Forsberg's OT heroics lift Predators past Canadiens 4-3

Filip Forsberg ended it with 11.1 seconds left in overtime, collecting a cross-ice pass from Mikael Granlund and sliding it past Jake Allen to give Nashville a 4-3 victory over Montreal on Saturday night. It was the kind of finish that erases everything that came before it—the back-and-forth scoring, the momentum shifts, the near-misses—and leaves only the final image: Forsberg's stick connecting, the puck finding the net, the Predators walking off winners.

The game itself had been a conversation between two teams taking turns at the lead. Eeli Tolvanen opened the scoring early in the first period when a shot from Mattias Ekholm deflected off his stick and past Allen. It was Tolvanen's second goal of the season, and it mattered more than most—he had not scored in 22 games, not since Nashville's season opener against Seattle on October 14. The drought had been long enough that his name had probably stopped appearing in the conversation about who might break through.

Montreal answered quickly. Nick Suzuki, who had gone ten games without a goal, snapped a wrist shot from the high slot during a power play in the second period that beat Juuse Saros high on the stick side. The goal tied it at one. But Nashville pushed back almost immediately when Tanner Jeannot redirected another Ekholm shot to make it 2-1. The Predators seemed to have seized control, and Ekholm had suddenly become the game's most dangerous player, recording his first multi-point game of the season.

Then Montreal challenged the momentum again. Christian Dvorak scored at 10:01 of the second to tie it, though the play required a video review after Nashville argued goaltender interference. Dvorak had made contact with defender Alexandre Carrier, who then collided with Saros, but the officials determined the goal should stand. The game remained knotted at two heading into the third.

Brett Kulak gave Montreal its first lead of the night early in the third period when Cole Caufield carried the puck into Nashville's zone and found him trailing the play. Kulak's wrist shot beat Saros to the glove side. But Luke Kunin, playing on his 24th birthday, tied it again at 10:12 of the third. Kunin had been active all night—he picked up a secondary assist on Tolvanen's first-period goal and fought Kulak earlier in the period, giving him what hockey calls a Gordie Howe hat trick: a goal, an assist, and a fighting major, all in one game.

By the time overtime arrived, both teams had left everything on the ice. Saros had made 20 saves for Nashville. Allen had been even busier, stopping 40 shots for Montreal. The Canadiens, who had lost five of their last six games, were still fighting. The Predators, winners of two of their last three, were hungry. It took only 11.1 seconds into the extra period for Forsberg to settle it, and with that, Nashville's recent momentum held. Montreal heads home to face Tampa Bay on Tuesday still searching for consistency. Nashville travels to Detroit to open a four-game road trip, carrying the weight and lift of a late-night victory.