It was a memorable night for a trio of Nashville Predators in their 5-1 win over the Calgary Flames on Tuesday at Bridgestone Arena.
Reid Schaefer, who was called up from the Milwaukee Admirals on Friday, scored his first NHL goal and recorded his first career fight against Brayden Pachal.
Steven Stamkos netted his 1200th career point and Ozzy Wiesblatt scored his first career NHL goal. Jonathan Marchessault added a goal in the second period, his fifth of the season. Michael Bunting also scored in the third period.
Juuse Saros picked up his eighth win of the season, making 27 saves on 28 shots. His shutout bid was spoiled in the third period by a power-play goal from Morgan Frost.
It was a heavily penalized game as the Predators were in the box 20 minutes to the Flames 18.
"There were a lot of special moments for a bunch of different people," Predators head coach Andrew Brunette said. "That's what makes the game great and to cap it off with a win makes it even better."
Here are three takeaways from the Predators victory over the Flames.
Reid Schaefer records 1st NHL goal, fight
The Predators have a deep prospect pool and one of the players leading the charge into the future is Schaefer. He earned his first career call-up on Friday after recording 14 points in 15 games with the Milwaukee Admirals.
In the first period, Fedor Svechkov made a toe-drag move to open up the slot and get a shot on net. His original attempt was saved, but Schaefer was in front to put the puck in via the right post.
"I kind of blacked out. It went into the net and I was like 'oh, what did I do here,' Schaefer said. "It's a pretty cool moment."
He wasn't done there as he'd square off with Calgary's Brayden Pachal in the second period. Pachal got the better end of the fight, but that did not stop Schaefer from hyping up the crowd after the tilt.
"I just laid a hit and he (Pachal) said let's go. I got up and dropped the gloves," Schaefer said. "I didn't really think too much of it."
In a year full of struggles, the Predators have looked to their youth, and it's paid off throughout the season. Schaefer's first career goal was the third time a Nashville rookie has found the back of the net alongside Ozzy Weisblatt and Matthew Wood.
Schaefer's family was also in attendance for Tuesday's game.
Stamkos adds to decorated career
Stamkos' tenure in Nashville has been rough to say the least. In 25 games, he has just 10 points, but he's had moments throughout these two seasons that serve as reminders of how decorated his career is.
In the second period, Ryan O'Reilly and Luke Evangelista sparked a 2-on-1 rush. Instead of shooting the puck, Evangelista took it behind the net, causing goalie Devin Cooley to start sliding. Stamkos caught the pass from Evangelista and had a wide-open net to shoot into.
It was Stamkos' 1200th career point in his 1190th career game. Doing some quick math, that is around a point a game over his 18-year career.
"It's cool and special. You can enjoy it more in a win, and you get to celebrate a little bit," Stamkos said. "It's more of a thing that you kind of look back on when your career's over. When you're in it, you're just trying to do what you kind of help."
Playing with Stamkos has left an impression on a few of the younger Predators players and seeing him reach another impressive milestone makes the moment more surreal.
"They're video game numbers," Weisblatt said on Stamkos' scoring his 1200th career point. "It's cool to be playing on his team. I remember not too far back, I'm playing (EA Sports) NHL, and I'm (playing as) Steven Samkos."
Weisblatt scores long-awaited 1st goal
Patience paid off for Weisblatt in the second period as the Predators' rookie netted his first career NHL goal after 23 games played this season. He has done just about everything over the last two months, from enforcing, penalty killing and contributing to three other goals.
Off a shot from Michael Bunting, Weisblatt tipped the puck just enough to deflect it past Cooley. In an exasperated celebration, Weisblatt pointed to the sky when skating back to the bench, honoring his late brother, Orca Weisblatt.
"It's about time," Weisblatt said on scoring his first goal. "I feel like I've been all over it lately, and I've had so many chances this year to score and been robbed a ton. It's just, just relief for me. I've thought about pointing to the sky for my brother for a while now, and it's cool feeling.
"That was for him (Orca) and just huge relief for me."
Orca died in September in a car accident, while Ozzy and brother Oasiz were at Predators training camp.
With Weisblatt working toward netting his first of his career and playing for his brother, both Stamkos and Brunette said that celebration on the bench was the most explosive of the season.
"It makes you emotional in a lot of different ways," Brunette said. "You're involved in a pretty special thing. Just being on the bench and seeing the emotion that just not just from Ozzy (Weisblatt) and seeing what he did speaks volumes of the group of guys we have and how close they are."
Similar to Schaefer, Weisblatt didn't stop at his first NHL goal. He tried to drop the gloves against Calgary's Joel Farabee, but instead, both were called for roughing in the first period.
Weisblatt's night ended early as he'd fight Blake Coleman and head back to the locker room after the tilt.
Up next: Nashville Predators (9-13-4) at Florida Panthers (12-12-1) on Thursday at 6 p.m. CST
