Roman Josi and Alexandre Carrier each scored goals, helping the Nashville Predators keep their season alive with a 2-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series on Tuesday night.
Filip Forsberg assisted on both goals, and Juuse Saros made 19 saves as the Predators narrowed their deficit in the best-of-seven series to 3-2.
Nikita Zadorov scored for the Canucks, and rookie goalie Arturs Silovs stopped 20 shots. The series heads back to Nashville for Game 6 on Friday night.
Predators coach Andrew Brunette praised his top players for stepping up when needed.
“All year they’ve kind of done it. Proud of them, the resiliency they showed. It was tough,” he said. “It’s been a tough series to create a whole lot, they’re offensive guys.
But they stuck with it, and the message was it might take forever to get it, but keep pounding on the door, and I thought they did a really good job just staying true to themselves.”
The Canucks had a chance to rest for a few days, but now they have to travel back to Tennessee. “It just sucks. We had a chance to close them out at home with a lead,” said Canucks forward J.T. Miller.
“The margins are obviously close and every little mistake is going to cost you this time of year. It is what it is. It’s going to be a hard-fought series. We didn’t think coming in that it was going to be a five-gamer. And (the Predators) played well tonight.”
Vancouver put pressure on early, creating several chances in the opening minutes. Ryan McDonagh attempted to score midway through the first period, but Silovs made a great save.
Vancouver’s best chance in the first period came when Miller had a breakaway, but his shot missed the net. In the second period, the Predators had a strong offensive push, outshooting the Canucks 11-4.
Cole Smith had a good chance early in the second period, but Silovs made another important save.
