There was no comeback for the Winnipeg Jets this time. There was no cause for an on-ice shimmy from their 260-pound defenceman Dustin Byfuglien.
Behind two goals with the score clock ticking down and the quietest the Bell MTS Place has been for a long time, the Jets received a power-play goal from Patrik Laine 49.6 seconds remaining. It was too little, too late.
The Nashville Predators prevailed for a 2-1 victory to knot the second-round series at 2-2 in a quite different game than the first three that produced a whopping 25 goals.
The Jets suffered their first loss at home in this playoffs and ended their 13-game win streak in their building, dating back to Feb. 27.
The last time they were beaten at home was by the Predators, who performed like the team that won the Presidents’ Trophy team in the regular season. They slowed down the speedy Jets with a tight-checking game to reduce their open ice and the Predators did a much better job holding onto the puck.
Jets’ stickhandling goes nowhere
The Jets failed to adjust. Instead of more dump-ins with speed, they tried to stickhandle their way through the Nashville defenders.
“Take a look at the very first shift of the game,” Winnipeg coach Paul Maurice said, referring to a hard rim around the boards that resulted in a good chance from Mark Scheifele. “A little more of that, a little less of the one [trying to get] through four.”
Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne also played better. He had something to prove after the first three games in this series, checking in with an ordinary .890 save percentage.
Yes, he had some luck in his 32-stop effort. Rinne made a first-period save off the butt-end of his stick before forward Ryan Hartman helped with a save of his own late on Winnipeg’s Adam Lowry. But Rinne’s solid game will help restore his own confidence and faith from his teammates.
As good as Rinne was, however, Predators defenceman P.K. Subban was that much better. He dished out a punishing hit on Lowry and scored a power-play goal on a 51-foot blast through a Viktor Arvidsson screen for a second-period power-play goal and a 2-0 lead.
Predators’ lineup swaps pay off
It was a frustrating first three games for the Predators and their coach Peter Laviolette. Nashville outplayed the Jets in the series opener and blew a three-goal lead after 20 minutes in a 7-4 loss to Winnipeg in Game 3.
Laviolette also took issue with a couple of incidents in Game 3. He felt there was a missed tripping penalty on Predators defenceman Ryan Ellis before a Jets goal and a cheesy high-sticking penalty on Subban that led to another Winnipeg goal.
Dustin Byfuglien and Scott Hartnell get tied up in the first period of Nashville’s Game 4 win.(John Woods/The Canadian Press)
So what did Laviolette come up with for Game 4? He inserted 36-year-old veteran Scott Hartnell, whose only postseason action this spring was in Game 5 against the Colorado Avalanche in the first round two weeks ago. Also in the lineup was defenceman Yannick Weber.
Laviolette was hoping Hartnell could disrupt Byfuglien’s game. The big Winnipeg defenceman was dominant on Tuesday with a two-goal outing.
Regina’s Hartnell kept Byfuglien at bay, for the most part, holding the big man to only two shots on goal in Game 4.
Laine snaps slump
These two warriors go back a long way, butting heads in the 2009-10 Stanley Cup final when Hartnell was with the Philadelphia Flyers and Byfuglien was with the championship-winning Chicago Blackhawks.
“His experience calmed everybody down,” Rinne said of Hartnell. “He was one of the key guys for us on the forecheck and making smart plays.”
The Jets can travel to Nashville for Game 5 on Saturday with the knowledge that they still had enough opportunities to pull this one out. The fourth line, as well as the defence pairing of Tyler Myers and Ben Chiarot, were caught standing around on the Predators opening goal from Hartman in the first period and that had the Jets chasing their opponents all evening.
The other nice development for the Jets was seeing their goal-scoring leader in the regular season, Laine, score his first in the series and first since Game 2 of the five-game opening round series against the Minnesota Wild.
There was no doubt Laine was frustrated, especially after firing eight shots on goal in Game 3. The Jets need Laine to provide more offence if they want to see another victory dance from Byfuglien.
