O’Reilly nets hat trick as Predators burn Flames 4-1

By Darren Haynes, The Canadian Press on January 4, 2025.

Nashville Predators goalie Justus Annunen, left, kicks away a shot from Calgary Flames' Jonathan Huberdeau during second period NHL hockey action in Calgary on Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

CALGARY – Ryan O’Reilly scored his fifth career hat trick on Saturday to lead the Nashville Predators to a 4-1 victory over the Calgary Flames.

Rookie centre Fedor Svechkov also scored for Nashville (13-20-7) while adding an assist for his first career multi-point game. Filip Forsberg had a pair of assists.

That’s road wins on back-to-back nights for the Predators, who beat the Vancouver Canucks 3-0 on Friday.

Mikael Backlund had the lone goal for Calgary (18-14-7), which has lost consecutive games for the first time since November.

Justus Annunen made 31 stops to pick up the win and improve to 9-6-0.

Dustin Wolf, who had 24 saves, falls to 12-6-2. The Flames rookie had been 4-0-1 in his previous five starts.

Scoreless after 20 minutes despite an 11-3 edge in shots for Calgary, O’Reilly opened the scoring on the power play at 4:21 of the second, lifting a puck over Wolf from in close after Svechkov worked the puck out front from behind the net.

TAKEAWAYS

Nashville: After making his NHL debut in Vancouver on Friday, 22-year-old Ozzy Wiesblatt was back in the lineup for Nashville in the city in which he played his minor hockey. Supportive signs adorned the glass during warm-up while friends and family – including his mom, Trish, who is deaf – looked on. The Predators were once again without forwards Tommy Novak (upper body) and Zachary L’Heureux (suspension).

Flames: It was a hard luck return to the lineup for struggling winger Andrei Kuzmenko, a scratch in seven of the previous eight games. A 39-goal scorer two years ago but stuck at just one this season, Kuzmenko was in the penalty box for both Predators’ power-play markers as they built a 2-0 lead. His second infraction was for playing with a broken stick.

KEY MOMENT

With Calgary down 1-0 and the sides playing four aside, a defensive zone turnover by the visitors gave Jonathan Huberdeau a clean breakaway, but Calgary’s leading goal scorer was turned away by Annunen who made a right pad stop. Just over a minute later, O’Reilly made it 2-0 on what would turn out to be the game-winner.

KEY STAT

Ranked 29th on the penalty kill to begin the day, Calgary gave up a power-play goal for the sixth consecutive game. Finishing 0-for-2 on the kill, they’re 9-for-16 over that span. It’s also the eighth time the Flames have given up multiple power-play goals in a game. They’re 1-6-1 in that scenario.

UP NEXT

Predators: Visit the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday.

Flames: Visit the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 4, 2025.