O'Reilly Nets Hat Trick as Predators Defeat Flames, 3-1

O’Reilly Nets Hat Trick as Predators Defeat Flames, 3-1

Behind brilliant goaltending from Justus Annunen and timely goals from Ryan O’Reilly and Fedor Svechkov, the Nashville Predators defeated the Calgary Flames, 3-1, Saturday at Scotiabank Saddledome.

O’Reilly scored back-to-back goals on the power play in the second period and added an empty-net goal in the third to complete his sixth career hat trick. Annunen turned aside 31 shots to help lift the Predators to their second consecutive victory after earning a 3-0 shutout win Friday against the Vancouver Canucks.

It’s the first time this season that Nashville has earned back-to-back road wins. With the win against Calgary, the Predators move to 5-13-4 on the road and 13-20-7 on the season.

How the Predators lined up vs. Calgary

Forsberg-Stamkos-Marchessault
Nyquist-O’Reilly-Hinostroza
Jankowski-Svechkov-Evangelista
Wiesblatt-McCarron-Sissons

Josi-Barron
Skjei-Blankenburg
Stastney-Schenn

Annunen
Saros

Extra: Lauzon (day-to-day, lower-body), Novak (day-to-day, upper-body), L’Heureux (susp.)

IR: Smith, Wilsby

Predators forward Zachary L’Heureux was out of the lineup, serving the second game of his three-game suspension for slew-footing Minnesota Wild captain Jared Spurgeon in Tuesday’s game.

Defenseman Jeremy Lauzon and forward Tommy Novak, who both sustained injuries during Tuesday’s game, were sidelined Friday against the Vancouver Canucks and are listed as day-to-day. Additionally, defenseman Adam Wilsby joins forward Cole Smith on IR.

Game Summary

The Flames were all over the Predators in the first period, generating 11 shots to Nashville’s three. Calgary was strong on the forecheck, seeming to keep Nashville off-balance and unable to get sustained time in the offensive zone. The Predators were able to weather the storm and keep the Flames off the board in the first period, however, thanks to a pair of big penalty kills and some clutch saves from Annunen.

Nashville finally broke the ice at 4:21 of the second period on the power play. With Andrei Kuzmenko sitting for slashing, Svechkov played the puck from behind the net and fed it to O’Reilly, who was waiting on the doorstep to give Nashville a 1-0 lead.

O’Reilly doubled the lead later in the second period, finishing off a play from Filip Forsberg and Jonathan Marchessault at the 11:37 mark to make it 2-0 in favor of the Predators.

Mikael Backlund put the Flames on the board later in the period to cut Nashville’s lead in half. At 18:22, following a turnover in the defensive zone, the Flames’ captain launched a slapshot past Annunen to make it 2-1.

The Predators came out swinging in a highly physical third period that saw Marchessault drop gloves with Matthew Coronato at the 9:16 mark. On the ensuing face-off following the scrap, Svechkov carried the puck to the right of the net and fired home his third goal of the season.

O’Reilly scored into the empty net off a feed from Stamkos to complete the hat trick at 18:33 for the 4-1 final.

Key Takeaways & Notes

With the primary assist on O’Reilly’s second goal, Marchessault now has 16 points (9 goals, 7 assists) in his last 12 games.
With assists on each of O’Reilly’s goals in the second period, Forsberg padded his team leads in assists (24) and points (33).
Svechkov recorded his first NHL assist on O’Reilly’s first goal and added a goal of his own for the first multipoint game of his NHL career.
Marchessault’s fight was his first since 2021 and just the second of his NHL career.

Up Next

The Predators wrap up their six-game road trip Tuesday with their second and final visit to the Winnipeg Jets. The puck drops at 7 p.m. CT, and the game will be broadcast regionally on FanDuel Sports Network South and on ESPN+ for out-of-market customers in the United States.

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