The Nashville Predators mounted an impressive comeback Tuesday night, overcoming a two-goal deficit to defeat the Seattle Kraken 4-2 in a crucial Western Conference matchup.
Defenseman Ryan Ufko celebrated his first NHL goal while goaltender Juuse Saros delivered a stellar performance with 43 saves for Nashville. Tyson Jost, Reid Schaefer and Steven Stamkos also found the net, with Jonathan Marchessault contributing two assists in the victory.
The win helped Nashville balance their current five-game road trip at 1-1-0 and moved them to within one point of Seattle in the race for the Western Conference’s second wild-card playoff spot.
For Seattle, Kaapo Kakko and Matty Beniers provided the offense, but the Kraken suffered their third consecutive loss. Joey Daccord made 23 saves in the losing effort. The Kraken will face league-leading Colorado on Thursday to wrap up their six-game home stretch.
Nashville’s turnaround came entirely in the middle frame, where they netted three consecutive goals to flip a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 advantage. Stamkos sealed the victory with an empty-net goal with just five seconds remaining in regulation.
The Predators’ rally began at 4:14 of the second period when Jost converted a setup from Fedor Svechkov. Svechkov carried the puck along the right boards before cutting toward the middle and finding Jost on the left side for a wrist shot that beat the sprawling Daccord.
Nashville drew even at 10:19 when Matthew Wood maneuvered through the slot between two Seattle defenders and fed Schaefer for an easy finish at the top of the goal crease.
Ufko completed the remarkable turnaround at 14:25, dancing through three Kraken defenders before deking Daccord and sliding a forehand shot inside the right goalpost for his milestone first NHL tally. The defenseman was playing in just his fourth career game.
Seattle had dominated the opening period, outshooting Nashville 19-7 while building their two-goal cushion.
Kakko struck first at 2:14 when he pounced on a rebound after Saros had stopped Shane Wright’s initial attempt from the right corner. Kakko buried the loose puck from just beyond the crease.
Beniers extended Seattle’s lead at 9:46 with a sharp-angled wrist shot from the right wing that found its way past Saros high on the near side.
The Kraken were missing forward Jaden Schwartz, who remains sidelined indefinitely after taking a skate blade to the face during Saturday’s game against Ottawa. Newly acquired forward Bobby McMann, obtained in Friday’s trade with Toronto, is still awaiting work visa processing and was unavailable.
