WEDNESDAY'S NHL
PREDATORS 4, BLUES 3
ST. LOUIS -- One nifty little flip by Vernon Fiddler provided a big lift for the Nashville Predators on a rough night.
Fiddler scored with 5:05 left and P.K. Subban had a goal and two assists, powering Nashville to a 4-3 victory over the St. Louis Blues in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series on Wednesday.
The Predators lost Kevin Fiala to an ugly leg injury in the second period and blew a 3-1 lead before Fiddler poked a loose puck by Jake Allen in the third.
"They had a little push there," Fiddler said. "We got 3-2 and then 3-3 and the building's rocking. You have to give our guys credit. We just regrouped and went back at them and found a way to get the two points."
It was the fifth goal in 43 career playoff games for Fiddler, 36, who did not play in the Predators' first-round series sweep against the Blackhawks.
"He's a veteran guy so he's been in these situations before and he stepped up and got us a big goal," Subban said. "That was the toughest game of the season for us and they fought so hard and had so many chances, but we found a way to get it done."
Colin Wilson and Filip Forsberg also scored for Nashville, and Pekka Rinne made 27 saves.
Game 2 is tonight.
"I thought we got tested tonight in different ways and really responded well to all of it," Predators Coach Peter Laviolette said.
Colton Parayko, Jaden Schwartz and Vladimir Sobotka scored for St. Louis. Allen finished with 28 stops, but lamented the one he didn't make. He tried to poke check the puck away from Fiddler and instead it ended up getting past him.
"Guys fought back great," Allen said. "A little mistake by me cost us."
The Predators jumped in front when Wilson redirected a slap shot from Subban past Allen for a power-play goal at 11:24 of the first. It was Wilson's first playoff game this year after he missed the first round because of a lower-body injury.
It was still 1-0 when Fiala was hit by Blues defenseman Robert Bortuzzo and went hard into the boards behind the St. Louis net at 1:46 of the second. He left the ice on a stretcher and was taken to a hospital for further evaluation.
After the delay for Fiala's injury and the arrival of a second ambulance at the arena, Subban drove a shot by Allen from the right circle for his first of the playoffs at 2:22. Ryan Johansen picked up the assist after the Blues were unable to clear the puck from the defensive zone.
St. Louis pulled within one when Parayko slipped a shot through Rinne's legs with 11:56 remaining in the second.
Subban then set up another power-play goal for the Predators. The defenseman's shot from the left circle bounced away from Allen, and then ricocheted off Forsberg's skate and into the net for a 3-1 lead at 12:11.
The Blues rallied in the third. Schwartz scored his third of the playoffs, off a pass from Paul Stastny, at 6:48, and Sobotka tied it with a wrist shot from the right circle with 10:38 remaining.
"We dug ourselves a hole in the second period and I liked the push back and the fact we came out the way we did (in the third period)," Blues Coach Mike Yeo said. "There are some things we can learn from that but the reality is the second period was not good enough and ultimately it cost us the game."
OILERS 5, DUCKS 3
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Adam Larsson scored his second goal of the third period with 4:40 to play, and the Edmonton Oilers blew a two-goal lead in a wild third period before beating the Anaheim Ducks in their second-round playoff series opener.
Mark Letestu scored two power-play goals and Cam Talbot made 33 saves for the upstart Oilers, who seized home-ice advantage from the Ducks with a four-goal final period.
Jakob Silfverberg scored the tying goal with 9:13 to play in regulation for the Ducks, who lost in regulation for the first time in 19 games since March 10.
Larsson scored just four goals in his first 85 games this season, but the Swedish defenseman improbably got two goals in 7 1/2 minutes.
Game 2 is tonight in Anaheim.
Larsson got the winner when he skated behind the net and threw it in front. The puck banked off Anaheim defenseman Josh Manson's skate and pinballed underneath John Gibson, who stopped 27 shots.
Leon Draisaitl added an empty-net goal for the Oilers, who don't appear to be feeling an ounce of intimidation in their first playoff appearance since 2006. Connor McDavid's club has followed its ousting of the defending conference champion San Jose Sharks by taking the opener from the five-time division champion Ducks.
Patrick Eaves and Ryan Getzlaf also scored for Anaheim, which had won eight consecutive games in regulation. The Ducks didn't give up a third-period goal during their entire first-round sweep of Calgary.
Everything changed quickly at a sold-out Honda Center. After more than two periods of tight-checking hockey and special-teams play made it 1-1, the teams scored two goals apiece in a 4:24 stretch of the third.
Letestu scored his second power-play goal with 13:37 to play before Larsson put the Oilers up 3-1. The Ducks promptly sprung to life and attacked the net, with Eaves flipping home a rebound 85 seconds before Silfverberg tied it with his own rebound goal.
Sports on 04/28/2017