The clock had just ticked past 1 a.m. The Jumbotron at Bridgestone Arena displayed it, in all its red digital starkness. It was One-Oh-Something. The exact figure did not matter. Game Four of the Predators series with the San Jose Sharks had begun just after 8 on Thursday night and leeched into Friday morning.

The game was tied at 3 and had been for some time, the gratis gold T-shirts, which reminded fans they could sleep when the playoffs are over, were prescient. San Jose had seemingly taken control of the thing after magnificently bearded defenseman Brent Burns scored his second goal of the night on a power play early in the third period to give the Sharks a 3-2 lead, and Nashville struggled to find the equalizer. But James Neal rifled home the tying goal with less than five minutes left in regulation.

And there, at three goals apiece, it stayed.

Through one overtime, when what looked like a winner from the Sharks was waved off for goaltender interference.

Through a second, when Nashville survived a torrent of shots from San Jose. Pekka Rinne, so often criticized as a wilting violet in the postseason, derided as past his prime for much of this season, fended off shot after shot.

Shea Weber took a penalty late in the frame that with the Sharks deft power play could have meant disaster. The strains of "O Fortuna" pumped through the speakers.

O Fortune, like the moon you are changeable, ever waxing and waning; hateful life first oppresses and then soothes as fancy takes it; poverty and power it melts them like ice.

Fate — monstrous and empty, you whirling wheel, you are malevolent, well-being is vain and always fades to nothing, shadowed and veiled you plague me too; now through the game I bring my bare back to your villainy.



why watch overtime playoff hockey when you can simply snort cocaine and ride a motorcycle out of a helicopter — Jon Bois (@jon_bois) April 17, 2014

Those silly Goliards never watched hockey, but they summarized the pain and joy and unparalleled terror of the thing perfectly.

Then the third period and another untimely Weber penalty. The chances of the Preds surviving again were astronomical. But they did.

And the crowd, all 17-some-odd-thousand, still there, like a restless beast being pelted with rocks, started to twitch and grumble, then roared to life. Many had been standing for God knows how long — part out of enthusiasm, part out of fear that exhaustion would overcome them if they sat.

Oh, how they roared, as loud as they had been hours before, in prime time, when the game began. When team legend Steve Sullivan pumped them up in the pregame, when WWE Superstars, Nashville's own Rusev and Lana pumped them up again. As loud as any other moment. A noise violation at this hour anywhere in the city except Lower Broadway.

And with the crowd still in full throat, Mattias Ekholm ripped one goalward. Colin Wilson, who like Persephone emerges only in the spring, took a rip at it, looking for another goal, looking for redemption for not scoring on a breakaway at Lord only knows when in who can remember even which overtime. And it bounced out to Mike Fisher, who has been troubled throughout the whole postseason with a sudden inability to finish shots in tight, but who had already scored at some point in this game, and from in close. And he did it again. And at a few minutes after 1, after a shade more than 111 minutes of play, the Predators won. In triple overtime. The first ever home playoff OT win in franchise history. The series even at two games and heading back to Northern California. Fueled by, according to him, "bananas, electrolytes and grapes," Fisher had won it. And this happened on the bench (via Uproxx).



Yes, your eyes are instantly drawn to Ryan Johansen and Filip Forsberg with the synchronized tumble, as perfect as if they had been practicing it. But there is assistant coach Kevin McCarthy doing the running man. And equipment manager Pete Rogers praising heaven. Backup goaltender Carter Hutton getting a shocking amount of ups. The usually reserved Weber on the right punching and hugging. And in the upper left hand corner, a dejected Sharks fan, a reminder that a bounce or a call going another way would have meant abject sadness instead of unparalleled elation. If a picture is worth a thousand words, this GIF is worth ten thousand.

Elation best given voice by Pete Weber and Brent Peterson on the radio call. A wail from Peterson, a raspy plea from Weber. Joy, relief from two men who have been around from the start, and have seen the team come oh-so-close so many times.

Instantly a classic. Instantly one of the best moments in Nashville sport history, there with the Miracle and WrestleWar 89. Instantly, coffee sales in the city hit record highs.

Game 5 from San Jose is Saturday at 9 on NBCSN.