Fiala scores overtime winner as Predators even series with Jets

By The Canadian Press

Kevin Fiala scored at 5:37 of the second overtime to give the Nashville Predators a 5-4 victory over the Winnipeg Jets in Sunday night’s Game 2 of their Western Conference Semifinal series.

The teams head to Winnipeg for Games 3 and 4 with the series tied at one game apiece.

In the second extra frame, Craig Smith carried the puck into the Winnipeg zone on the right side. He sent a saucer pass to Fiala skating through the slot, where he beat Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck with a backhand.

Ryan Johansen scored twice for Nashville and Viktor Arvidsson and P.K. Subban had one goal each.

Mark Scheifele had two goals and an assist to lead Winnipeg. Dustin Byfuglien had a goal and an assist and Brandon Tanev also scored.

With Nashville up a goal late in the third, and Hellebuyck pulled for an extra attacker, Scheifele’s one-timer from the left circle beat Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne on the short side to tie the game and send it to overtime. Earlier in the shift, Scheifele had a good look from the slot but rang the left post with his shot.

Hellebuyck made 36 saves while Rinne stopped 46 shots.

The Jets had a difficult time containing Nashville’s top line of Johansen, Filip Forsberg and Arvidsson, which accounted for nine points in the game.

Johansen scored the game’s first goal just 27 seconds into the opening period. With fans inside Bridgestone Arena still buzzing from Carrie Underwood’s rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” Forsberg found Johansen in the slot, where he fired a wrist shot high to Hellebuyck’s glove side.

Winnipeg had scored first in each of its first six playoff games before Sunday.

Byfuglien tied it for the Jets at 12:47. With the teams staking 4-on-4, Byfuglien skated in from the left circle before beating Rinne with a wrist shot between the pads.

Scheifele gave the Jets a 2-1 lead 29 seconds later on the power play. Behind the Nashville net, Paul Stastny sent a backhand pass to Scheifele on the right side for a quick wrist shot over a sliding Rinne.

Scheifele has posted multiple points in four consecutive playoff games. Paul Martin, with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2014, was the last NHL player to do that.

Subban answered with a power-play goal at 5:04 of the second on a one-timer from the high slot through traffic.

Arvidsson’s slap shot from the right faceoff dot at 18:41 of the second beat Hellebuyck on the short side to give Nashville a 3-2 lead.

Tanev briefly tied the game at 5:11 of the third with a wrist shot from the slot that deflected off Subban’s stick and beat Rinne low to the stick side.

Nashville regained the lead 34 seconds later when Johansen danced around Toby Enstrom in the left circle before beating Hellebuyck with a wrist shot on the short side for his second of the game.

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