The Edmonton Oilers had the game and the series in a stranglehold, but somehow they were the ones who got choked out Wednesday.

They were up 2-0 at home and seemingly in control, with a chance to go up 3-1 in their second round series with the Anaheim Ducks, only to let everything slip away in a crushing 4-3 overtime defeat.

Anaheim’s Jakob Silfverberg landed the kill shot, scoring 45 seconds into the extra period (after Drake Caggiula tied it with 1:42 left in regulation) to pull the Ducks back to even after losing the first two games at home.

It’s now a best-of-three with Anaheim controlling all of the momentum.

“We were in this same position last series,” said Edmonton captain Connor McDavid. “We’re going into a building where we’ve had success before, we’re comfortable playing there.

“You never want to play a series where you lose both games at home, but that’s the case for both teams — now it’s a race to two.”

Ryan Getzlaf ran Anaheim’s show all night, scoring two goals and adding two assists in the win. He was also plus four and went 62 per cent in the face-off circle.

“He’s a big body, he skates well and he’s very skilled,” said McDavid. “That adds up to a good hockey player. We have to find a way to control him.”

The fact the series is shifting back to Anaheim for Game 5 Friday is no big deal to Oilers coach Todd McLellan.

“We won two games in their building, obviously it’s a road series,” he said. “We’ll take road ice advantage into Game 5.”

What is of concern is that Edmonton still hasn’t played a full 60 minutes of their best hockey in this series, and the time to start is well past due.

The first period was their best of the series — they delivered intense pressure, two clutch penalty kills and a pair of late goals from Milan Lucic and McDavid to take a 2-0 lead into the first intermission — but it trailed off badly after that,

As good as Edmonton was in the first, Anaheim was better in the second. They outshot Edmonton 21-5 and outscored them 3-0.

Getzlaf, who’s been a man on a mission in this series, cut the lead to 2-1 at 1:37 (after a long and very close goaltender interference challenge on Corey Perry didn’t go Edmonton’s way), set up Rickard Rakell at 5:35 and silenced the crowd with the go-ahead goal at 14:25.

“Obviously I disagreed with the challenge result, I thought he interfered,” said McLellan. “I thought he interfered with the blocker and he couldn’t make the save. They obviously didn’t see it that way.

“(Anaheim) gained a little momentum from that. Then they get the second one, it bounced around it and it was a lucky break. Then the third one. It took a lot of life and energy out of the building and even more so out of us. It took a lot of work to get back into the game.”

Talbot said he was definitely interfered with, but probably didn’t get the call because he didn’t flop.

“I try to play with integrity in my game, I’m not a guy who’s going to flop and dive and try to get calls,” he said. “But if those are the goals that are going to count when I’m trying my best to make a save then maybe I do have to flop and dive and get those calls like all the other guys.”

The Oilers launched a push back in the third period, and had their best opportunity to pull even with 3:46 left when Antoine Vermette gloved a puck off the face-off to give Edmonton a last chance power play.

Seconds after the penalty expired, and with Talbot on the bench for the extra attacker, Caggiula roofed a rebound from the Anaheim doorstep to send it to overtime.

LATE HITS: Jordan Eberle got busted down to the fourth line, replaced on the second line by Anton Slepyshev, for his part in Anaheim’s first goal of the period. Eberle had two chances to get the puck out of the defensive zone and didn’t … Getzlaf already has seven goals and six assists in the playoffs and has moved past Ducks great Teemu Selanne for the all-time lead in post-season goals with 36.

EDMONTON — Cam Talbot allowed a goal just 45 seconds into overtime in Edmonton’s 4-3 loss at home to the Ducks on Wednesday, but it was Anaheim’s first goal of the night that bothered the Oilers goaltender most.

With the Oilers leading 2-0 after the first period, Ryan Getzlaf scored just 1:37 into the second to get the Ducks back into the game. Talbot thought he was interfered with by Ducks forward Corey Perry in front, but the goal survived a video review.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzGVIo75xGY&w=640&h=390]

Talbot can’t understand why.

“I thought that was pretty obvious,” he said. “I try to play with integrity and not flop and dive. Maybe I have to start doing that to get the calls. I don’t know what else to do on that one. He clearly hit my blocker and my pad and there was no way I could make that save.

“We were up 2-0 and they get a garbage goal like that early in the second and they got all the momentum and they never let it go until we got that goal at the end of the third. That was a turning point for sure. It gave them life and they never looked back from there.”

Oilers head coach Todd McLellan agreed with his goalie.

