In Anaheim Friday night, James Neal finished a game off that had more ebb and flow than the surf at Huntington Beach.
Neal’s overtime goal midway through the first extra session gave the Nashville Predators a 3-2 win
The Ducks forced overtime when they knotted the game at2-2 in the third period.
“We didn’t play well in the third, but in the overtime we got back to our game and back to playing again,” Nashville coach Peter Laviolette said.
It was just the latest in the shifting play of the game that saw the Preds push the Ducks around in the opening frame only to see Anaheim come back after Nashville took two straight penalties.
“Usually, when those things happen, you can take that energy and roll through the rest of the hockey game,” Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said.
Nashville’s Filip Forsberg and Austin Watson scored in regulation.
Pekka Rinne, who was fooled on the Ducks’ goal, made 27 saves.
Jakob Silfverberg picked up a loose puck in the offensive zone and fired the puck through a defenseman screen and beat Rinne for a 1-0 Anaheim lead in the first period.
Hampus Lindholm tied the game in the third period.
“They’re an aggressive team that can skate. They’re a good hockey club, and it’s going to be a tough series,” Anaheim’s Nate Thompson said after the Game 1 loss.
Game 2 in Anaheim Sunday.,
“We know we haven’t done anything yet. We have to stay on for Game 2, and we know now we’ll have that home-ice advantage again,” Nashville’s Mattias Ekholm said.
[WATCH: All Predators vs. Ducks highlights | RELATED: Complete Nashville vs. Anaheim series coverage]
John Gibson made an NHL 43 saves in taking the loss, a career-high
“We haven’t played a team like that in a while,” Gibson said. “We got better as the game went on.
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