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Stamkos records two assists as Preds fall to Lightning in overtime
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Stamkos records two assists as Preds fall to Lightning in overtime

O’Reilly and Gustav Nyquist scored for the Preds, and goalie Juuse Saros was brilliant making 24 saves on the night, but Nick Paul scored the game-winner in overtime to give Nashville just one point in the effort.

“I thought we were resilient again,” Preds head coach Andrew Brunette said. “We managed. It wasn’t a pretty, perfect game. Obviously, we’re running out of steam with the back-to-back games (three games in four nights), the travel – a day that’s a little emotional. So, I think we did a good job of just trying to stay in the moment and take two points. We wanted two, we got one, but having one here on the road was huge.

Tampa Bay had a 2-0 advantage during one period thanks to goals from Brayden Point and Mitchell Chaffee, but as was the case last Friday night in Chicago, the Predators found a way to turn things around .

Nikita Kucherov appeared to give the Lightning a three-goal lead in the second period, but once again the Preds challenged the play for an offside call, and they did indeed succeed.

And yes, as was the case in Chicago, Nashville then went on the attack. First, O’Reilly received a tight pass on his skate and spun to slide the puck past Andrei Vasilevskiy and across the goal line for a power play goal to get the Preds on the board. Then Tampa Bay got caught on a line change, Stamkos found Nyquist entering the zone for a partial break, and No. 14 in white converted to tie the score at 2-2 in 40 minutes.

Both teams had their opportunities until the end, with Saros turning down chance after chance for the Lightning as regulation drew to a close.

“My goodness, Juice played great,” O’Reilly said. “Juice gave us a chance. There were some incredible saves at key moments in the match. They have great players who make great plays, and he was there every time he made that save. That’s one of the main reasons we got a point tonight.

The night ended almost perfectly for Nashville as Stamkos had a close chance in the extra session, but he failed to convert. Soon after, Paul put an end to it.

From there, the Predators will rest after playing three games in four days before hosting the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday, and Nashville will once again look to find additional points in the standings.

“I really don’t think we started the game really well,” Stamkos said. “We were a little passive, and like I said, they have some really good players who can make you look like an idiot if you play passive. So, we came back. I still think we gave away too many quality chances, and that’s not in our DNA, so we’ll look to fix that. I thought Juice played amazing tonight and gave us a chance to score a point here in a situation (three games in four nights). So, we’ll figure it out, go home and rest.

Remarks :

Before Monday’s game, the Preds reassigned defenseman Marc Del Gaizo to Milwaukee (AHL). Forwards Juuso Parssinen and Philip Tomasino were scratched for Nashville against the Lightning.

Earlier Monday, Preds goaltender Juuse Saros was appointed the second star of the week in the NHL.

The Predators will close out the month of October by hosting the Edmonton Oilers on Halloween night at Bridgestone Arena.