Pekka Rinne saved all but one of his shots faced to lead his Predators to a Game 7 2-1 victory in Anaheim.
Colin Wilson scored the first goal of the night at the 6:19 mark on an unassisted backhander. Mattias Ekholm started the play in Nashville‘s defensive zone. After collecting the puck along the near boards, he flipped it through the neutral zone to Wilson at the far blue line. Mike Fisher entered the zone with him and split the defensemen while trying to collect a pass from Wilson, but the trio ended up skating past, leaving Wilson the opportunity to collect, advance towards the crease and score over Frederik Andersen’s glove hand.
Probably the most impressive feat of the period was actually Anaheim‘s defense, as they held the Predators off the board even through two overlapping penalties that caused a 40 second 5-on-3.
No, it continued to be the even-strength goal chances that bit the Ducks. With 4:07 remaining in the frame, Paul Gaustad scored his first goal of the playoffs after assists from Shea Weber and Viktor Arvidsson. As Anaheim was unable to score in the remainder of the frame, Nashville took a two-goal lead into the dressing room.
Arguably the strongest measure of Nashville‘s early success is the face-off dot, as they were victorious on 63% of puck drops.
The first real opportunity of the second period was for the Ducks on a delayed penalty against Roman Josi, but David Perron was unable to both corral the puck and put it past First Star of the Game Rinne. The ensuing power play only yielded three shots, including a Jamie McGinn attempt that ricocheted off the crossbar of a wide open net. Nashville actually committed three penalties during the frame, but the Ducks were not able to capitalize.
Once again, it was the Predators defense that stood tall. Through two periods, Nashville had 18 blocks to their credit to Anaheim‘s nine, meaning that Rinne had faced only 22 shots. In total, Josi had a game-leading seven blocks by the time the clock read zero.
Second Star Ryan Kesler finally got the Ducks on the board at the 1:45 on a carryover power play from the second. His slap shot was assisted by Jakob Silfverberg and Hampus Lindholm. It was a tic-tac-toe play, as Lindholm passed to Silfverberg behind the net, who immediately centered the puck into the crease for Kesler to score, but that was all the Ducks had in them as they lost 2-1.
It didn’t help that they didn’t play very aggressively. The game almost effectively ended on a delayed penalty against the Ducks, as the Predators worked the clock for almost an entire minute before the play was ruled dead. Although they put up a good fight during the remaining minute or so, Rinne continued his stellar night to secure the win.
Rinne ended the night saving 36 of 37 shots faced (97.3%), while Andersen takes the loss, saving 18 of 20 (90%).
With that win, Nashville earns a spot in the Western Conference Semifinals and a date with the San Jose Sharks. That series will begin at 10:30 p.m. eastern on Friday, April 29. Those games can be watched on NBCSN, SN or TVAS.