Saturday night, on Hockey Night in Canada, the Calgary Flames hosted the Nashville Predators at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
Related: Projected Lineups for Predators vs Flames – 01/03/26
It was the third and final matchup of the season between these two teams, with the Predators beating the Flames by multiple goals in each of the first two games of this season series.
What’s interesting about this matchup was that both teams were playing to get within one point of a wild card playoff spot in the Western Conference, compared to the last two matchups when these two were fighting to get out of the basement in the West.
Game Recap
It was a high-paced first period, with a combined 27 shots on goal. Yan Kuznetzov opened the scoring under two minutes into the game, scoring his third of the season on a seeing-eye one-timer from the point.
The 1-0 lead held for just under 10 minutes, until Erik Haula flipped the script, scoring back-to-back in under two minutes.
The first came off a great pass from Michael Bunting, which set up Haula for a net-front tap-in. The second came on the rush, after electing to keep the puck on a 2-on-1 and beat Dustin Wolf blocker side for the lead.
Rasmus Andersson responded for the Flames with his ninth of the season after Matthew Coronato picked off a Predators clearing attempt and found him on the far side walking in from the blue line to tie the game at two’s less than a minute after the Predators took the lead.
The tie held through the first intermission, but it was Bunting who scored four minutes into the second period to regain the lead for the Predators and pick up his second point of the game.
Bunting’s was the lone mark of the second frame, and the 3-2 lead held until seven minutes left in the game when Coronato made another great defensive play, forcing a turnover in the offensive zone, which Blake Coleman picked up and executed a give-and-go play with Mikael Backlund for Coleman’s 13th goal of the season.
The deciding goal came on a Nicolas Hague point shot, which he fired through traffic with just under 30 seconds left in the game. Despite the 4-3 scoreboard, the Predators controlled the game for most of the night, outshooting the Flames 37-23.
With the victory and season series sweep, the Predators will play their final game of a six-game road trip against the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night, while the Flames will look to get back in the win column on Monday against the Seattle Kraken.
