VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Joel Ward stepped up just in time to keep the Nashville Predators alive for at least one more game.
Ward scored two goals less than five minutes apart early in the third period and the Predators avoided elimination for the first time in team history with a 4-3 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night in Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinal series.
“Playing any sport, especially at a professional level, you always want to be that hero and score that big goal in certain times,” said Ward, who has four goals in three games. “I just want to win and just try to work hard and not think about it too much.”
David Legwand also scored twice, Pekka Rinne made 31 saves, and Ward had three points for the Predators, who still trail 3-2 in the best-of-seven series but will return home for Game 6 on Monday night.
“You can’t go down without a fight,” Legwand said. “Obviously we’re not going to just lay over and let them win the series.”
Ryan Kesler, who lost a tooth and had his face stitched up after he was struck by a deflected puck, scored his second goal of the game with 3:46 left. But it wasn’t enough to put the Canucks into the conference finals yet.
“We’re resilient,” Kesler said. “We battled hard. A few bad bounces, but we’re in a good spot. We need to go into Nashville and win a hockey game.”
The Predators had been 0-5 in elimination games.
