Predators familiar with do-or-die
NHL PLAYOFFS: For the second straight series, Nashville finds itself down 3-2 and on brink of elimination
NASHVILLE — The Nashville Predators are about to find out if they’re at their best when they’re pushed to the brink or if they’ve tempted fate one too many times.
For the second series in a row, they are down 3-2 and will have to fight off elimination twice, winning a Game 6 at home Monday night and a Game 7 on the road after backing themselves to the edge of another cliff with Saturday’s lifeless 5-1 loss to the San Jose Sharks.
“We’ve been in this position before, backs against the wall,” said defenceman Ryan Ellis. “It usually brings out the best in people. It did last series and hopefully it does in this one.
“Next game we’ll regroup and be better. We have to win two games, bottom line. That’s it.”
The Predators have proven to be pretty ferocious when they are 60 minutes away from disaster. They are 2-0 when facing elimination so far after coming back to beat Anaheim Ducks in seven, but it’s not a path any team wants to take twice.
“Experiences that you gain, good and bad, you learn from them,” said Preds head coach Peter Laviolette. “But just because we did something last round, we have to put the work in and make sure we’re playing the game with the attitude we need to be successful. We can take things from (Round 1), but we have to change our mindset here.”
The Preds can’t explain why they couldn’t get out of the gate for Game 5. They were supposed to be confident and riding high after winning Thursday’s triple overtime game at home, but looked none of those things two nights later in San Jose.
“We just didn’t have our best game for some reason,” said Nashville’s James Neal. “We weren’t ready to go. Not good enough out of our group. We need to go into Nashville, have our best game and force one back in San Jose. It’s do-or-die.”
Watching San Jose skate through the Predators Saturday prompted some to wonder if Nashville’s tortuous grind is finally catching up with them. They went seven games in the first round and have made the cross-country flight between Nashville and California eight times so far, for a total of 32 hours in the air.
They’ve flown just under 15,000 miles, more than double what any other team in the playoffs has logged, and have played every second night since April 15.
“It’s the hand we’re dealt,” said Predators defenceman Barret Jackman. “If we didn’t want all that travel, we could have finished higher in the standings. That’s the way it goes right now.”
Sharks captain Joe Pavelski doesn’t doubt San Jose, which came into the series on six days rest off after wrapping up a short-travel series with Los Angeles Kings in five games, is in a better place physically.
But adrenalin and desperation can be a dangerous mix and he’s pretty certain the Predators will be jacked up on both Monday night.
“Whether things are adding up or not, you’ve seen too many teams play good games when they’re tired,” he said. “They’re not laying down, they’re not going to make it easy. We really have to be desperate so in the later stages of a game maybe we can take advantage of it, but you’ve seen it too many times where teams go seven games in the first round, seven games in the second … it really doesn’t matter, you have to find ways to win.
“We’re not going to use that as an excuse or a reason. Our intensity is going to have to be really high.”
The Sharks are 1-0 when they have a chance to put a team away (they beat Los Angeles 6-3 in the Staples Center) and they looked very good in Game 5.
“That was probably the best we’ve been since the L.A. series,” said winger Logan Couture, who had a goal on Saturday. “We got better in Game 4, played really well (Saturday). But the next one will start in a little bit so we have to play as well or better.”
Playing as well as they did in Game 5 isn’t an option for the Predators. They have to be better or they’re done.
Laviolette admits it’s been a long hard grind to get to this point, but believes his team still has a lot of fight left in it.
“They’ll respond.”
Stars shine as Sharks take 3-2 edge on Preds
After a relatively slow start to the series, San Jose’s best players arrived with a vengeance Saturday in leading the Sharks to a 5-1 Game 5 win.
Joe Thornton, Logan Couture, Patrick Marleau and Joe Pavelski and Joonas Donskoi combined for four goals and five assists in the most lopsided game of the series.
“That’s what we’re supposed to do, we’re supposed to go out and contribute offensively and score goals and play well,” said Couture. “When we’re winning games, most nights the big guys are contributing”
The nicest play of them all was Thornton’s spinning backhand pass to set up a Pavelski one-timer in the first period.