Did The Predators Learn From A Mistake To Seal A Wild OT Win Over The Oilers?

One of the exciting plays in hockey is when a goalie charges out of his net for a 50-50 puck that is out around the top of the face-off circle with an opposing player bearing down on him.

That goalie is about to make a stellar play, or he's going to look like some dumb fans will want to see him get sent down to the minors.

That's what we had on Tuesday night between the Nashville Predators and Edmonton Oilers, though it had me wondering if the Preds had a recent play in the back of their mind through it all.

The Predators welcomed the two-time-defending Western Conference champs to town, and after sixty minutes, the game was knotted at 3-3.

With just under a minute and a half left in the extra frame, Predators forward Ryan O'Reilly corralled the puck in the Nashville zone. He skated it to the blueline when he went into a beer league move and flipped the puck over the neutral zone, just ahead of Roman Josi.

But it was a bit out of Josi's reach, so Oilers goalie Tristian Jarry charged out of his net to play the puck and hopefully keep Josi from getting a prime scoring chance.

However, while Jarry managed to keep the puck from Josi, it was picked up by Brady Skjei. He sent it back to Josi, who hammered it into the back of the net for the win.

It was a wild play, but it got me thinking about whether the Preds may have had a certain play from a couple of nights earlier involving Steven Stamkos (who scored his 602nd career goal on Tuesday) in the back of their head.

On Sunday against the Washington Capitals, a similar play saw Stamkos chasing a puck into the zone, only to fall victim to Caps netminder Logan Thompson charging out for a poke check that sent the Predators forward airborne.

Hockey moves so quickly that you don't have time to think about the previous game in the middle of the current one.

But maybe, just maybe, as Josi barreled up ice and saw Jarry coming out of his crease, he thought about what happened to Stamkos and tried to avoid the same fate.

Whatever the case is, it worked, and despite a slow start, Nashville is within one point of a wild card spot in the Western Conference.