Three Thoughts: 3-0 Lead Faint Memory as Preds Drop Game 3

The Jets erased a 3-0 Predators' lead on their way to taking Game 3 by a 7-4 final score.
Unpredictable Narratives: A glance at the score of Game 3 could never tell the story of the radically contrasted parts within the contest.
The Predators accomplished all they hoped for in the opening 20 minutes, building a 3-0 advantage and silencing the Jets' frenzied crowd. But that lead was gone in 2:51, as Winnipeg scored three times in quick succession in the second stanza.

The story is more than a simple comeback tale, however.
Dustin Byfuglien's second of the night gave the Jets their first lead in the final minute of the second, a 4-3 advantage after a Jekyll and Hyde two periods. The start of the third period seemed to roll back the clock to the first frame as Nashville controlled play until Filip Forsberg's first of the series brought the visitors back even. Viktor Arvidsson's bid on a breakaway even gave the Preds a glorious chance to take the lead late in regulation.
But then the figurative clock struck midnight again. Penalty trouble for Nashville made the second-period memories come flooding back. Winnipeg used three consecutive chances on the power play to take a 5-4 lead on Blake Wheeler's tally with 4:59 left and ultimately salt the game away with two empty-net goals.

Hostile Environment? The "Winnipeg Whiteout" was supposed to be overpowering.
Usually mentioned in the same breath as the raucous environment in Smashville, Bell MTS Place - and its all-white clad fans - has earned the right to be called one of the NHL's most-intimidating venues.
On Tuesday night, the visitors would have been allowed every excuse for having a difficult time matching the energy of the Jets at the start of the game. Instead, Nashville showed moxie as they controlled the pace to start.
At 4:53, Mike Fisher rewarded the Preds' effort by reaching around Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck to whack in a loose puck for a 1-0 lead.
Next, a one-timer from P.K. Subban gave the Predators a power-play goal and a 2-0 lead. Austin Watson capped off the first period with his fifth of the playoffs with under three minutes to play in the opening frame.
Despite the negative result on the scoreboard at the end of 60 minutes, the Predators knowing they have the ability negate Winnipeg's home-ice advantage with strong play should come in handy in future games.

But Then The Second:The Jets' response in the second period may have been even more than they were thinking they could accomplish.
Three goals in the opening 5:29 of the frame, including two in 18 seconds, and the Predators' advantage had completely evaporated.
After a shot sent a puck off Paul Stastny's leg and past Pekka Rinne, the Jets, who already looked re-energized as they middle frame began, hit another level.
After 13 scoreless minutes, Byfuglien's second of the evening saw a blown lead morph into something worse. The defenseman's one-timer off a cross-ice feed turned a 3-0 lead for Nashville into a 4-3 deficit in a single, 20-minute period.
Predators blueliner Ryan Ellis said he felt Nashville "stopped playing" in the second period. Against another top-tier team in the NHL, like the Jets, that has to be viewed as unacceptable.