What happened in Game 4 after Colton Sissons missed the empty net? Nothing good for Predators

Kiefer Sherwood was so sure Colton Sissons had scored an empty-net goal for the Nashville Predators on Sunday night, he raised his arms in celebration. For a fleeting moment, he thought his team had taken a 4-1 lead with 1 minute, 50 seconds remaining in Game 4 of the NHL playoffs series against the Vancouver Canucks.

He was almost positive the Predators had wrapped up a victory and tied the first-round series 2-2, that there would be good vibes for Game 5 Tuesday in Vancouver.

Michael McCarron and Cole Smith, both standing to Sherwood's immediate right on the bench, reached for the sky, too. The motion repeated itself right on down the line, from Gustav Nyquist to Jason Zucker to Luke Evangelista.

MORE: Three takeaways from Predators' stunning OT loss in NHL playoffs Game 4 vs Canucks

One of the only Predators not raising his hand was Sissons, whose backhanded attempt — with Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes and center Elias Pettersson looming to his right — pinged off the right post of the goal third-string goalie Arturs Silovs had abandoned for the extra attacker.

It was a ping that will ring loudly in the heads of some Predators fans for a few tomorrows, the sting of the 4-3 overtime loss leaving them to wonder what might have been.

"That's a hard play," Predators coach Andrew Brunette said. "I mean, you're on your backhand. You try to make a play, it didn't go in.

"That wasn't the issue."

Three goals and 2:52 after Sissons' near-miss, the Predators, who played well enough to win Game 3 and dominated 57 minutes of Game 4, find themselves facing elimination in a series they conceivably could be winning 3-1.

Instead, Brock Boeser put the finishing touches on his hat trick with a pair of 6-on-5 goals before Lindholm sucked the breath out of Bridgestone Arena just 1:02 into overtime.

A promising Predators beginning

Everything seemed to be going Nashville's way until then. Former Tennessee Titans offensive lineman Taylor Lewan chugged a beer, then watched his daughter Wynne chug a cup of water.

Titans quarterback Will Levis took a perfect snap of a catfish from his new center Lloyd Cushenberry III before the game. Then kissed it.

Three-time Grammy Award-winning band Little Big Town sang the U.S. national anthem.

Mark Jankowski and Nyquist and Filip Forsberg all scored after the Canucks took a 1-0 lead in the first period.

Bridgestone was LOUD.

And then it wasn't.

Filip Forsberg on near-goal: 'There's nothing you can do about it'

While Sissons' missed opportunity was far from the only reason the Predators lost, it was one of the most visible. That puck pings in, and they most likely win. None of the aforementioned happens.

Sissons was not made available to the media after the game. After his presence was requested in the locker room, the team said he was receiving treatment and likely would not be available for a while.

When asked about how many times he was going to see the puck bounce off the post, Forsberg offered this: "Not any more than I already have. It's unfortunate, but there's nothing you can do about it."

Paul Skrbina is a sports enterprise reporter covering the Predators, Titans, Nashville SC, local colleges and local sports for The Tennessean. Reach him at pskrbina@tennessean.com and on the X platform (formerly known as Twitter) @paulskrbina. Follow his work here.

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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Colton Sissons misses empty net, Predators lose NHL playoffs Game 4