Staal's winner sends Hurricanes past Predators in 3rd straight OT of series
Carolina now 1 win away from 2nd round after comeback victory over Nashville
Coach Rod Brind'Amour figured the puck would eventually have to bounce the right way for his Carolina Hurricanes.
Jordan Staal scored off a rebound at 2:03 of overtime to give the Hurricanes a 3-2 come-from-behind victory over the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night, pushing Carolina to a 3-2 lead in the first-round playoff series.
Staal was jostling for position just outside the crease when Brett Pesce fired a shot toward Juuse Saros, who made the stop and poked the puck forward. But Staal batted it out of the air and past Saros into the net.
Staal gave a yell and immediately skated backward with his arms outstretched until he reached the boards, where his teammates mobbed him in front of a roaring home crowd of 12,000.
"Not a whole lot of thoughts going through my mind besides just wanting some bear hugs from the fellas," Staal said.
WATCH | Staal puts home OT winner:
Staal's score ended what was the third straight game to go to extra time, with the Predators winning a pair of grueling double-overtime contests in Games 3 and 4 in the best-of-seven series. This one, however, moved the Hurricanes within a win of closing it out and advancing in the postseason.
They'll get that chance on the road in Game 6 on Thursday night.
Martin Necas scored twice for Hurricanes, who flirted with becoming the first team to lose on home-ice in the series. In addition to trailing midway through the third period, they had a second-period goal disallowed after a Nashville challenge for goaltender interference.
Yakov Trenin scored twice to lead the Predators' offence. Saros finished with 34 saves after racking up 110 stops through the two double-overtime wins that knotted the series at 2-2.
Once again, he repeatedly turned away clean looks by the Hurricanes while his teammates clogged up lanes to block shots or frustrate Carolina's ability to get traffic in front of Saros above the crease until Staal did for the winner.
"It's a tough loss for us," Predators defenceman Roman Josi said. "I mean, I think in the third we kind of were in control of the game and they obviously score. Like I said before, it's such a tight series. ... They just found a way to score in OT tonight."
