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Nashville Predators: How They Got to Game 7 With Winnipeg

By Chad Minton

WINNIPEG, MB - MAY 7: Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck #37 of the Winnipeg Jets makes a glove save on Craig Smith #15 of the Nashville Predators during second period action in Game Six of the Western Conference Second Round during the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Bell MTS Place on May 7, 2018 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. (Photo by Darcy Finley/NHLI via Getty Images)
WINNIPEG, MB - MAY 7: Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck #37 of the Winnipeg Jets makes a glove save on Craig Smith #15 of the Nashville Predators during second period action in Game Six of the Western Conference Second Round during the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Bell MTS Place on May 7, 2018 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. (Photo by Darcy Finley/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Jonathan Kozub/NHLI via Getty Images)
(Photo by Jonathan Kozub/NHLI via Getty Images) /

Here comes the trap

I don’t care how the Predators win games. Yes, we all want entertaining hockey. However, the Predators are out there to win games at all costs. In this case, head coach Peter Laviolette employs a trap system that throws off the Jets. That’s extremely hard to do, and didn’t seem possible after Game 3.

Rinne also gets a shutout robbed thanks to a bad penalty from P.K. Subban. Outside of that, it’s a huge performance from both Rinne and Subban. Rinne gets 32 saves in another bounce-back game, and Subban nabs his third goal of the postseason.

There’s a lot of complaints, mainly from the opposition, about how boring this game ends up being. That may be the case, but the Predators win another must-win game to get up off the mat. The Jets have had numerous chances to deliver the knockout punch, and this was one of them.

Not sure if this is the way the Predators can win every game, but it’s a nice curveball to throw at times of desperation. Laviolette deserves a lot of credit for the Game 4 strategy. In what everyone expects as a high-scoring series, Game 4 ends up being the opposite. The Jets end up not being prepared, and the series is tied 2-2. Another turning point to a crazy series that’s only four games in.

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