Why Matthew Wood’s tying goal was ‘biggest of the game’ for Predators

It’s been almost a month since Matthew Wood scored.

Most of it wasn’t his fault. The Nashville Predators took three weeks off for the Olympic break, finally returning to NHL action on February 26 against the Chicago Blackhawks.

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But in the 25 games before the suspension, Wood only scored 1 goal and had 4 assists. The 21-year-old rookie has calmed down significantly after scoring 10 points in his first 11 games at the start of the season. He was even sent back to Milwaukee and the AHL, playing three games for the Admirals while the rest of the team was either in Italy or on leave.

Clearly, the work paid off. Wood scored the game-tying goal in the third quarter for Nashville (27-24-7, 61 points), which ultimately defeated its conference rival 4-2 at Bridgestone Arena.

“(Wood) scored a huge goal on the power play,” coach Andrew Brunette said. “For me, that was the biggest goal of the game. It didn’t look good on the power play, but he took a really good chance. A great shot.”

The goal, which came with Nashville trailing 2-1 in the third period, was the Predators’ first power play of the game. The top team failed to create any quality chances, but then, with the second team on the ice, a loose puck found its way to Wood. He used all of his 6-foot-4 frame to gather the puck and fire a wrist shot over the shoulder of goaltender Spencer Knight to tie the game.

“It’s a great feeling,” Wood said. “It’s nice to come back from the break and start off the right way.”

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Ryan O’Reilly’s go-ahead goal came on Wood’s tying goal with 3:16 left in the game. Steven Stamkos’ empty-net goal gave the Predators a 4-2 win in the final and are now just two points away from grabbing the final wild card in the NHL playoffs.

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While the goal should give Wood a confidence boost, his approach was modest.

“Confidence can be difficult if it only comes from goals,” Wood said. “You have to try to find other ways to build it.”

Alex Daugherty is a writer on The Tennessean and Predators. Contact Alex: jdaugherty@gannett.com. Follow Alex on X (the platform formerly known as Twitter), @alexdaugherty1. Also check out our exclusive Predators Instagram page @tennessean_preds.

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This article originally appeared in The Nashville Tennessean: Why Matthew Wood’s game-tying goal is huge for Predators vs. Blackhawks