Preds Defeat Wild 4-3 in Overtime

With a highlight-reel goal in overtime, Juuso Parssinen lifted the Nashville Predators to a 4-3 win over the Minnesota Wild on Thursday at Bridgestone Arena.
Juuse Saros made 21 saves in goal for the Predators, who moved to 42-31-8 on the season.

THE STORY

The Predators were the first to get on the board with a shorthanded goal from Mark Jankowski. Less than a minute into Cal Foote's tripping penalty, Tyson Barrie completed a give-and-go with Michael McCarron before passing the puck to Jankowski, who deflected it into the net to make it 1-0 at 8:02 of the first period.

Minnesota tied it up courtesy of former Pred Frederick Gaudreau, who received a cross-ice pass from Jon Merrill and snapped a one-timer past Saros to make it 1-1 at 14:19.
After a scramble in front of the Wild net, Tommy Novak pulled off a nifty spin move to beat Merrill and move the puck to the netfront for Kiefer Sherwood, who slid it across the goal line to give Nashville the 2-1 lead at 16:19.

Gaudreau potted his second of the night at 10:46 of the second period when he found Marcus Foligno's rebound in front of the crease and sent it past Saros to tie the score at 2-2.
The teams remained deadlocked until 14:04 of the third period, when Yakov Trenin completed a tic-tac-toe play with Parssinen on the breakaway before burying the puck to give Nashville a one-goal lead. However, Nic Petan answered back 16 seconds later when he knocked home a pass from Samuel Walker to make it 3-3 at 14:29.

Parssinen scored 2:44 into overtime, receiving a feed from Ryan McDonagh and going between the legs to beat Filip Gustavsson for the 4-3 final.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Shorty King
Jankowski scored his team-leading third shorthanded goal of the season in the first period of Thursday's game. In doing so, he became the ninth Preds player in franchise history to score at least three shorthanded goals in a season and the first to do so since Austin Watson (4) and Viktor Arvidsson (3) in 2017-18.
Parssy Power
With an assist and the OT game winner, Parssinen tallied his eighth career multi-point game and his first since Feb. 21 vs. Vancouver (2a). He returned to the Predators lineup on Monday at Calgary for the first time since suffering an upper-body injury on Feb. 23 at San Jose.
Parssinen, who made his NHL debut on Nov. 12 vs. the Rangers, has 25 points (6g-19a) in his first 44 career NHL games. Despite missing Nashville's previous 23 games entering Monday's contest against Calgary, Parssinen is 12th among NHL rookies in assists (19) and tied for 15th in points (25).

THEY SAID IT

Sherwood on the play from Novak that led to his goal:
"We know that they play man-on-man so I think if we can cut back and burn a guy then you should have an opportunity… I heard [Novak] call and I was trying to possess it so I just gave it to him. He worked his magic and then I got the fortunate bounce."
Trenin on his goal assisted by Parssinen:
"It just came naturally. Their D-man made an awkward play... We just tried to get as many passes in as we could to shake the goalie and a good thing happened… It's very good to have [Parssinen] back. He's a good playmaker, very fast, hard on pucks and protecting down low and he scored a huge goal for us."
Trenin on the team's effort in the win:
"It wasn't difficult. It's a privilege to play in this League and to have something to play for, for our fans and for ourselves."
Sherwood on the message in the locker room before the game:
"The message from Hynes and the staff this morning was that it's a privilege to play in this league. So we owe it to the fans, to the organization and everyone. Whether or not [we make playoffs] it's on us to come out and perform and hopefully end the regular season on a high note."
Head Coach John Hynes on the win:
"I thought it was a really good effort. What we talked with the team about this morning was changing our focus to the final two games and being where our feet are and handling it the right way. But there really wasn't a doubt as we talked to the players this morning… With this particular group over the last six weeks, they've been hungry, they've been tenacious, and they play with a lot of pride. I thought we did those things tonight, and it was good to see."
Hynes on the return of Parssinen:
"Parssinen was a big part of the team. From his NHL debut until he got hurt, I think he was third in rookie points and he was having a really strong year. He's a good, strong, young player. Good offensive mindset. I think he plays both sides of the puck really well. He's worked hard to get back. It's taken him a little bit longer than I think he wanted to, but he really worked hard and it's nice to see him get into a big game against Calgary and then obviously had a big impact on the game tonight."
Parssinen on finishing the season strong:
"We talked about that in the morning, and we wanted to bring smiles to our fans and we wanted to be proud of what we do. It doesn't matter how much there is on the line, we always want to win."

UP NEXT

The Preds will close out the 2022-23 season when they host the Colorado Avalanche Friday at Bridgestone Arena. The puck drops at 7 p.m. CT, and the game will be broadcast on Bally Sports South, 102.5 The Game and El Jefe Radio.