“I disagree with the call or I wouldn’t have challenged it,” he said. “I thought he interfered with blocker and hands and he (Talbot) couldn’t make the save. They didn’t see it that way. They gained a little momentum at that point.”

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh Anaheim Ducks players celebrate their victory as Edmonton Oilers goalie Cam Talbot, right, skates past during overtime NHL hockey round two playoff action in Edmonton, Wednesday, May 3, 2017.

The Ducks went on to score two more goals in the second period, outshooting the Oilers 21-5 in the middle frame.

Edmonton tied the game with Talbot off for the extra attacker with just 1:42 remaining on a Drake Caggiula goal, but Jakob Silfverberg’s early goal in extra time tied the second round series up 2-2, heading back to Anaheim.

Getzlaf assisted on the winner and had two goals and two assists on the night, giving him eight points in the four games played in the series.

Oilers captain Connor McDavid said they can’t allow Getzlaf continued free reign.

“He’s a big body, he skates well and he is very skilled,” he said. “That adds up to a good hockey player. We have to find a way to control him.”

All four games of the series have been won by the road team, with Game 5 going on Friday in Anaheim.

“It’s a 2-2 series now,” Caggiula said. “We have to make sure we play a full 60 minutes going forward here. We were in this situation last series too, and it worked out just fine.”

The Oilers and San Jose Sharks were tied 2-2 in their opening round series, before Edmonton won the next two games to advance.

Ryan Getzlaf has the resume, and gets plenty of credit for every impressive line.

He’s a World Cupper. An Olympian. He’s won gold medals at every international event but the World Championships. He’s a Stanley Cup winner and an all-star. He’s the Ducks’ captain and their best player.

Everybody who cares even a little bit about the game knows how good Getzlaf is and has been for a very long time. The epitome of power forward. With size and speed and smarts, he’s the whole shebang.

Then he goes out and takes over Game 4 in the second period – he scores two goals, including the one that puts the Ducks up 3-2 over the Oilers, and assists on another – and it’s hard to find enough adjectives to describe exactly what he played like and what he did to this series in that 9:20 of ice time.

And, because that wasn’t enough, because Oilers winger Drake Caggiula forced overtime with his first goal of his first run in the NHL playoffs, Getzlaf had to rise up again. That he did it is testament to the way he drove the Ducks’ bus on Wednesday. The way he has grabbed the wheel for much of this 2-2 series, in fact.

David Bloom/Postmedia NetworkRyan Getzlaf has 13 points in eight playoff games.

He pounced on an Adam Larsson turnover on the boards in the Oilers zone and sent a perfect feed to Jakob Silfverberg for the one-timer and a 4-3 win, just 45 seconds into OT. He capped his four-point night in dramatic style.

So dominant fits. Unstoppable, maybe. Captain-like, one would surely think. He was unhappy with the Ducks’ first period, said some things that needed to be said, then did the things that only a leader like him can and will do at the right time.

“Go out and play. That’s just it,” he said, when asked how he elevates his game. “You’ve got to go out and win more battles than the guy across from you. That’s playoff hockey.

“I feel good right now, I’ll put it that way. It’s a fun time of year. I love playing right now. Things don’t always go your way. Believe me, I’ve been on the other side of it too. It’s just one of those things where I’m going to focus every day, trying to do my job, not anybody else’s, not trying to do more than I can do.”

He has 13 points in eight playoff games. That’s quality leadership. That is walking the walk, after first talking the talk.

Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images“We’ve got to as a group keep moving forward,” said Getzlaf.

“I was really disappointed with the way we played in the first period. Our (penalty killing unit) has got to find a way to get the job done a little bit. And we’ve got to find a way to dig in. I thought we lost a lot of battles in the first period.

“I’ve always said, yeah, I can say anything I want in the dressing room but I’ve got to go out and live it. I tried to do that in the second period and the group just went along with it. We talked a little bit, but there’s no big secret message that goes on in here.”

It’s no secret that the Oilers won’t have an answer for him every night. Take Wednesday night. Please.

“Well, right now we don’t,” said Oilers head coach Todd McLellan, noting Getzlaf played almost 26 minutes, which makes matchups really difficult.

“You can try to get whatever match you want. It’s either (Ryan Kesler) or (Getzlaf) on the ice all the time and they’re both playing well. But I think we can play with them.”

They have done so in spurts. And they are still tied 2-2, though the Ducks are building and the Oilers are clearly recoiling.

Neither team has won in its own barn, though Edmonton made a stab at it early, and were paced in large part by their captain and best player. Connor McDavid turned a fortunate bounce into the 2-0 goal after Milan Lucic turned his own fortunate carom into a power-play goal.

