How Michael McCarron Lit a Fire Under Predators in Playoff-Clinching Contest

The Nashville Predators were generating all kinds of offense against the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday at Bridgestone Arena.

Nashville outshot the Jets 36-16 through the first 40 minutes of play, doubled their high-danger chances and dominated puck possession. And yet, thanks to a few mistakes against an opportunistic Jets team with a lethal counterattack and an elite goaltender, the scoreboard still read 3-1 in favor of Winnipeg at the start of the third period.

The Predators, in need of just one point to punch their ticket to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, appeared to have squandered a chance to clinch in front of their home crowd. They needed a jolt, a spark, something to shift the momentum of the game.

Enter: Michael McCarron .

About 90 seconds into the third period, a scrum ensued in front of the Winnipeg net and Nashville’s 6-foot-6, 232-pound behemoth of a forward singled out the only other player who could even compare to him in size — Winnipeg’s 6-foot-7, 231-pound Logan Stanley — and dropped the gloves.

A heavyweight bout in every sense of the word, the McCarron-Stanley scrap saw the two big men exchange blows for about 15 seconds. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, McCarron threw a powerful right hook straight to Stanley's jaw, sending the Jets blueliner crumbling to the ice – and sending the crowd into an uproar of approval.

After being separated from his opponent by officials, McCarron skated to the penalty box, but he didn't go quietly. He yelled. He flexed. He gestured to the crowd, encouraging them to intensify their cheers – and they obliged.

“We’d been pressing,” McCarron said. “We had tons of shots on net and just needed something. I don’t know. I was just really excited after the fight. Obviously it went my way. Those can obviously go the other way a lot as well. I knew it was going to get the crowd into it. I wouldn’t normally celebrate like that, but I felt [the game] needed it. The crowd needed it.”

The crowd needed it, and so did McCarron's teammates. It hardly seemed a coincidence that the Predators dialed up their shot volume as the crowd dialed up the volume of their cheers, recording six of the game's next seven shot attempts. Nor did it seem a coincidence that Spencer Stastney scored to bring Nashville within a goal six minutes later. And it almost certainly wasn't a coincidence that Ryan O’Reilly proceeded to tie the game on a shot from the slot with just over 10 minutes remaining in regulation.

“[McCarron] is a guy that just does everything, a heart and soul guy of our team,” O’Reilly said. “You could tell that got the crowd into it. It was a huge momentum shift for us. It was amazing.”

Half a period later, the Predators were officially playoff bound. They had rallied from two goals down in the third against a Winnipeg team that was 35-1-1 when leading after two periods entering Tuesday's game. And while his name may not have appeared on the scoresheet, it was McCarron who set the comeback in motion.

“You can just feel it in the atmosphere," Predators forward Luke Evangelista said. "The fans love it; we love it on the bench. He was fired up. He’s been doing that for us all year, whether it’s just a big fight like that or a big hit, a big shift … He’s gotten a bunch of energy for us.”

In the span of a few short seconds, McCarron showed why he has been one of the key drivers of the Predators' offense this season – not simply because of his skill, but because of his infectious energy and relentless mentality.

“I’ve just never been on a team that doesn’t quit until the end of the game like this, and it’s pretty special,” McCarron said. “It’s something you don’t really ever see. I’ve been on a lot of teams in my career, and I haven’t been on a team that fights to the end like this.”

McCarron didn't quit on his team, and they didn't quit on each other. Their reward? A trip to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.