Nashville Predators goalie Pekka Rinne (35), of Finland, gloves a shot as Anaheim Ducks center Ryan Getzlaf (15) closes in for the rebound as he is defended by Predators defenseman Roman Josi (59), of Switzerland, in the third period of Game 6 in an NHL hockey first-round Stanley Cup playoff series Monday, April 25, 2016, in Nashville, Tenn. Smiles were present. It was as if the Predators weren’t preparing for a Game 7, the first in their history, and the magnitude of the situation before them. Which doesn’t compare favorably against his career regular season numbers, albeit not that dramatically, he’s posted a 2.37 GAA with a.917 save percentage in 447 matches.
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“To be going to Anaheim, they have their home crowd, but I feel like we’ve been playing really well in their building”.
I have to go with the Ducks in this one. “I don’t think it’s any different”. “We thought we won a lot of faceoffs in Game 3 and we didn’t get credit for them”.
The Nashville Predators and Anaheim Ducks will be shaking hands tonight at Honda Center, but only one will be moving on.
The Predators must contain their emotions in order not to get drawn into the drama of their first game seven.
The Ducks have been tentative in Game 7 losses to Detroit in 2013, to the Kings in 2014 and to Chicago last season.
After a scoreless first period, Nashville tallied first at 8:10 of the second period as Ekholm circled the net from left to right and flipped a wrister through traffic past Andersen for his second goal of the series.
It was in the second period of that game which gave Nashville the advantage after Craig Smith and Shea Weber scored goals to put them up 3-1. Nashville was able to extend this series to a Game 7, which is great news for team teal fans, by defeating the Ducks by a 3-1 final last night. Goaltending is always the ultimate X-factor in the playoffs, and that is especially true in a Game 7. That said, the Ducks weren’t completely happy with their game in Game 5.It’s explaining why everything went so horribly wrong. Fate may be with the Preds, as Bruce Boudreau teams are typically losers in Game 7 – his lifetime record is 1-6 per NHL.com.
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Frederik Andersen made 18 saves and Ryan Kesler scored a power-play goal early in the third period for the Ducks. “Tonight I thought we had the most looks and the most chances to get off offensively”. Where to start? Make it four straight playoff years that the Ducks had a 3-2 series lead and lost Game 7 at home. He has zero goals and two assists in the last eight potential series-closing games for Anaheim. – The Cinderella Philadelphia Flyers are at home looking to stay alive and force a Game 7 against the Presidents’ Trophy winners, the Washington Capitals. Not before losing the second game of the playoff series however. “Why not win one more game?”