Getzlaf simply one-upped McDavid in the second frame. The Oilers’ lead was erased in a four-minute span early in the period and Getzlaf gave the visitors the edge at 14:25.

“He’s obviously a tremendous player and he’s got the skill set to do that, but we’ve got to find ways to contain him and make it hard for him,” said Caggiula. “We know it’s not going to be an easy task but we’ve got to find something in the bag of tricks to slow him down a little bit.”

With the injured Patrick Eaves on the shelf, the Ducks shook things up and reunited Corey Perry with Getzlaf on the top unit. Rickard Rakell fleshed it out and they carried the mail. But there’s more work to do.

“We’ve got to as a group keep moving forward,” said Getzlaf. “We haven’t accomplished anything yet. All we did was get our home ice back.” 

ANAHEIM — It was as valiant, improbable, courageous a game as the Edmonton Oilers have posted in a long, long time.

Followed by one of the biggest chokes.

In a hockey game that defied description, the Oilers and Anaheim Ducks turned in a night for the ages Friday, taking Game 5 of their playoff series to the limits of believability and back. Twice.

Reeling after back-to-back losses at home and down to four defencemen for most of the first period, the Oilers somehow managed to survive a vicious Anaheim assault to build a 3-0 lead. They were less than four minutes away from one of the most inspirational victories in franchise history.

Then they folded like a lawn chair under a sumo wrestler, giving up three goals in the final 3:16 of the third period.

And the Ducks won. Corey Perry scored 6:57 into double overtime to win 4-3 and take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series that heads back to Edmonton Sunday night.

It was a wild, wild hockey game with so much going on it was sometimes hard to keep track.

A brief summary:

Ryan Getzlaf finally got a call to go his way and was awarded a first-period penalty shot, which he missed the net on.

Defenceman Matt Benning got crushed and missed most of the first period.

Defenceman Andrej Sekera got crushed and didn’t return to the game.

Defenceman Oscar Klefbom took a slap shot to the chest and missed part of the first period.

Defenceman Kris Russell got drilled into the boards and had to get checked out by doctors.

Winger Benoit Pouliot almost had to play defence.

Zack Kassian got slashed on the hand and left the game, returning to fight Nick Ritchie, who had run Cam Talbot and Russell earlier in the game.

Anaheim had a goal disallowed because of a high stick.

Drake Caggiula scored on a four-on-one after the referees missed Patrick Maroon hacking Corey Perry on the throat.

Chris Carlson/APAnaheim Ducks right wing Corey Perry, left, scores the game-winning goal past Edmonton Oilers goalie Cam Talbot in the second overtime of Game 5 in Anaheim, Calif., on Friday, May 5, 2017.

And just when the Oilers had it won, the Ducks scored with 3:16 left.

Then they scored with 2:41 left.

Then they scored with 15 seconds left.

Then the Oilers challenged goaltender interference because Ryan Kesler was literally holding Talbot’s pad … and once again it was ruled a good goal.

Then it went to overtime.

Then double overtime.

Then Perry delivered the dagger.

It was nuts. And it started early.

With the Ducks swarming Edmonton in the first period like they did in the second period of Game 4, and Oilers defencemen piling up in the training room, it looked like it was going to get ugly.

The Oilers didn’t just weather a storm, they weathered Hurricane Katrina in the first period. It was an relentless assault by the Ducks, who were all over Edmonton in as lopsided a 0-0 period as you will ever see.

When Talbot wasn’t robbing them blind — he made 60 saves — the Ducks were missing the open net by inches or fanning on glorious scoring opportunities.

It should have been 4-0 Ducks after 20, but it wasn’t.

The Oilers had a chance to regroup and catch their breath and they used it to take over.

Just 15 seconds into the second period Leon Draisaitl scored on an Oscar Klefbom rebound.

Then at 2:55, on a two-man advantage, Connor McDavid batted a puck out of the air to make it 2-0. Then Caggiula stuck a third knife in them with his second of the playoffs at 12:28.

The Oilers knew, even after going up 2-0 in the series, that this was going to be a long, hard series. They’re discovering as they go along just how hard it’s going to be.

rtychkowski@postmedia.com

In stretches, the Edmonton Oilers have shown they can not only play with the Anaheim Ducks, but they can beat them.

Most periods the two teams have played in their second-round playoff series have been pretty much even, though the Ducks have dominated at times. But so have the Oilers.

In the second period of Game 3, for example, Edmonton outchanced the Ducks 13-2. In both the first period of Game 4 and the second period of Game 5, Edmonton outchanced the Ducks 7-3.

