Tyson Jost Just Put Nashville in the Playoff Picture and San Jose Has No Answer

Tyson Jost turned the third period into a clinic in playmaking, and the Nashville Predators walked out of SAP Center with a 6-3 win over the San Jose Sharks on Saturday night. But this wasn't just another road victory. Nashville moved into the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference with this one, which means everything in April when teams are still jockeying for position.

Jost's Fingerprints All Over This One

Here's what made Jost's performance special: he set up the game winner, the insurance goal, and added an empty-netter in the third period. That's three crucial moments in one frame. Ryan O'Reilly snapped home the go-ahead goal at 8:28 of the third off a Jost assist. Then Erik Haula buried a short-handed goal at 17:26, one-timing another Jost setup. Jost capped it off with an empty-netter at 18:45. That's the kind of third-period dominance that either wins you playoff games or, in this case, puts you in position to play them.

Filip Forsberg Sets the Tone Early

Nashville came out swinging, and Filip Forsberg was the spark plug. He scored twice in a 1:16 span midway through the first period. Forsberg opened the scoring at 8:38 on a power play, one-timing a shot past Askarov. Less than two minutes later, he knocked in a rebound off Miles Wood's shot to make it 2-0. Steven Stamkos added a power-play goal at 16:55 of the opening frame, and suddenly San Jose was staring at a 3-0 hole.

The Sharks didn't quit, though. Nick Leddy got them on the board in the second, Macklin Celebrini pulled them within one with 19 seconds left in the middle frame, and Alexander Wennberg tied it 3-3 just 1:06 into the third. For a moment, this looked like it could slip away from Nashville. That's when the Predators' third-period execution took over.

What's Next for Both Teams

Juuse Saros was a wall between the pipes, stopping 24 shots and improving to 15-2-1 against San Jose. Nashville has now won back-to-back games and sits at 16-16-6 on the road. The Predators are 36-31-9, 81 points, and suddenly they're in a playoff spot. San Jose, meanwhile, fell to 36-32-7 with 79 points after their four-game winning streak ended. These two teams are too close in the standings to overlook games like this.

This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.