Ryan O’Reilly absolutely crushed the Montreal Canadiens’ hopes on Thursday night, ripping in the go-ahead goal with just 3:16 left to complete a wild 5-2 rally for the Nashville Predators. Montreal had a 2-0 lead, can you believe it? They watched it disappear in a blur, extending their brutal winless streak to three games.
Montreal’s Early Spark Just… Died
After a scoreless first period, Montreal actually looked like they had something cooking. Nick Suzuki, man, he got things going 3:12 into the second, sliding a backhander between Juuse Saros’s legs during four-on-four play for his third goal of the season. Pure disrespect, honestly, but it worked! Then Alex Newhook doubled the lead at 8:50, finishing off Josh Anderson’s feed after minutes of sustained pressure in Nashville’s zone. Dude, it felt like Montreal was just grinding them down, building a real cushion.
But then the wheels fell off. Seriously, what happened? Alexander Kerfoot started the comeback for Nashville with 4:54 remaining in the period, redirecting Adam Wilsby’s point shot past Jacob Fowler on the glove side. Just like that, the lead was cut. And then, Matthew Wood tied the game on the power play with only 32 seconds left in the period! Talk about a gut punch before the intermission. Poor Jacob Fowler, making his first start of the season, stopped 15 shots but probably felt like he was playing against a brick wall by the end of that second period.
Predators Turn Up the Heat, O’Reilly Delivers the Knockout
The Predators just kept coming, and Montreal just couldn’t hold them back. Ryan O’Reilly, the veteran, pulled off some classic power play wizardry to score the go-ahead goal. He redirected a point shot from Roman Josi with just 3:16 left on the clock, 59 seconds after Canadiens defenseman Mike Matheson tripped Steven Stamkos in the neutral zone. That was a costly penalty, man, super costly. Stamkos was dishing dimes all night, too, picking up two assists on the night.
Nashville wasn’t done there. Adam Edstrom added a pair of empty-net goals, just to put the cherry on top, pushing the final score to a dominant 5-2. You know what’s wild? The Preds were actually outshot 34-18. Thirty-four to eighteen! That’s how efficient they were when it counted, with Juuse Saros standing on his head making 32 saves. This win also ended Montreal’s streak of five straight wins against Nashville, dating all the way back to March 5, 2024. Talk about snapping a curse!
So what’s next? The Predators are heading to Ottawa on Saturday, riding high on this comeback momentum. For the Canadiens? They’re back home to host Detroit on Saturday. With a three-game skid and a blown 2-0 lead, they’ve got some serious soul-searching to do before puck drop. Can they snap out of it? Fans are gonna be asking some tough questions.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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