Another overtime game for the Nashville Predators, but this time the good fortune wasn’t on their side as the Carolina Hurricanes once again held serve at home.
The Hurricanes scored just over two minutes into overtime after a Predators power play was wiped out on a questionable interference call on Alexandre Carrier. It seemed like a weak call to make in a playoff overtime scenario, but either way Jordan Staal yet again got the best of Juuse Saros.
That’s now three-straight games going to overtime, with two of them going to double overtime and being played in less than 48 hours. You know these players have to be running on fumes after these extra periods of intense hockey, and also after a grinding 56-game regular season.
It’s another instance where the Predators couldn’t take control in a Game 5 scenario. Per Ryan Porth of 102.5 The Game, the Predators are now 5-14 in franchise history in Game 5’s:
That’s a tough pill to swallow after a mostly-well-played playoff game in that building. Game 5’s continue to be unkind to the #Preds in different ways (5-14 all time).
— Ryan Porth (@Porth670) May 26, 2021
Inconsistent Officiating isn’t the only problem for the Nashville Predators
Staal now has four goals in the series, while Saros still had a very solid game making 34 saves on 37 shots faced. Maybe not Saros’ best performance, but also one that was good enough to give the Predators a chance to win.
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The officiating has been a common theme this whole series, and quite frankly it’s getting old real fast. Both sides have been plagued with inconsistent calls and last night I felt that the Predators got doomed by the infamous “makeup” call.
The Predators definitely got some fortunate calls go their way, like the goaltender interference call that wiped out the Hurricanes goal and preserved the Predators lead. I’ll let you be the judge of what the correct call should’ve been, but me personally I was shocked that they went in favor of the Predators.
In the end, we can’t sit here and just blame the officiating for this loss. The fact of the matter is the Predators once again can’t rely on their power play to score when it matters. They went 0-for-3 in this one.
Yakov Trenin scored the two goals and was very active on the rush. His first goal was a product of being in the right spot as Roman Josi threw a puck at the net to get credit for his third assist of the series.
Trenin gave the Predators a 2-1 lead by skating on the odd-man rush and Colton Sissons found him for what was basically a slam dunk goal. It was a beauty as the Predators silenced the PNC Arena raucous crowd.
Hostile environment, no shortage of tempers flaring
This is when things starting getting really testy and the game got extremely feisty. Another big moment in the game was when Luke Kunin got involved with Andrei Svechnikov, followed by Matt Benning coming in aggressively to back up his teammate.
After the dust settled on this scrum, the Hurricanes came out with a power play, which also dismayed a lot of Predators fans that it wasn’t just offsetting penalties and 4-on-4 hockey.
Again, the referees were busy in this game, and many times you just never know what they’re going to call. There’s just no consistency whatsoever and it’s affecting both teams.
It’s been this way for most of the season for the Predators. They’ve been feeling like they’re on the brink of elimination since mid-March, so I’m definitely not worried about how they’ll respond in Game 6. This team has dealt with adversity all season.
The Predators will face elimination on Thursday night back in Nashville for Game 6. They have to figure out a way to keep their emotions in check while also not losing that physical edge. I won’t be surprised to see another minor lineup shift from Head Coach John Hynes, either.
Puck drop won’t be until 8:30 PM CT, so have your caffeine ready and get a power nap beforehand.