NASHVILLE — Pekka Rinne made 32 saves as he returned to his dominating form, Mike Fisher scored his first goal of the playoffs, and the Nashville Predators found their rhythm with a 2-0 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes on Wednesday night in Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinal series.
After giving up nine goals on the road as the Predators fell behind 2-0 in the best-of-7 matchup, Rinne was rarely challenged by the lackluster Coyotes. He helped thePredators overcome the team suspensions of forwards Alexander Radulov and Andrei Kostitsyn.
Phoenix still leads 2-1 in the series that will continue Friday with Game 4 in Music City.
David Legwand and Fisher capitalized on mistakes and scored 76 seconds apart midway through the first period. Rinne made the goals stand up.
Phoenix had its team-record streak of three consecutive road playoff victories anda run of three consecutive victories in Nashville overall snapped RANGERS 2, CAPITALS 1, 3OT
WASHINGTON - Marian Gaborik scored at 14:41 of the third overtime, and New York outlasted Washington to take a 2-1 lead in their Eastern Conference semifinal series.
Brad Richards was near the backboards before sending a pass in front to Gaborik, who ended the marathon by sliding the puck between the pads of rookie goaltender Braden Holtby.
It was Gaborik’s first goal since New York’s first playoff game against Ottawa, snapping an eight-game drought.
Henrik Lundqvist had 45 saves for New York.
Sports, Pages 19 on 05/03/2012