Predators 4, Sharks 3 (OT)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- It didn't take quite as long this overtime for the Nashville Predators to prevail.
Viktor Arvidsson scored just 2:03 into the extra session Monday night as Nashville forced a decisive Game 7 in its Western Conference semifinal with the San Jose Sharks, notching a 4-3 win at noisy Bridgestone Arena.
Sent down the left wing by Miikka Salomaki, Arvidsson shot a backhander deflected off goalie Martin Jones and into the top right corner for his first playoff goal.
Jones made 28 stops for San Jose, while Pekka Rinne saved 15 of 18 shots.
Game 7 is Thursday night in San Jose. The home team has won all six games in the series.
It was the series' second overtime win for Nashville, which captured Game 4 on Mike Fisher's goal at 11:12 of the third OT.
San Jose grabbed a 3-2 lead in the third period on the power play. Logan Couture wristed home his sixth goal of the playoffs off a Brent Burns feed at 10:04 as Rinne stumbled in the crease and couldn't get to it.
Nashville's Colin Wilson tied it at 12:44, stuffing home a James Neal feed at the left goalpost for his fifth goal of the playoffs and forcing the second overtime game of the series.
San Jose quieted the raucous sellout crowd with two goals from Chris Tierney in less than two minutes midway through the first period.
At 9:55, Tierney got his stick on a wrister from the point by Marc-Edouard Vlasic for his second goal of the playoffs. The play survived a short replay review, the officials' ruling that Tierney's stick was below the crossbar clearly correct.
Tierney, who tallied only seven goals in 79 regular-season matches, made it 2-0 at 11:51 by stuffing home the rebound of a Matt Nieto shot on his backhand.
But Nashville got back into the game with Roman Josi's first goal of the postseason at 15:27 on a backhander that took a weird bounce and jumped over Jones. Prior to that goal, Josi had tried 38 shots without scoring, more than any player left in the postseason.
Ryan Johansen tied it during a 4-on-4 sequence at 1:25 of the second with a great backhand move, slipping the puck through Jones' legs for his fourth postseason marker.
NOTES: San Jose C Logan Couture's goal in Game 5 marked his seventh point of the series, the third time he reached that mark in a series in his postseason career. ... Nashville LW Colin Wilson's assist in the first period of Game 5 gave him a point in six consecutive playoff games, a franchise record. ... The Sharks scratched Cs Micheal Haley and Tommy Wingels, along with Ds Dylan DeMelo and Matt Tennyson. ... The Predators' scratches were G Marek Mazanec, D Petter Granberg, C Cody Bass, RW Gabriel Bourque and LWs Eric Nystrom, Pontus Aberg and Austin Watson.