Nashville Predators right wing Joel Ward celebrates his goal on the Vancouver Canucks during the third period in Game 5 of their NHL Western Conference semi-final hockey playoff game in Vancouver, British Columbia May 7, 2011. REUTERS/Ben NelmsBEN NELMS/Reuters
Down 3-1 in the series and playing Game 5 on enemy turf, the Nashville Predators needed some breaks and heroes to stay alive in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
They got both.
Joel Ward and David Legwand each had two goals as the visiting Predators defeated the Vancouver Canucks 4-3 at Rogers Arena Saturday. Nashville can even the Western Conference semi-final, and force a Game 7, with a win Monday at Bridgestone Arena.
"We've got a resilient group here, and we're hungry," Ward said after a three-point evening. "We're not worried about what the critics or what anybody else is saying about us, we're just worried about ourselves."
Ward called it his best NHL game ever, as he scored two goals early in the third period to break a 2-2 tie. Legwand evened the score in the second period with a fluky goal. He flipped the puck over the back of Vancouver's net and goaltender Roberto Luongo, and watched it bounce off Alexander Edler's arm and in.
"We had a little life," Legwand said of trailing on the road in a series where goals have been difficult to come by. "Obviously, when you're down 2-1 after one [period] it kind of gets sucked out of you a little bit. But we came out with a little emotion and we worked hard."
The Canucks must now make a fourth trip back to the American Midwest during these playoffs, one they were hoping to avoid after taking a 3-1 series lead. Vancouver was up 3-0 over the Chicago Blackhawks in its first-round series, but lost three straight and needed a seventh game to advance.
The Canucks were seeking to make their third conference final in the club's 40-year history, and their first final-four since 1994.
"Re-energize, re-focus and get ready for Game 6," head coach Alain Vigneault said. "It's a game of mistakes. We made two and they made us pay for it."
Edler made several in the game, as he was responsible for Ward's second goal after failing to clear the puck from Vancouver's zone.
The bright spot for the Canucks was again Ryan Kesler. The second-line centre had two goals, including one in the final four minutes. He scored that one after taking a puck in the mouth earlier in the third period, and leaving the game for stitches.
Kesler has been the best player in the series, and such a pebble in Nashville's shoe that centre Mike Fisher squirted him with a water bottle during a skate past the Predators bench. Of course, Kesler is no angel and had a few words for that same bench as he was leaving the ice with a bloody mouth.
Raffi Torres had Vancouver's first goal to tie the game 1-1 six minutes into the first period. Legwand opened scoring with a shorthanded tally on a breakaway, the team's second of the series while playing four-on-five.
Canucks winger Mikael Samuelsson left the game late in the first period with a left leg injury and did not return. He will not fly to Music City, and will miss Game 6.
Pekka Rinne stopped 31 shots for the Predators, while Luongo was beaten four times on just 23 shots. It was the most up-tempo game of the series by far, and hardly resembled the slow-moving grinds of the first four contest.
"I didn't want us to play back on our heels," Predators coach Barry Trotz said. "We said if we're going to get back in the series, let's go for it."