Overall, the Ducks have created more scoring chances in the series so far, 90-78, but in the crucial subset of Grade A chances — hard and dangerous shots on net from the inner slot — Edmonton is slightly ahead, 50-47.

In no way is Edmonton getting blown away in this series. Every game has come down to which team can get the best goaltending, the most puck luck on its scoring chances, and, unfortunately, the most backing from the referees on crucial plays.

Game 6 should be no different, not unless Oilers players from Connor McDavid, Jordan Eberle and Milan Lucic to Anton Slepyshev, Benoit Pouliot and Darnell Nurse can significantly raise their level of play. They must demonstrate what they’ve shown in spurts against the Ducks for the majority of this elimination game.

Harry How / Getty ImagesEdmonton Oilers forwards Leon Draisaitl (left) and Milan Lucic talk in the final minutes of the third period against the Anaheim Ducks on May 5.

***

As a group, the Oilers are struggling to bring their “A” games so far against Anaheim.

Almost every single Oilers player in the five playoff games against the Ducks is far below his season average for scoring chances plus-minus. This is to be expected, as the Ducks are one of the best teams in the NHL. The Oilers aren’t playing Colorado, Vancouver or Arizona here, some weak team that can be shut down and outchanced with relative ease. It’s against those teams that the Oilers tended to fatten up their scoring chances plus-minus.

But good luck hanging at even-strength with Ryan Getzlaf and Cam Fowler.

Only Patrick Maroon, Drake Caggiula and Kris Russell are playing better against the Ducks than they did in the regular season.

Maroon is at +3.1 even-strength scoring chances per game against the Ducks (an outstanding number for a winger), while he was a solid +2.6 in the regular season.

Caggiula has gone from +1.5 scoring chances per game (an OK number for a winger) in the regular season to +1.6 per game against the Ducks.

Russell is at +0.3 even-strength scoring chances per game against the Ducks (a good number for a defenceman, given their unique blend of offensive opportunity and defensive responsibility), after going +0.1 scoring chances per game in the regular season.

Harry How / GettyEdmonton Oilers players celebrate a Connor McDavid goal against the Anaheim Ducks on May 5.

But other Oilers have seen their two-way play drop off significantly.

McDavid was an outstanding +3.0 scoring chances per game in the regular season. Against the Ducks, he’s at +0.8 per game. Leon Draisaitl has dropped from +2.7 to +o.4, Mark Letestu from +0.7 to +o.3, Ryan Nugent Hopkins from +1.5 to +.0.8.

On the wing, Eberle has dropped from +2.3 per game to 0.0 per game, Lucic from +1.8 per game to +0.4 per game, and Slepyshev from +1.5 per game to 0.0 per game.

On defence, Adam Larsson has dropped from +0.3 scoring chances per game (a good number for a defenceman against tough competition) to -0.1 in the playoffs. Oscar Klefbom has dropped from -0.1 to -0.8, Andrej Sekera from an outstanding +1.0 per game to -0.2 per game, Matt Benning from +0.4 to -1.4, and his partner, Darnell Nurse, from +0.7 to -1.3. (Sekera, injured in Game 5, has been ruled out of the rest of the series.)

***

So how can the Oilers shift gears and play a better game? They simply need to build on the strong play they’ve demonstrated at those times when they have got the best of the Ducks.

What are the key elements of those moments?

Cam Talbot is a wall in net, controlling every outside shot and slamming the door on every Grade A chance.

The defencemen move the puck with confidence, not too cautiously or erratically. You know the Oilers are struggling when players like Nurse, Russell and Larsson stop hitting teammates on the break with passes on the stick and instead start holding the puck too long, rimming it around the boards and missing with their passes.

In fact, if there’s any one issue that has plagued the Oilers so far against the Ducks, it’s the puck-handling woes of their defencemen. When they’ve been sharp, the Oilers have dominated, but in those long stretches when they’re too timid and slow, Edmonton gives up goals.

Maroon, Lucic, Draisaitl, Slepyshev, Pouliot and Zack Kassian, the Oil’s bigger forwards, are using their size and strength to win boards battles on the wall in the defensive zone and puck-protecting deep in the Ducks’ end.

The fast skaters — McDavid, Caggiula, Nugent-Hopkins and David Desharnais — are attacking with confidence and driving wide and deep on the Ducks defence.

Can the Oilers bring their “A” game for the vast majority of minutes in Sunday’s Game 6? I expect they can. That’s what I think we’ll see.

