Consider the position of the Nashville Predators, who enter Sunday’s Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals against the visiting Winnipeg Jets having outplayed their Central Division rival in the opener at home, and yet trail in the series. Nashville pounded 48 shots on goal and dominated possession for large portions Friday, but it was the Jets who took advantage of scoring chances in a 4-1 victory between the NHL’s top two teams in the regular season.
The Predators took little solace from their Game 1 effort, as Predators coach Peter Laviolette surmised in telling reporters afterward: “If you give me two choices on where to be, our game or their win, I’d take the win. It’s about winning hockey games now. We’ll look at it and try to get better.” While Winnipeg mustered just 19 shots on goal, its speed put Jets in position to beat Nashville goaltender Pekka Rinne, who was yanked after allowing three goals in two periods. It helped that the Jets had Connor Hellebuyck in goal, as he followed up back-to-back shutouts to close out Minnesota in round one with a franchise playoff record 47 saves. “I was making saves tonight, that’s for sure,” Hellebuyck told the media afterward. “It’s tough to really get into this one because it’s a long series ahead of us, and I know they’re a great team over there and I know they’re going to push back.”
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ABOUT THE JETS: Center Mark Scheifele continued his red-hot play, scoring two goals for the second time in three games in the series opener to give him six points (five goals) in his past three contests. Forward Blake Wheeler picked up two assists and finished a plus-2, one of 11 Jets who ended the night with a plus rating. Hellebuyck was outstanding but the Jets deserve plenty of credit in front of him, blocking 26 shots (16 coming from defensemen Jacob Trouba, Tyler Myers, Ben Chiarot and Josh Morrissey).
ABOUT THE PREDATORS: There was one encouraging sign in a frustrating Game 1, as the Predators second line broke through on Kevin Fiala’s shot 1:23 into the third period. Nashville won 66 percent of the game’s faceoffs but defenseman Ryan Ellis was the only Predators player to finish with a plus rating (plus-1). Four Predators recorded five or more shots on goal (forward Filip Forsberg and defensemen Mattias Ekholm, Roman Josi and P.K. Subban), but Forsberg hit the iron late in the second just before Scheifele’s first goal made it 3-0.
OVERTIME1. Winnipeg D Toby Enstrom blocked two shots and played 18:05 in his postseason debut after missing time with a lower-body injury.
2. Nashville F Austin Watson - who is tied for the team lead in playoff points (seven) - left Game 1 after playing just 4:09, but practiced Saturday and is expected to play in Game 2.
3. Fiala’s goal ended Hellebuyck’s shutout streak at 163 minutes, dating back to Game 3 against Minnesota.