Predators return home with series tied 2-2
WINNIPEG, Manitoba — P.K. Subban didn’t get heckled as long and as loud as he normally does by Winnipeg fans, and he and the rest of Nashville’s defense did enough to finally quiet the Jets on the ice, too.
Pekka Rinne made 32 saves, Subban and Ryan Hartman scored, and the Predators stifled Winnipeg’s high-powered offense to win 2-1 Thursday night and even their best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series through four games.
Patrik Laine scored off a faceoff in the final minute, but Nashville’s Nick Bonino won two key faceoffs after that to end it.
“That was an amazing team effort,” Rinne said. “We played a really solid game throughout.”
Game 5 is at 9:30 EDT tonight in Nashville, with Game 6 set for Monday in Winnipeg. Game 7, if necessary, would be next Thursday in Nashville.
Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck stopped 27 shots, but Nashville snapped Winnipeg’s 13-game home winning streak, which dated to March 2.
Rinne allowed five goals amid a series of defensive miscues in a 7-4 Game 3 defeat after Winnipeg totaled eight goals in the first two games. Rinne and Nashville’s defensemen rebounded impressively.
“The details are kind of what cost us,” Subban said of the Predators’ most recent loss. “This game, we paid attention to all of them for a full 60 (minutes).”
Nashville coach Peter Laviolette made a key change in the series between the NHL’s top two teams from the regular season, benching Game 2 double-overtime hero Kevin Fiala in favor of veteran Scott Hartnell for more size, strength and experience. That plus replacing Alexei Emelin with Yannick Weber allowed Nashville to better counter imposing Winnipeg defenseman Dustin Byfuglien.
On Friday, Laviolette said making a change involves taking into account the opposition, the venue, a player’s experience and the style of play.
“They’re never easy,” Laviolette said of such choices. “But I thought the guys that went in the lineup last night did a really good job. Hartnell played a good game. He did what we were hoping he would do, and I thought Yannick Weber went in and played a good game.”
With the Jets held without a shot for the first 12 minutes of the third period, Winnipeg coach Paul Maurice started mixing up his lines. He swapped centers, skating Mark Scheifele with Nikolaj Ehlers and Laine with Paul Stastny between Blake Wheeler and Kyle Connor. Laine scored his first goal of the series and first in the postseason since Game 2 on April 13 against Minnesota.
The Predators led after Hartman’s first-period goal and stretched their lead with 5:24 left in the second when Subban blasted a one-timer on Nashville’s first power play.
Booed by the thunderous white-clad crowd every time he has touched the puck the last two games, Subban seemed to feed off the noise. It was Subban’s third goal of the series after being held without one in the first round.
“The biggest thing is we had full commitment through our lineup to play defense,” Subban said. “In our zone when bounces didn’t go our way, we worked the puck out.”