Winnipeg suffers whitewashing as Nashville forces a Game 7
WINNIPEG — Filip Forsberg scored two incredible goals and added an assist, Pekka Rinne made 34 saves for his second shutout of the playoffs and the Nashville Predators defeated the Winnipeg Jets 4-0 on Monday to avoid elimination and tie their secondround series 3-3.
Game 7 goes Thursday in Nashville, with the winner taking on the expansion Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference final.
Viktor Arvidsson had two goals of his own, including one into an empty net, and set up another for Predators, while Roman Josi and Ryan Johansen chipped in with two assists each.
Connor Hellebuyck stopped 25 shots for the Jets.
The back-and-forth West semifinal has yet to see a team win consecutive games in a punch/counter-punch affair set to go the distance.
With the Predators up a goal through one period, Forsberg put Nashville ahead by two at 8:44 of the second on a great solo rush.
Winnipeg had made an earlier push coming out of the first intermission, with Paul Stastny’s shot just wide of Rinne’s net the best of the bunch. Stastny also missed from a tight angle off the boards on the follow-up chance.
After Forsberg made it 2-0, Rinne was there to stop Adam Lowry with his pad before getting a piece of Mark Scheifele’s shot on an abbreviated 2-on-1 to keep Nashville up by two.
The Jets got their fourth power play of the night early in the third, but Scheifele fired wide on the best opportunity.
Forsberg then took a pass from behind the net, played it between his own legs and beat Hellebuyck for his second of the night and seventh of the playoffs at 5:55 to send the series back to Nashville.
Arvidsson added an empty-netter with 4:02 left in regulation.