(At) Predators 3, Blues 1:
Jakob Silfverberg scored twice to lead the visiting Anaheim Ducks to a 6-3 victory over Edmonton on Sunday night, cutting the Oilers’ series lead to 2-1,
Ryan Getzlaf had a goal and an assist, and Rickard Rakell, Chris Wagner and Ryan Kesler also scored for Anaheim, which lost the first two games at home. John Gibson stopped 24 shots.
Connor McDavid scored his first goal of the series for Edmonton. Patrick Maroon and Anton Slepychev also scored and Kris Russell had two assists. Cam Talbot finished with 22 saves.
Wagner scored the tiebreaking goal midway through the second period, firing a shot that deflected off Talbot’s arm and in.
Silfverberg knocked in a feed from Josh Manson at 4:56 of the third to make it 5-3. The Oilers challenged the play for offside, but the goal stood after a video review. Kesler swept in a rebound with 91/2 minutes left to cap the scoring.
Game 4 is Wednesday night.
Cody McLeod scored the winner early in the second period as Nashville beat St. Louis to grab a 2-1 lead in their Western Conference semifinal.
Defensemen Ryan Ellis and Roman Josi also scored, and Colton Sissons added two assists. The Predators outshot St. Louis 34-23, and they have won seven straight playoff games on home ice, including all three this postseason.
Alexander Steen scored for the Blues, who lost for the first time on the road this postseason.
Blues goalie Jake Allen kept St. Louis in this game before being pulled by coach Mike Yeo for the extra attacker with more than four minutes remaining and took his timeout with 1:25 left.
“We had a decent start, but once they started to get to their game we didn’t seem to have an answer for it,” Yeo said. “They upped their game, they took their game to another level and we didn’t match it.”
Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne finished with 22 saves, including a flurry of stops to preserve the win.
Game 4 is Tuesday night in Nashville.
With a national TV audience, Nashville had plenty of stars on hand for the matinee ranging from Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott to country star Luke Bryan and Titans Pro Bowl running back DeMarco Murray. Country group Little Big Town became the latest to sing the national anthem, and Lee Greenwood sang during the second intermission.
“It was awesome today,” Nashville coach Peter Laviolette said. “That’s a credit to our fans and the energy that comes into this building. You guys see that and get to experience it just like we do, so that’s a real positive for us. Nobody likes losing, probably on any team, and you look for a response, and I thought the response was good today.”