Photo courtesy of predators.nhl.com
The Nashville Predators were looking to defeat the St. Louis Blues in Game 5 on Friday to clinch their ticket to the franchise’s first ever Western Conference Finals. It wasn’t to be however, as the Blues overcame the Preds by a final score of 2-1, forcing a Game 6 in Nashville.
The first period was scoreless, but also full of high-sticking from the Predators. James Neal and Mattias Ekholm served a total of six minutes in the penalty box, forcing Nashville to play 3-on-5. With their backs against the wall, the Predators killed it off and kept the Blues from scoring on the two-man advantage.
The Blues cracked the scoreboard 5:43 into the second period, as Dmitri Jaskin scored on a wrist shot that was assisted by Alex Pietrangelo and Vladamir Sobotka.
Later in the period, a pair of penalties committed by Pietrangelo and Patrik Berglud turned the tables and gave the Preds a 5-on-3 man advantage. This set the tone for Neal to net the first goal of the game for Nashville, assisted by P.K. Subban and Roman Josi.
We head to third period tied thanks to the Real Deal. #Preds #StandWithUs #NSHvsSTL pic.twitter.com/9O0QCDmwmz
— Nashville Predators (@PredsNHL) May 6, 2017
With both teams looking for another point to seal the win, the game-winning goal was scored by the Blues’ Jaden Schwartz just 25 seconds into the third period. His goal was assisted by Colton Paryko and gives the Blues another chance to fight back into the series.
What’s next?
The Predators will need to step up their speed to keep pace with the Blues and finish out the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The two teams will face off in Game 6 on Sunday at 2 p.m. CST.
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