The Nashville Predators dropped a 2-1 slugfest to the Vancouver Canucks Friday at Bridgestone Arena – despite looking better than they had in either of their first two games in the best-of-seven series. "I felt like we were the better team tonight," Predators captain Roman Josi said. "I feel like our game was better tonight than it was in the first two games, and we've got to keep building on that and get better." “It was a fun hockey game,” Predators head coach Andrew Brunette said. “It's hard to leave this game feeling awful about it. Now, in saying that, similar to [Vancouver in Game 2], in the third period we were pushing and they were sitting back. So, you can't get carried away into thinking your game is rock solid, either.” The Predators put 30 shots on goal in Game 3, more than double what Vancouver managed to produce. Still, they weren't able to capitalize on their chances. Nashville Predators head coach Andrew Brunette speaks to the media following his team's 2-1 loss to the Vancouver Canucks in Game 3 of their Stanley Cup Playoff series. "I'm a big believer that if you get chances, sooner or later you'll get rewarded," Brunette said. "We didn't get rewarded tonight. And that's hockey; that's playoff hockey. The margins are tiny on both sides of the puck. I think they're tightly contested, low-event [games] and we've kind of played that a lot this year, and we kind of relish it. We just didn't get rewarded tonight." THE GOOD: OFFENSIVE ZONE TIME After struggling to get out of their own end for much of Game 2, the Predators were able gain some momentum with some more offensive zone time in Game 3. “That’s the most [offensive zone] possession time we’ve had, the most shots, the most Grade A’s,” said forward Luke Evangelista, who scored the Predators' lone goal of the game in the third period. “It all stems from the forecheck, good puck placement. We were able to spend a lot more time down there. Obviously, we had the momentum for most of that game, especially in the third there. If we keep playing like that we’ll be in a good spot.” THE BAD: SPECIAL TEAMS The Predators had gone 6-for-6 on the penalty kill over the first two games of the series, but he wheels seemed to fall off in Game 3. Nashville gave up two goals – both on the power play – on Vancouver's first five shots, with four of those five shots coming on the man advantage. The Predators also went 0-for-5 on the power play in Game 3 and are now 1-for-13 on the man advantage in the series. "A little bit more movement," Josi said when asked what adjustments needed to be made on the power play. "They don't move much, so I think we've got to get some movement and then just get some shots through, maybe get a dirty goal like a tip-in or just a rebound somewhere." THE UGLY: NOT UGLY ENOUGH Game 3 was another low-event contest for the Predators until the third period, when they put 14 shots on goal. It was too little too late for a team that had already missed several rebound chances and other opportunities to score earlier in the game. "They're playing really tight in the middle and blocking a ton of shots," Evangelista said. "If we just find ways to get more pucks at the net and outnumber them at the net, it looks like it's going to have to be a greasy one. So give them credit; they're committing to blocking shots. But if we can just get it there and jam away, I think we'll give ourselves a good shot." Roman Josi, Michael McCarron, Luke Evangelista and Filip Forsberg speak to the media following the Nashville Predators' 2-1 loss to the Vancouver Canucks in Game 3 of their Stanley Cup Playoff series. With several missed rebound chances tonight, the Predators missed a number of opportunities to tie the game and take a series lead. They acknowledged after the game that if they want to find the back of the net during this series, they're going to have to get inside and get ugly. "We've got to get to the inside a little bit more, and that's how we're going to score in the playoffs," Josi said. "There's not a lot of space out there, and they're still doing good job defensively. So I think just getting the inside a little more, getting better shots... Pucks will go in if we keep doing the right things." There were still plenty of positives from the Predators' performance in Game 3, and they'll look to carry those with them into Game 4 on Sunday. "You always want to take those games when you're outplaying the other team," Evangelista said. "But at the same time, we know we have a lot of positive to build off in that game. We out-chanced them, we had more possession time, and if we build off that and we keep playing the way that we did, especially in that second half of the game, we're going to be in a great spot. So we'll try and build off that."
