“Unbelievable play,” Stamkos said of the OT goal. “[Nick Blankenburg] did a good job of kind of sucking some guys in there and hit [Haula] with speed. And I saw him coming down the wing, and I just tried to skate as fast as I could to the net. He made a heck of a pass.”

Now, the Preds will enjoy three well-earned days off as the League breaks for the Christmas holiday, but Nashville will certainly be looking forward to what’s to come with a six-game trip on the docket as they return to play – and an opportunity to keep climbing in the standings.

“Obviosuly, you’d like to keep going, but it’s not like it’s a week off,” Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette said. “So, a few days, go back to work, back on the road, and I think everything we’ve gone through this year as a group, we’re pretty battle tested, we’re pretty resilient. I expect us to [get right back into the battle] when we get off the break.”

“You know what? We never quit,” Stamkos said. “Although it wasn’t great at the beginning of the year, we’ve stuck with it. We’ve come to the rink every day, and we’ve worked. We have to play a certain style of game to be successful, and that’s with the work ethic and the forecheck and the quick transition. And we’ve done that, and special teams are starting to roll. The power play, especially, wasn’t going great early. It’s starting to go, so a lot of things are connected now.”

Notes:

Nashville’s lineup remained unchanged on Tuesday with Jonathan Marchessault still day-to-day with a lower-body injury.

Per NHL PR, Steven Stamkos scored his 17th career overtime goal and moved into a tie for the seventh most in NHL history.

Stamkos became the third player in franchise history with the winning goal in three consecutive games, following Mike Fisher (3 GP from Jan. 23-31, 2012) and Steve Sullivan (3 GP from Jan. 5-9, 2007).

Stamkos also (97) passed Mats Sundin (96) for the 13th-most game-winning goals in NHL history.

The Predators will now have three days off for the NHL’s Christmas break before the schedule resumes on Dec. 27 with Nashville set to face the Blues in St. Louis. That contest will begin a six-game trip that will see the Preds finish the 2025 calendar and begin 2026 on the road.