• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Ellis, Predators trying to hang on vs. Red Wings

Apr 20, 2008 - 1:35 PM Detroit at Nashville 3:00 pm EDT Western Conference quarterfinals Red Wings lead, 3-2

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Ticker) - Dan Ellis couldn't have played much better in Game Five, but he will have to be at his best Sunday to keep the Nashville Predators alive.

Ellis and the eight-seeded Predators hope a return home can reverse their fortunes as they face the top-seeded Detroit Red Wings for Game Six of their Western Conference quarterfinal series.

After evening the series with back-to-back wins at home, the Predators suffered a 2-1 overtime loss to Red Wings on Friday despite an impressive performance by Ellis.

Ellis finished with 52 saves, a franchise playoff record.

"Ellis might have had the best game of any goalie in the playoffs," Nashville right wing J.P. Dumont said after the loss. "There's no words to describe it. He was on top of his game. ... The way he played (Friday), he deserved to win."

"We did everything we could to put ourselves in a position to get a win," said Ellis, who entered the season with one NHL appearance under his belt. "We put some pressure on at the very end there, but we have to do more than that. We can't get 20 shots in a game and give up 50."

Ellis' spectacular performance came to an end early in the extra session when Johan Franzen scored on a breakaway at 1:48. The play was started when Dumont committed a turnover in the neutral zone and Detroit defenseman Niklas Kronwall delivered a pass to Franzen at the Predators' blue line.

The 28-year-old Swede skated in alone and deked before putting a backhander just inside the right goalpost for his second tally of the series.

Despite escaping with the win and taking a three-games-to-two lead in the best-of-seven series, Red Wings coach Mike Babcock was not pleased with his team's performance in Game Five.

"We weren't as sharp around their net as we normally are," Babcock said. "Ellis played well, but we need to be better when we have the opportunities like we did (Friday)."