Even without a stick, Ryan O'Reilly makes plays.
With just under 10 minutes left in the third period and the Nashville Predators holding a 2-1 lead over the Dallas Stars, O'Reilly's stick broke while he was trying to break up a pass. Then, after retrieving a replacement stick from the bench, he gave up his stick to defenseman Nicolas Hague, whose own stick broke seconds earlier.
That left a stick-less O'Reilly to lead the Predators' defensive formation, holding position at the top of the zone and doing his best without a crucial piece of equipment.
"That was chaotic," O'Reilly said. "Not how you want to draw it up."
At one point, O'Reilly managed to prevent a pass across to Mikko Rantanen by diving to the ice. He did his best to direct defenders,
while also pressuring puck carriers with just his skates and his flailing arms. Finally, a save by Juuse Saros at the 7:42 mark ended the madness after nearly two minutes of defensive struggle.
"A little scrambly there," O'Reilly said. "But we kept them to the outside, kept it out of the middle, and I thought we did a good job of just hanging on."
Playing his part in hanging on was Saros, who didn't even realize O'Reilly was without a stick for most of it.
"For a moment, I thought we had a penalty kill, I was wondering what was going on for a little bit," Saros said. "Then I noticed we had one guy (with) no stick. But the guys did a good job just to keep it tight and playing to fight another day on that shift."
The moment illustrated the all-out effort needed by Nashville (1-1-0, 2 points) to hold off Dallas and earn its first win of the season, a 2-1 victory at Bridgestone Arena on Oct. 3.
"I never worry when (O'Reilly's) on the ice," coach Andrew Brunette said afterward. "It's a luxury for me to be able to coach him for the last three, going into four seasons. Those big moments . . . there's a reason he's a Stanley Cup champion and a Conn Smythe winner."
The Predators were down 1-0 in the first minute when Miro Heiskanen scored his first of the season. But power play goals by Steven Stamkos and Nils Hoglander gave Nashville a 2-1 lead going into the second period.
The Stars then outshot the Predators 21-11 in the second and third periods, but Saros' 29 saves were enough to secure the win.
"There were a couple shifts it got away from us a little bit, but we managed the middle of the ice well for (Saros)," Brunette said.
Next up, the Predators visit the Toronto Maple Leafs on Oct. 6 (6 p.m. CT, The Spot Nashville 28).
Alex Daugherty is the Predators beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Alex at jdaugherty@gannett.com, follow him on X at@alexdaugherty1 or check out our Predators exclusive Instagram page @tennessean_preds.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Ryan O'Reilly loses stick, not composure in Predators' 2-1 win over Stars
