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Quick strikes enable Predators to clip Red Wings

Apr 15, 2008 - 3:44 AM By Jim Diamond PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Ticker) - The Nashville Predators made quite a stand in just nine seconds.

Captain Jason Arnott and defenseman Ryan Suter scored nine seconds apart with under four minutes remaining in the third period as the eighth-seeded Predators rallied past the top-seeded Detroit Red Wings, 5-3, in Game Three of their Western Conference quarterfinal series on Monday.

Alexander Radulov and David Legwand also tallied just over two minutes apart in the second period and Martin Erat added an empty-net goal for Nashville, which trails two-games-to-one in the best-of-seven series.

"This team finds a way to get it done," Nashville coach Barry Trotz said. "No matter how many times our guys get kicked, they always get up off of the floor because they believe."

Legwand, a Detroit native, was playing in his first game since sustaining a deep bone bruise on his left foot while blocking a shot against Calgary on March 7. He converted off of a 2-on-1 pass from teammate J.P. Dumont.

"J.P. likes to make the cross-ice pass there, so I knew I had to get into the area," Legwand said. "It was a last-minute decision whether or not I was going to play tonight."

Jan Hlavac had a pair of assists for the Predators, who host Game Four on Wednesday.

Pavel Datsyuk, Kris Draper and Jiri Hudler scored and Daniel Cleary had two assists for the Red Wings.

With Detroit clinging to a 3-2 lead with 3:57 remaining in the third period, Suter scored his second goal of the game after blasting a slap shot from the top of the left faceoff circle to tie the game.

"I was just trying to shoot it as hard as I could, hoping that it went in," Suter said. "It was definitely desperation time for us."

Arnott followed nine seconds later with a slap shot from the right circle over the glove of goaltender Dominik Hasek to give Nashville its first lead of the series. Radulov assisted on Arnott's goal.

"There was a turnover near the red line, and I just kind of read that (Radulov) was going to get it," Arnott said. "He just fed it over to me, and I just drove to the net and shot it."

"He's skating fast in the middle of the ice, and he had time to prepare for the shot," Hasek said of Arnott. "He hit a very good shot."

Prior to Monday, Arnott was held without a point in Games One and Two of the series - recording just one shot on goal in the process.

"Anytime a team scores a goal against you, the next shift is so critical," Detroit coach Mike Babcock said. "We got on our heels, and they took it to us."

Erat added an empty-net goal with 21 seconds remaining to seal the victory.

With the game tied at 2-2, Datsyuk gave the Red Wings the lead just 40 seconds into the third period after forcing a turnover at the Detroit blue line. The talented Russian used his considerable speed to skate up the ice before wristing a shot from the right right faceoff dot to beat Dan Ellis low to the stick side.

"We got down early in the third, but we are a better team when our backs are against the wall," said Ellis, who recorded his first NHL playoff victory. "We didn't want to go down 3-0 in the series - 2-0 is difficult enough - and we were able to make it 2-1 tonight."