In Nashville, the visiting Winnipeg Jets carried a 3-1 lead into the third period on Tuesday night, and surrendered two goals to the Predators to force extra time. 
The Jets recovered when Kyle Connor scored off off an odd man rush at 1:52 of the extra session for a 4-3 win.
Connor Hellebuyck made 45 saves in the win.
The Jets moved to 48-24-6 off their fourth straight win.
“[Hellebuyck] stood on his head,” the Jets’ Mark Scheifele said. “He made those saves look easy and he kept us in that one. We didn’t play our game. We were just whacking the puck around and just giving them transition. That’s not the way we want to play.”
The Predators scored twice in the third epriod to get the game even and force the overtime.
Spencer Stastney closed the gap to 3-2 with a strike at 7:34, he socred after batting the puck in mid air.
“I’ve been on a lot of teams in my career, and I haven’t been on a team that fights until the end like this,” the Predators’ Michael McCarron said. “It’s a pretty special group. It was good to get that point tonight, and it definitely feels good that we’re heading to the playoffs.”
Ryan O’Reilly knotted it, 3-3, at 9:41, scoring off a wrister from the slot.
“Those are the ones as a kid you dream of scoring, just the big goals at the right time,” O’Reilly said. “It always feels good. To get that point and get us solidified was a good feeling.”
The Predators dropped to 45-29-5.
“It’s the first one off the checklist,” O’Reilly said. “Obviously, to make the playoffs is a huge accomplishment. I think we’re proud as a group. Guys worked hard for this. Of course, it would’ve been nice to win that one, but I thought we showed great resilience tonight. We stuck with it. I thought we owned them for most of the game. To get in the playoffs, that’s the first step. It’s a big step and something to be proud of, for sure.”
With the point for the overtime loss, the Preds clinched a playoff berth.
Nashville took a 1-0 lead in the opening stanza on a strike by Tommy Novak at 4:05.
The Jets replied with three goals in the first period.
Gabriel Vilardi started the rally with a power play marker at 6:51, scpring from below the left circle.
“Pretty nasty goal, for sure,” the Jets’ Dylan DeMelo said. “That one is going to be on the highlight reel. We’ll see that one a lot. He’s got great hands in tight. We’ve seen it all year, and we’ve missed him there when he hasn’t been there. He’s such a key on the power play, sucks a lot of guys in, and then if you give him room, he’ll do something like that. That was an amazing goal by a top player for our team.”
The Jets took the lead on a goal by Scheifele at 8:19, scoring on a backhand to finish a breakaway.
DeMelo extended the Jets lead to 3-1 with a goal at 12:46, scoring off a shot from the slot.
“We played well in the first, and we played really well after they tied it up,” Jets coach Rick Bowness said. “The in-between there wasn’t our best hockey, for sure, but we’ve played better than that and lost, so we’ll take that. Our goalie was outstanding.”
Jusse Saros made 18 saves in the loss.
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