EDMONTON, Alberta — Jakob Silfverberg scored twice to lead the Anaheim Ducks to a 6-3 victory over Edmonton on Sunday night, cutting the Oilers' series lead to 2-1.
Ryan Getzlaf had a goal and an assist while Rickard Rakell, Chris Wagner and Ryan Kesler also scored for Anaheim, which lost the first two games at home. John Gibson stopped 24 shots.
Connor McDavid scored his first of the series for Edmonton. Patrick Maroon and Anton Slepychev also scored and Kris Russell had two assists. Cam Talbot finished with 22 saves.
Wagner scored the tiebreaking goal midway through the second period, firing a shot that deflected off Talbot's arm and in.
Silfverberg knocked in a feed from Josh Manson at 4:56 of the third to make it 5-3. The Oilers challenged the play for offside but the goal stood after a video review. Kesler swept in a rebound with 9 1/2 minutes left to cap the scoring.
Game 4 is Wednesday night.
Predators 3, Blues 1
Cody McLeod scored the game-winner early in the second period as Nashville grabbed a 2-1 lead in the Western Conference semifinal.
Defensemen Ryan Ellis and Roman Josi also scored while Colton Sissons added two assists. The Predators outshot St. Louis 34-23 and they now have won seven straight playoff games on home ice, including all three this postseason.
Alexander Steen scored for the Blues, who lost for the first time on the road this postseason. Blues goalie Jake Allen kept St. Louis in this game before being pulled by coach Mike Yeo for the extra attacker with more than 4 minutes remaining and took his timeout with 1:25 left.
Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne finished with 22 saves, including a flurry of stops to preserve the win. Game 3 is Tuesday night.
Capitals go back to Holtby for Game 3
Desperate times called for a players-only meeting in the Washington Capitals' locker room after they fell behind 2-0 in their second-round playoff series against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
What was said? Matt Niskanen called it "none of your business," Alex Ovechkin insisted "it stays between us," and Justin Williams said, "We'll keep that between us."
Suffice it to say, when alternate captain Nicklas Backstrom and other leaders spoke up, it wasn't a cheery message. "It was things that people need to say and things that some people need to hear," winger T.J. Oshie said. "What was said is what needed to be said."
What's said matters little if the Capitals don't get the job done on the ice in Game 3 on Monday night in Pittsburgh.
Already, they face long odds, as just 18 of the previous 87 teams to drop the first two games of a best-of-seven series at home have gone on to win the series and only four in NHL history have come back from a 3-0 deficit.
Coach Barry Trotz didn't feel he needed to say Braden Holtby would start Game 3 but did so when asked Sunday during a conference call. Trotz pulled Holtby after three goals on 14 shots in two periods on Saturday night and seemed stunned to be asked about his status for Game 3.
"Yes, absolutely, why would you think otherwise?" Trotz said. "No question he's our goaltender. Expect him to start tomorrow."
Trotz praised Holtby's mental toughness and body of work and said the reigning Vezina Trophy winner will "be the difference in this series." Holtby has responded well in games after being pulled this season, including back-to-back shutouts on one occasion and a string of eight consecutive victories on another.
"Everybody's in the same boat," Williams said. "We're just not doing quite enough. To beat them you have to do everything right. We're not going to shy away from it. We're going to go there and see what we're made of.
"We're just a hair off. You go to the puck and you're a hair away. There's little ticks here and there, little races, little battles throughout the ice, and we're not quite there." — AP
