Flames win wild one in Nashville
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- After blowing a 4-1 second-period lead, the Calgary Flames rallied for a 6-5 overtime win Tuesday night over the Nashville Predators on Mark Giordano's goal at :43.
Giordano's ninth goal of the season came off a centering pass that hit off the skate of Nashville's Filip Forsberg, whose second-period hat trick gave his team a 5-4 lead after two periods.
Calgary (30-26-4) pulled within a point of the Predators (28-22-9) for the Western Conference's first wild-card spot.
Brian Elliott saved 23 of 28 shots for the Flames, while Juuse Saros stopped 15 of 17 shots in a relief role.
Calgary forced overtime when Mikael Backlund scored his second goal of the night at 10:50 of the third period with a wrister from the right faceoff circle that beat Saros to the stick side.
Calgary scored on its first shot as Micheal Ferland's one-timer deflected off Nashville defenseman Roman Josi and into the net at 46 seconds to start a wild first two periods.
The Predators tied it at 9:20 when P.K. Subban's point blast beat Elliott for his ninth goal. The marker was initially waved off for incidental contact by left winger Kevin Fiala, but the Situation Room in Toronto overturned the ruling on the ice.
The Flames answered back 100 seconds later when Backlund jumped on a juicy rebound at the goalmouth and punched it home for his 16th goal, then made it 3-1 at 17:24 as Ferland scored his second of the night with a wrister following a turnover by James Neal.
Calgary ran Pekka Rinne from the crease on Dougie Hamilton's ninth goal, a wrister from the high slot at 5:12 of the second period which upped the lead to 4-1. Rinne stopped 9 of 13 shots.
Saros made a pair of terrific saves on Grade-A chances right after replacing Rinne, and Nashville derived momentum. Forsberg started a comeback with a backhander at 10:50 after stealing the puck near the corner for his 17th goal.
Colin Wilson cut the deficit to 4-3 by deflecting Ryan Ellis' point blast 23 seconds into a power play, and then Forsberg went back to work. His wrister off Josi's backhand feed at 16:07 made it 4-4.
Forsberg gave Nashville its first lead at 19:27, potting a Ryan Johansen feed for his first hat trick of the season, causing a brief delay as the ice crew had to clear a spate of headwear off the surface.
NOTES: Calgary D Michael Stone, who was acquired Monday from Arizona, was inserted into the lineup Tuesday night and paired with D Matt Bartkowski, playing his second game with the Flames. ... Nashville D Ryan Ellis, who left Sunday night's 4-3 victory in Columbus late with a leg injury, played Tuesday night. ... Calgary scratched D Jyrki Jokipakka, D Dennis Wideman, C Freddie Hamilton and RW Garnet Hathaway. ... Predators scratches were D Anthony Bitetto, D Brad Hunt and LW Harry Zolnierczyk.