Lightning players were surprised to learn of Kucherov’s trade request, but forward Brayden Point doesn’t believe it will be a distraction for the team.
“That’s his business,” Point said. “He’s my teammate, he’s my friend, and that’s how I’ll treat him. … He’s going to play hard. We can’t look into the future. Right now, he’s a Bolt. Like I said, he’s a friend, and that’s how we’ll go about it.”
Steven Stamkos scored the tying goal at 7:27 of the third period on the power play before recording the lone goal of a four-round shootout to win it for Nashville.
“It’s been tough this year with the shootouts and overtime and not getting that extra point,” Stamkos said. “Obviously we’ve been in a ton of games where we’re getting points. When you start getting the odd one, it starts to accumulate. That was a big win for our group.”
Adam Edstrom scored, and Filip Forsberg and Nick Perbix each had two assists for the Predators (5-4-5), who had lost two in a row and seven of nine (2-3-4). Justus Annunen made 22 saves before stopping all four Tampa Bay attempts in the shootout.
“We don’t give in, we don’t give up,” Nashville coach Andrew Brunette said. “We keep fighting. If it’s within a game, within momentum, within a season, we keep coming at you. That’s probably the strength of our group, that resilience and that kind of culture that’s built here.”