It really only makes sense that one of the NHL’s greatest trolls had the last laugh on Halloween night.
For a while, it looked like Thursday’s Calgary Flames - Nashville Predators game would be about Nashville winning a laugher at home, while Austin Watson celebrated his contract extension with a four-point night.
After all, the Predators carried a 4-1 lead into the third period, and the second period was especially embarrassing for the Flames, as Calle Jarnkrok scored twice -- both times shorthanded. Nashville also generated a convincing 27-9 shots on goal advantage through the first 40 minutes.
Whether you chalk it up to Flames head coach Bill Peters berating his team in the locker room during the second intermission, the Predators possibly sitting on their lead, or any number of other factors, things got wild -- perhaps spooky and ookie - during the third period, and didn’t stop until the dying seconds of overtime.
The Flames rattled off three consecutive goals to quiet the crowd in Nashville and tie things up 4-4, but that didn’t represent the end of the twists. Instead, Watson scored a pretty one-timer goal to make it 5-4 for Nashville two minutes after Alan Quine tied things up for the Flames ... and that didn’t represent the end of the twists.
Calgary put relentless pressure on Pekka Rinne and the Predators with the Flames’ net empty late in the game, and those pushes to score paid off when Matthew Tkachuk scored the 5-5 goal to send the game to overtime. Then, with less than two seconds remaining in OT, Tkachuk found the net with a nifty between-the-legs shot, tricking the buzzer in the process.
(Check out that specific goal in the video above this post’s headline.)
The Flames had squandered third-period leads to lose their last two games, and had also lost three of their last four, only managing a shootout win during that span. With a back-to-back set looming on the weekend to close out their current four-game road trip, things could have been pretty tense if Calgary didn’t manage this remarkable comeback.
You could call him Tka-clutch on Thursday, if you’re into that sort of thing:
Matthew Tkachuk just the second player in @NHLFlames franchise history to score a game-tying goal in the final minute of regulation and a game-winning goal in the final 60 seconds of overtime.
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) November 1, 2019
The other: Eddy Beers (Oct 30, 1983 vs. VAN).#NHLStats https://t.co/RaCzx80W5m
The Predators at least get a “charity point” for their struggles, and maybe a wakeup call that, if there was even a subtle push to sit on that 4-1 lead, they might want to keep their foot on the gas instead of trying to go into cruise control in similar situations down the line.
MORE:
• Pro Hockey Talk’s Stanley Cup picks.
• Your 2019-20 NHL on NBC TV schedule
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James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.