In what was arguably the most controversial shootout decision since Marc Crawford left Wayne Gretzky on the bench during the 1998 Olympic semi-final between Canada and the Czech Republic, Predators head coach Peter Laviolette prevented viewers from an epic brother-versus-brother moment.
When the horn sounded in overtime in Friday's matchup between the Vegas Golden Knights and Nashville Predators, many fans in the building likely had one thing on their mind - a chance for Preds defenseman P.K. Subban to face his brother, Knights goalie Malcolm Subban, one-on-one in the shootout.
Instead, Laviolette didn't choose the elder Subban to take a shot, even though he had multiple opportunities.
In the six-round contest - in which the Predators failed to beat Malcolm - here are the shooters Laviolette selected, along with their career shootout numbers heading in:
| Order | Player | Career SO |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kyle Turris | 23-62 |
| 2 | Kevin Fiala | 2-4 |
| 3 | Filip Forsberg | 7-23 |
| 4 | Craig Smith | 10-36 |
| 5 | Viktor Arvidsson | 0-2 |
| 6 | Nick Bonino | 9-24 |
While it's hard to argue with the selections of Turris and Forsberg, Laviolette clearly passed up a golden opportunity once the the shootout went beyond the originally scheduled three shooters.
P.K. may be 0-for-4 in his career, but all fun aside, who knows how to beat Malcolm better than his very own brother? And while that argument could be made both ways, Laviolette had nothing to lose after nobody he chose could beat the Knights netminder, who also stopped a career-high 41 shots in the contest.
The Predators and Knights play twice more this season, so Laviolette could be handed another chance to pit the brothers against each other.
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