Chicago, IL – The Nashville Predators fell to the Chicago Blackhawks tonight 2-1 with just 48 seconds remaining in over-time. Alex Debrincat not only scored the game tying goal, but netted the game winner for the home team.
In a game where Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne was at his best, Chicago was able to catch him in a vulnerable situation for the win. Rinne stopped 36 shots on net for the night.
Nashville held the lead in this one for most of the night. Mattia Ekholm ripped a wrist shot past Corey Crawford to give the Predators the early 1-0 lead at 14:56 of the second period.
Into the third period, the Blackhawks continued to put pressure on the Nashville netminder, but Rinne showed why he is a Vezina Trophy winner, keeping his team in the game.
At 9:05 of the final period thought, Debrincat produced the tying goal, re-directing a feed from Patrick Kane on the Chicago power-play and the game was tied, 1-1.
A controversial tripping call on Filip Forsberg though at 7:38 of the third period gave Chicago the man advantage to set up the equalizer.
In the overtime period after a Nashville shot on goal, Debrincat took the puck on a break-away and scored the game winner.
Nashville managed to gain a point from this game, but needs more points to have a chance to get into the wild-card race for the playoffs. The Predators return home tomorrow night to host the Columbus Blue Jackets at 7:00pm.
