Heading into the 2025 NHL Global Series, the Nashville Predators had talked a lot about how the two-game set against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Stockholm, Sweden, could be a spark to help turn around what has been a disappointing start to the season.
They are hoping their rally for a 2-1 overtime win in the opener Friday is the start and will try to make it two straight in the rematch on Sunday.
Filip Forsberg, from Leksand, Sweden, pushed Friday’s game to overtime when he scored the game-tying goal with 1:10 remaining. Steven Stamkos scored 44 seconds into the extra session to secure the two points and snap a five-game losing streak.
“It’s massive, really,” said Stamkos, who has scored three of his four goals on the season over the past five games. “Obviously, we’re in a position that we need wins. You circle this trip on the calendar at the beginning of the year; you obviously hope that we were in a little better position, but we’ve decided to use this as something that can spark the season.
“I think you just see the reaction of getting a big win, but not only getting a big win, but playing really a solid game.”
The Predators had outshot the Penguins 20-10 through two periods on Friday but found themselves trailing on a fluky bounce that led to Evgeni Malkin getting Pittsburgh on the board first. They finished the game with a 30-17 shot advantage.
“Those long nights this year that we played that style of hockey, they’ve done everything I’ve asked them to do, and we didn’t get rewarded,” Nashville coach Andrew Brunette said. “And tonight we got rewarded. And you know, it was pretty cool for (Forsberg). Really happy for him.”
The Predators entered Saturday ranked 20th in the NHL with an average of 27.3 shots per game while allowing 27.7 against per game. But converting on the shots they get has been tough, ranking second-to-last in the league at 2.53 goals per game ahead of only the Calgary Flames (2.05).
The Penguins, meanwhile, will try to break out of their own funk which has seen them lose five of their past six games (1-3-2).
“There’s been games we played pretty good and not gotten any (points),” Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby said. “So, when you have a lead going into the third and late into the game like that, you got to find ways to close it out. And now it’s been a few times now that we’ve lost those leads, and you got to find a way to close out games.”
The Penguins held the lead in the second period or later in four of their past six, losing three of those contests. They were up 2-1 after two periods against the Los Angeles Kings on Nov. 9 before Los Angeles scored twice in the third.
Their 3-0 lead after 40 minutes against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Nov. 3 evaporated in the third period when Toronto scored four times in 10 minutes.
The offense has dropped off for Pittsburgh of late. After sitting fourth in the NHL with an average of 3.67 goals per game in October, the Penguins are 29th with an average of 2.33 goals per game since Nov. 1.
