John Hynes discloses reason behind risky move of pulling goaltender in OT vs Nashville Predators

Minnesota Wild coach John Hynes made an interesting decision to pull goalie Marc-Andre Fleury in the Wild's 4-3 win over the Nashville Predators on Sunday.

It was definitely a risky move, but the Minnesota coach had his reasons. By pulling the goaltender in overtime, John Hynes wanted to have an extra attacker on the ice to increase the offensive pressure and try to score the game-winning goal.

However, if the decision had gone against Hynes, it could have been a move that would have denied the Minnesota Wild a point should the Nashville Predators have scored the winning goal.

It is worth noting that if the Minnesota Wild had lost the game after pulling their goalie, they would've gotten zero points instead of the usual one-point that teams get for just getting to overtime.

Nevertheless, Matt Boldy emerged as the savior for John Hynes, as his goal with 1:10 remaining in overtime sealed a 4-3 win over the Predators at Xcel Energy Center.

In the post-game interview, Hynes explained the reason for making the perilous decision to pull Marc-Andre Fleury in OT and said:

"We need two points,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “We feel like we were organized with it, the players knew what was going on, and I think it's when you put the four guys we have on the ice that we believe that it gives us the best chance to score a goal and get two points, and that's what we're here for."

---

John Hynes' Minnesota Wild beat Nashville Predators in OT

Nashville Predators v Minnesota Wild

On Sunday, the Minnesota Wild hosted the Nashville Predators at the Xcel Energy Center. The hosts beat the Preds with a scoreline of 4-3, thanks to a goal from Matt Boldy in overtime.

Boldy racked up three points on the nights, while Joel Eriksson EK and Kiril Kaprizov accumulated two points apiece for the Wild. Fleury made 27 saves and posted an SV% of.900.

Meanwhile, Mark Jankowski, Luke Evangelista, and Ryan O'Reilly were the scorers for the Predators, who are atop the wild card standings from the West with 78 points.

After the win, John Hynes and the Minnesota Wild moved closer to the second-placed Vegas Golden Knights (75 points) in the West Wild Card Race, trailing by only six points. The Wild will be up against the Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday.