"I've been fighting it for a while. There's no question or secret, I need to be more offensive if we're going to make a push," Staal said. "It was nice to get one tonight and be involved with that. Hopefully that will keep coming."
3. The Turning Point
The turning point in the game arguably came in the first four minutes of the second period.
The Predators scored a goal just 48 seconds into the middle frame, when Ryan Johansen juggled a bouncing puck on his blade and tapped it in out of midair.
The Canes challenged for goaltender interference, and it looked as though they had a good argument, as Viktor Arvidsson was parked squarely in the crease and seemed to prevent Petr Mrazek from moving laterally across the crease in attempt to deny Johansen.
The officials, upon review, did not agree with that assessment, and the original call on the ice stood.
"I felt that the guy was in the crease and impeded Petr's ability to make a play on the tip. That, to me, is pretty clear. That's what I see," Brind'Amour said. "This is the problem with this kind of rule. Nobody really knows."
The game was tied, and the Canes were then tasked with killing a penalty due to the failed challenge.
They did so, a big kill from a man disadvantage that was a perfect 4-for-4 on the night.
"That's a big time in the game, and we got a big kill out of that," Brind'Amour said.
The Canes were then rewarded with a power play of their own. Carolina lost the initial draw, but Williams chased down the puck behind the net and fed Andrei Svechnikov, who was wide-open at the right dot. Svechnikov let go of a blistering wrister that beat a screened Juuse Saros to the far side. Five seconds into their power play, the Canes had reclaimed a lead, 2-1.
