Anaheim Ducks at Nashville Predators– Game 3
The Nashville Predators were victorious thanks to Roman Josi’s game winning goal in Game 3 at Bridgestone Arena by a score of 2-1 and remained undefeated on home ice this postseason. Nashville now leads the series, 2-1, against the Anaheim Ducks in the 2017 Western Conference Final.
Pekka Rinne made 19 saves on 20 shots against for a .950 save percentage in the comeback victory, while John Gibson made 38 saves on 40 shots faced for a .950 SV% for Anaheim in the loss.
Scoreless after twenty minutes of play, the Predators outshot the Ducks 17-9 and led in takeaways, 4-1. The Ducks jumped out of the gate leading in blocked shots, 6-3 after 20 minutes of play, despite being outshot 13-1 in the final nine minutes of the 1st period.
Tensions between the teams crescendoed when Jared Boll and Cody McLeod fought after McLeod took exception to a clean hit Boll had delivered on one of McLeod’s teammates. McLeod picked up an extra two minutes for instigating, as well as a 10-minute misconduct as a result.
With 4:26 to go in the 2nd period, Corey Perry notched just his 3rd goal of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Perry (3) slipped the puck through Rinne’s short side from about the side of the net along the goal line between the trapezoid and the boards. Rickard Rakell (6) and Sami Vatanen (2) assisted on the goal that gave the Ducks a 1-0 lead.
Anaheim led 1-0 after 40 minutes despite everything the Preds mustered on Gibson in goal. The Ducks entered the 2nd intermission trailing 28-13 in shots on goal, having only amassed 4 shots on net (including Perry’s goal) in the 2nd period, but leading in blocked shots by an astounding 15-6 margin.
Both teams continued to swap chance after chance with the drop of the puck in the 3rd period.
Filip Forsberg (6) successfully put Nashville on the scoreboard 3:54 into the 3rd period (after two failed attempts by the Predators due to goaltender interference— one penalized, the other not— in the 2nd period). Ryan Ellis (6) was credited with the only assist on Forsberg’s goal.
Forsberg’s goal came from capitalizing on a rebound, which became a trend for the rest of the period for the Preds in their ultimate comeback.
Gibson made a lot of saves, but rebound control was a lackluster effort for both the Anaheim goaltender and his defensemen in front of him.
With Chris Wagner in the box for high sticking Ellis, the Ducks were shorthanded with 3:55 to go in regulation in a 1-1 game. It only took a little over a minute for Nashville to convert on the extra man advantage.
Josi (5) sneaked in from the blue line on the power play to find the twine after an initial shot from the point rebounded to just about the offensive zone face-off dot to the left of Gibson. Viktor Arvidsson (6) and Mattias Ekholm (7) amassed the helpers on Josi’s game winning goal.
At the final horn, the scoreboard read 2-1 for the hometown Nashville Predators, who remained undefeated at Bridgestone Arena this postseason on Tuesday night. Nashville takes the 2-1 series lead into Game 4— on home ice, where they can make it a 3-1 series lead with a win— Thursday night.
Game 4 will be televised on NBCSN in the United States and on CBC, as well as TVA Sports, in Canada. Puck drop is scheduled for a little after 8 p.m. ET.
And now for some final stats from Game 3:
Shots on Goal 40-20 NSH, FO% 56-44 NSH, Blocked Shots 22-7 ANA, Hits 32-24 NSH, Giveaways 13-10 ANA, PP 1/4 NSH, 1/2 ANA
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