, reacted till it was in the net."
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Annunen Stands Tall
Mar 21, 2026; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Nashville Predators goaltender Justus Annunen (29) blocks the shot of Vegas Golden Knights left wing Ivan Barbashev (49) during the second period at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images
Justus Annunen was put to the test in the first 20 minutes of the game, facing 20 shots to the Predators' four, and not letting in a goal.
He'd finish the night with a season high of 39 saves on 40 shots. Annunen's .975 save percentage was his best single-game performance in a start of the season.
After being thrown into the starter role on Thursday, as Juuse Saros was ruled out with a day-to-day upper body injury and was still out for Saturday's game, Annunen has been up to the challenge.
"It kind of took him (Annunen) a while to get going, and we've seen he's been exceptional," Predators head coach Andrew Brunette said. "Even last time against Vegas. It ended up being a little bit higher (goal total), but he was spot on. His numbers and great danger chances are off the charts for us right now."
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Nashville has a quick turnaround, facing Chicago on the road on Sunday at 2 p.m. CST. Brunette said it's unknown if Annuen or Matt Murray, a call-up from Milwaukee, will start.
The Predators were disappointed with their start, but one of the motivating factors was getting the win for Annunen and making sure it wasn't wasted.
"Thank God for Big Juice," Steven Stamkos said. "We didn't waste his performance, and that was kind of the story of tonight."
Staying In The Playoff Race
Mar 21, 2026; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Nashville Predators and Vegas Golden Knights players push and shove each other during the third period at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images
In the hours between the end of the Predators game and the end of the Kings game, Nashville is in the final Wild Card spot with 73 points.
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They are very much not safe there with three other teams riding their coattails, but it's the first time this season that Nashville has finally been able to pass over the threshold.
The Predators are still proud of having gotten here. For the first two months of the season, they were the worst team in the NHL and are now on the brink of extending their season.
However, they know they need to continue winning to stay in this position.
"It's just the belief in the guys in this room, and that's all that matters," Stamkos said. "The coaching staff has a belief, the players have a belief, and it's not always gonna be pretty. We understand that at this time of the year, points are more important than how good the game looks. We put together a decent stretch over the past six or seven games and collected points.
"As you said, it's there for the taking."
