Nashville Predators coach John Hynes had a simple game plan Friday: “Knock the door down.”
That is, win a game. Find a way to beat the Carolina Hurricanes in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Get back in the series.
The Preds did that but it took a while. Playing before a home crowd of 12,135 at Bridgestone Arena, Nashville emerged with a 5-4 victory in double overtime after dropping the first two games of the series in Raleigh.
Matt Duchene had the winning goal, getting past defenseman Jake Bean for the shot at 14:54 of the second OT, and the Preds then staged their own postgame celebration at center ice.
Canes defenseman Brett Pesce tied it 4-4 with a snipe of a shot with 3:21 left in regulation — his first career playoff score. Pesce nearly scored on a shot that goalie Juuse Saros barely kept out of the net, then took a pass from Teuvo Teravainen and unloaded again from the top of the left circle.
Canes goalie Alex Nedeljkovic, starting for the third straight game, made a big stop on a Colton Sissons shot with 42 seconds left in regulation.
The Preds had taken a 4-3 lead on Ryan Johansen’s goal at 5:01 of the third period. Nashville tied the score 3-3 on Mikael Granlund’s 5-on-3 power-play goal at 14:42 of the second period — the first power-play goal Carolina has allowed in the series.
The Canes again played without injured defenseman Jaccob Slavin, giving Max Lajoie his first start with Carolina. They also played a strong, sound road game in a super-charged atmosphere.
Sebastian Aho had a goal and two assists for the Canes, the Central Division champions. Jordan Staal and Vincent Trocheck scored in the second period, Trocheck on a power play.
Defenseman Ryan Ellis had a goal and assist for the Preds, who finished fourth in the Central.
The Canes trailed 2-1 after the first period — the Preds’ Filip Forsberg scoring with 24.5 seconds left — but took the lead in the second. Jordan Staal scored on a breakaway to tie it, and Vincent Trocheck’s power-play score, his first career playoff goal, on a tight-angled shot had the Canes in the lead.
Nedeljkovic stopped Erik Haula on a short-handed breakaway when it was 2-2. But Granlund knocked in a loose puck on the 5-on-3, and Johansen scored on a deflection of an Ellis shot after the Canes iced the puck and the Preds then won a faceoff in the Canes zone.
Saros had Aho score against him in the first on a shot that deflected off Preds defenseman Roman Josi. Staal beat Saros with a forehand and Trocheck with a ridiculously tough shot to Saros’ right, the puck barely squeezing past Saros’ head.
There’s not much turnaround time. Game 4 will have a 2:30 p.m. ET start Sunday.
