Down 2-0 to the San Jose Sharks as the series shifts to Bridgestone Arena for Game 3 on Tuesday, the Predators arrived back in town Monday afternoon, greeted at the airport by a group of jersey-wearing and towel-waving fans, including mascot Gnash (a saber-toothed tiger with orange hair and blue nails) and a kid wearing a goalie mask and Pekka Rinne jersey.
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Jones followed up a 29-save performance from Game 1 with a personal playoff-best 37 saves on Sunday as the Sharks topped the Predators 3-2 in Game 2 of the second round series.
The Stanley Cup playoffs are a test of many things in addition to hockey talent.
Yet that history lesson comes with a warning: The Sharks failed to win another game that spring. That goal eased a growing sense of dread after Nashville had tied the game 1-1 on with a goal from Mattias Ekholm with 7:02 remaining. He won that game by himself. Implementing the same level of high-intensity hockey that got them a Game 7 victory against the Anaheim Ducks in the previous series is going to be crucial. He straddled the boards as a surprised San Jose defense pair Paul Martin and Burns kept him from fully getting off the ice. Nashville has no faith in their fourth line or their bottom two defenders, Barrett Jackman and Anthony Bitetto.
What could be more frustrating is San Jose’s ability to completely clog up the shooting lanes whenever Nashville enters for into the offensive zone. “They are so risky on the power play”.
First things first, of course, and the Sharks know they ll see a better all-around effort from Nashville on Sunday then they saw Friday.
Joe Pavelski scored the go-ahead goal with 2:40 left in the third period, as the San Jose Sharks defeated the Nashville Predators 3-2 in Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals.
“I think we just shot ourselves in the foot tonight by turning over the puck so much tonight”, Johansen said. The Sharks have a ton of firepower, and most everyone has gotten off to a nice start in this series.
While you have to give Josi points for trying, it didn’t work.
“Just gotta find ways to get pucks (to the net) and get it past Jones”, said Johansen, who has a goal-per-game in this series, accounting for half his team’s production.
Most of those goals have come from right near the net where Pavelski’s superior hand-eye coordination makes him one of the best in the league at deflecting shots and pouncing on rebounds like he did against the Predators on Sunday. The top unit of Joe Thornton, Joe Pavelski, Brent Burns, Patrick Marleau and Logan Couture has done most of the damage with Couture scoring the eventual game victor in the opener. He has points in two-straight games (1g-1a).
Pavelski was taken out of the game early by a Nashville team desperate to even up this series.
Dallas forced overtime by erasing a two-goal deficit in the third period, when the Stars outshot St. Louis 13-2.
Nashville has lost five times in the postseason; four of the five losses were by three-goal margins. The third has been a different story. This is an important mindset to be aware of. Defensively, the San Jose Sharks are allowing 2.5 goals per game and are killing 80.5 percent of their power play chances. Seeing a goal go by you early while knowing that you aren’t going to see your oppnent’s best for another 20 plus minutes is a tough mental hurdle to leap.
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Rinne had helped keep Nashville in the game long enough to get the equalizer midway through the third.
