Written by The AP at USAToday
The Nashville Predators frustrated Joe Pavelski and San Jose’s top line for much of the night, forcing turnovers, blocking shots and limiting chances.
That all changed with one big shift late in the game that put the Sharks in control of their second-round series.
Pavelski scored the tiebreaking goal with 2:40 left in regulation and Martin Jones stopped 37 shots to lead San Jose to a 3-2 victory over the Nashville Predators on Sunday night and a 2-0 series lead.
“I don’t think it was our line’s best game, by any means,” Pavelski said. “Our last shift, you take a look, there’s three minutes left, it’s tied, you hope for a chance.”
He got one and San Jose’s captain delivered just as he always seems to do in the biggest moments.
Joe Thornton started the sequence by sending a cross-ice pass to Matt Nieto, whose initial shot was stopped by Pekka Rinne. But Pavelski knocked the rebound in for his sixth goal of the playoffs to give the Sharks a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
“Those guys, I’m sure they’d be the first to tell you, they didn’t spent a lot of time in the offensive zone tonight like we’re used to,” Sharks forward Logan Couture said. “But, when we needed a big goal, those guys stepped up and they did it for us.”
Couture added a power-play goal and Thornton scored an empty-net goal that proved crucial when Ryan Johansen scored with 3.6 seconds left for the Predators.
Mattias Ekholm tied the game earlier in the third and Johansen scored late for Nashville, but the Predators head home from California in much worse shape than they did in the first round when they won the first two games in Anaheim on the way to taking the series in seven games. Pekka Rinne made 22 saves.
“I think we were better team out there tonight,” Ekholm said. “We were just as good as they were tonight. They got a lucky bounce in the end and scored the game winner.”
Game 3 is Tuesday night. San Jose won the most road games in the NHL this season and all three in Los Angeles in the first round.
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