Celebrini answered every Nashville response and Nedeljkovic outperformed league average on 27 shots β San Jose earned this win on execution, not fortune.
San Jose converted its only power play opportunity to break a scoreless deadlock, then rode Macklin Celebrini's two-goal third period to survive Nashville's desperate late push β a result that keeps the Sharks' faint playoff hopes alive while delivering a likely fatal blow to the Predators' postseason chances.
β‘TURNING POINT
Chernyshov's power play goal at 9:53 of the second period handed San Jose the game's first lead in a contest where Nashville desperately needed a win. In a must-win situation for the Predators, conceding the opener on the road team's lone man-advantage stripped Nashville of the margin for error they couldn't afford.
πWHY SJS WON
β’
A perfect 1-for-1 power play converted the game's only special teams opportunity at the most critical juncture, generating the only first-two-period scoring.
β’
Celebrini produced two separate lead-restoring goals in the third period β each time San Jose conceded, he answered, preventing Nashville from gaining any psychological foothold.
β’
Nedeljkovic conceded 0.5 goals below league-average on 27 shots, meaning his performance actively preserved the win rather than simply matching expectation.
πWHY NSH LOST
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Nashville went 0-for-1 on the power play β in a one-goal game with playoff elimination on the line, failing to convert their only man-advantage was a direct execution failure.
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18 giveaways by San Jose provided Nashville six takeaways yet produced only two goals β the Predators could not capitalize on opponent mistakes at the rate the game required.
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Nashville's inability to hold a lead after tying at 18:50 was made irrelevant by the prior Celebrini goal at 18:15 β the sequence exposed the Predators chasing rather than controlling.
Three Stars
Alex Nedeljkovic1st
SJS, G
.926 SV% on 27 Nashville shots
He conceded 0.5 goals below league-average, providing the margin that held in a three-goal San Jose win.
Macklin Celebrini2nd
SJS, C
2G 0A 2P+22 SOG in 19:34 TOI
Both goals restored San Jose leads in the third period, making him the direct reason Nashville's comebacks failed.
Luke Evangelista3rd
NSH, R
2G 0A 2P+23 SOG in 19:06 TOI
His two goals kept Nashville mathematically alive deep into the third but arrived too late to alter the outcome.