It was Stamkos’ 589th career goal, the fifth-most in League history at the time of the milestone, behind Brett Hull (656 goals), Alex Ovechkin (653), Mike Gartner (636) and Dino Ciccarelli (608).
“It was nice to see that one go in,” Stamkos said. “More importantly, just the timing in the game and getting us up two there. It was kind of a 50-50 game, but I thought we played great and shut it down there in the third. I know we gave one up on the [penalty kill] but just a really special night for this group to get a win here at home.”
Michael Bunting had a goal and an assist, and Juuse Saros made 27 saves for the Predators (9-13-4), who have won three of their past four. Reid Schaefer and Ozzy Wiesblatt each scored his first NHL goal.
“I think there was a lot of special nights for a bunch of different people,” Nashville coach Andrew Brunette said. “That’s what makes the game great. Obviously to cap it off with a win makes it even better. I think for [Schaefer and Wiesblatt], being around the game as long as I have, we all remember our first ones.”
Morgan Frost scored for the Flames (9-15-4), who have lost three of their past four (1-2-1). Cooley allowed four goals on 16 shots before he was replaced after two periods by Dustin Wolf, who made 11 saves.
“I don’t think we had the jump tonight right from the start,” Calgary forward Mikael Backlund said. “I felt like we were slow today, and the result showed it.”
Schaefer gave the Predators a 1-0 lead at 6:24 of the first period on the rebound of a shot attempt from Fedor Svechkov.