Nashville Predators forward Matthew Wood is congratulated by teammates after scoring a goal against the Chicago Blackhawks on February 27, 2026 at Bridgestone Arena. JOHN RUSSELL/NASHVILLE PREDATORS

Thursday was an all-hands-on-deck kind of night for the Nashville Predators.

In their return from the Olympic break, the Predators simply couldn’t squander an opportunity to earn two points at home while clinging to playoff aspirations ahead of the NHL’s March 7 trade deadline.

Contributions from up and down the lineup ensured the result Nashville needed.

Rookie forward Matthew Wood scored a clutch power-play goal in the third period, backup goaltender Justus Annunen made timely saves and grizzled veteran Ryan O’Reilly provided the game-winner with 3:16 remaining to propel Nashville to a 4-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks at Bridgestone Arena.

“We need everybody in this stretch of games,” Predators coach Andrew Brunette said. “It probably wasn’t our cleanest game execution-wise, but we made some big plays at some big times.

“We’ve crawled ourselves into this fight. We’re going to need that effort, along with everybody else chipping in a little bit.”

Wood’s top-shelf snipe of Chicago goalie Spencer Knight was the turning point for the Predators. After Tyler Bertuzzi gave the Blackhawks (22-27-9) a 2-1 lead early in the third, Nashville’s 21-year-old collected a cross-ice pass from Erik Haula and lasered a wrist shot over Knight’s right shoulder.

“You look at the names in this (locker) room and kind do it for everyone in here,” said Wood, who’s scored 10 goals in his first full NHL season. “We’ve got our work cut out for us for sure, but it’s going to be fun and going to take everyone.”

Huge come-from-behind-win for Nashville.

Ryan O’Reilly delivers his 6th game-winning goal this season off a dish from Roman Josi. The Predators had to have two points tonight, and they got them.pic.twitter.com/6mn5ZLWRsi

— Russell Vannozzi (@RussellV_MSP) February 27, 2026

Moments later, Nashville captain Roman Josi weaved through traffic and sent a backhanded pass to O’Reilly, who tucked the puck into the net to put Nashville in front. Steven Stamkos added an empty-netter in the final minute to move into sole possession of 19th place on the NHL’s all-time goals list with 611.

O’Reilly, viewed as a potential high-value trade candidate, said he’s trying to stay off his phone and “block out the noise” while the Predators face a critical week.

“We all really like each other here, and we want to find a way to win some games and prove that we are a playoff team,” he said. “There’s a lot of stuff we can’t control. It’s on our leadership group to keep that focus, keep finding ways to win games and find a way to win that next game.”

Annunen drew the start in net to give Juuse Saros an extra recovery day following a late return from the Milan Cortina Games. He continued his recent stretch of stellar play by making 21 saves on 23 shots, including a stop on a Connor Bedard breakaway in the second period.

Although the Predators (27-24-7) are far from perfect, their resiliency cannot be denied. The team is now 12-1-2 this season in contests tied after two periods and, even more remarkably, 16-3-7 in one-goal games.

Nashville (61 points) trailed only the Utah Mammoth (64) and Seattle Kraken (63) in the wild-card race after Thursday’s slate.

“They don’t give up,” Brunette said. “Another example again tonight. They believe in themselves and know they can come back. We don’t want to be coming back all the time … but we know and we believe we can.”

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