Predators' top players 'step up and make it happen' in Game 5 victory at Canucks

VANCOUVER -- The Stanley Cup Playoffs are about a team's best players being the best players at the most important times.

Nashville Predators forward Ryan O'Reilly believes that as well, and that's why he and some of his teammates, among them linemates Filip Forsberg and Gustav Nyquist, and No. 1 defenseman Roman Josi, felt pressure to do more in Game 5 of the Western Conference First Round against the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday.

They did, beginning with Josi's power-play goal at 7:15 of the third period that started a Predators rally from down 1-0. Forsberg and Nyquist combined for three assists and Alexandre Carrier scored at 12:46 of the third for a 2-1 win at Rogers Arena to force Game 6 at Bridgestone Arena on Friday with the Canucks leading the best-of-7 series 3-2.

O'Reilly knew the top players had to respond if they wanted to extend their season.

"As you go deeper in a series, the best guys, guys paid the most money, have to step up and make it happen," he said. "Tonight's a big win. I think over there for them their top guys were putting the puck in the net and had been killing us on the power play, so it was great to see us kind of step up and get some big goals for us."

The Predators watched Canucks forwards Brock Boeser and J.T. Miller step up and lead Vancouver to wins in Games 3 and 4 in Nashville. After Josi tied Game 5, O'Reilly provided the screen that allowed Carrier to score the game-winner, with Nyquist and Forsberg getting the primary and secondary assist, respectively. 

All four players were on the ice for both goals.

"All year they've kind of done it," Predators coach Andrew Brunette said. "Proud of them, the resiliency they showed. It was tough. It's been a tough series to create a whole lot. They're offensive guys, but they stuck with it.

"The message was, 'You're going to do it.' It might take forever to get it but keep pounding on the door. And I thought they did a really good job just staying true to themselves. They didn't cheat the game and they got their opportunities and won it."

Josi got the Predators going with a spectacular power-play goal, ending Nashville's 0-for-17 drought dating to O'Reilly's goal in Game 1. He worked a give-and-go with Forsberg, found an open lane to the net and slid the puck under Canucks goalie Arturs Silovs as bodies piled up in the crease.

"I had a lot of speed, kicked out to 'Fil,' Fil made a great play, he got it right back to me and I felt like I had a little bit of an opening," Josi said. "Tried to go around the goalie and just somehow laid there and I don't know what happened after. I kind of laid there and saw it going in, so that's all that matters."

It was Josi's first goal of the series and came after the Predators captain lost count of how many stitches he needed during Game 4 to repair his right ear, split open at the top when he was hit by a puck in the first period.

"Miller, Boeser, they had some big games in Nashville," Josi said. "We knew we needed to step up, especially on the power play. I think our power play hasn't been great this series and that was a huge goal for us.

"We all talked about it, the whole group. I mean, we were down 3-1 and we actually felt like we played two pretty good games in Nashville, but it doesn't really matter, right? We didn't get the wins. We knew nothing's going to be given to us. We've got to step up and play better and give even more and I thought we did that tonight."

Now they'll have another opportunity to do it in Game 6.

"At this point it's do whatever you can to win," O'Reilly said. "I think for myself, too, I feel like I want to produce more and create more. Power play too. It's not going as well as we want but we step up, we get a huge goal like that.

"For sure you can nitpick everything but it's whatever we can to win, and we have to keep trying to be the difference."