And when that happens, Edmonton is the better team.

Mark Messier, say hello to Connor McDavid.

Back in the spring of 1994, the New York Rangers’ captain famously guaranteed his club, which hadn’t won a Stanley Cup in 50 years, would stay alive against the New Jersey Devils in the Eastern Conference final, down 3-2 in the series. And they did just that.

Last Friday, the overpowering words from the kid currently wearing the C on his Edmonton Oilers jersey after their shocking loss to the Anaheim Ducks in Game 5, up 3-0 with 196 seconds left, were: “We’ll be back here Wednesday.”

Like a good leader, part father, part big brother, McDavid also gave Leon Draisaitl a tap on the arm to get the heck into the dressing room when Draisaitl wore the look of an anguished man as he leaned on the boards, watching the Anaheim Ducks celebrating Corey Perry’s double-overtime winner.

So, yes, McDavid channelled the Moose on Sunday, even if he gobsmackingly didn’t get a point as his club blew the doors off the Ducks with three goals on their first six shots on John Gibson — all five-hole — and four in the first eight and a half minutes as Jonathan Bernier came out of the bullpen.

They wound up with five in the opening 20 minutes, one off the club record for a period, en route to a 7-1 victory.

Draisaitl continued to beat the Ducks like a rented mule this season, with his first career hat trick and two helpers, as his dad was visiting from Europe, and now has 13 points in the six series games.

Mark Letestu had two goals and two helpers for his best-ever game, regular season or playoffs, and has eight points in this series and 11 in the post-season. Anton Slepyshev had the other, while Rickard Rakell was the only Ducks player to beat Cam Talbot.

The Oilers have scored 23 goals to the Ducks’ 19 in six games, and only once have they combined for fewer than seven goals.

Post-game, Talbot, mask off, was all smiles. He was asked what it’s like having a five-goal lead as a goalie.

“Better than a three-goal lead,” Talbot deadpanned.

This game had the same smell as the 4-0 total domination game of Carolina Hurricanes in Game 6 in the 2006 Stanley Cup finals at Rexall Place, which was rocking, just like the new Rogers Place. Now, it’s up to the Oilers to finish the deal, but nobody was guaranteeing any wins after the game on either side. How could they in this daffy duck series?

Yet the Oilers were talking a good game about wiping away the memory of the crushing loss in Game 5, and it wasn’t lip service, as it turned out.

“At times, it doesn’t seem sincere. This is what you’re supposed to say,” Letestu said. “But this group has done a good job. We showed it against San Jose, where we got shelled 7-0 and came back to win the series. This was as bad a loss circumstances-wise as we’ve had, but the guys were able to bury and park it . . .

“We’re underestimated sometimes in our maturity level. Numbers-wise, we’re pretty young, but Leon’s a man and Connor has been through the spotlight, and when you bounce back like this, it takes maturity.”

Draisaitl and Letestu were the driving forces, but Letestu said Draisaitl was the real big wheel.

“Leo led the charge,” Letestu said. “He picked up the puck on his first couple of shifts and you knew he was determined to do something with the first two goals. He set the tone for the whole game.”

Biggest game of your life?

“Guess so, the season was on the line,” Draisaitl said.

Goals, hits, more goals. No points from McDavid, but so what?

“Maybe he’s saving them for the next game,” Letestu said. “We’ve got a big one Wednesday where he can fill up the scoresheet.”

“(It) shows we’re a team,” Oilers head coach Todd McLellan said. “We just don’t rely on Connor. He had the fourth point on a lot of goals, but you can’t do it on one man’s shoulders.”

But did anybody in their wildest dreams expect this? The Oilers had their first A game of the series, playing without Andrej Sekera (suspected knee injury) and Oscar Klefbom (who took a puck to the chest in Game 5), inserting Eric Gryba and Griffin Reinhart.

What went wrong for the Ducks, apart from an ice-cold Gibson?

“Everything,” Ducks head coach Randy Carlyle said. “They score on basically the first three chances. We weren’t able to recover. As a group, we didn’t handle the puck.”

They gave Draisaitl way too much room, right off the hop.

“He’s got a lot of freedom on the ice right now. The best way to play against elite-level players is to put time and effort into them playing in their zone,” Carlyle said.

“We wanted to get back on the plane to California,” Oilers winger Milan Lucic added, “and it showed from the drop of the puck.”

ANAHEIM, Calif. — It was fun while it lasted.

Fun? Check that. It was the most amazing spring that Edmonton hockey fans have experienced in 11 years while it lasted.

But it’s over.

The Edmonton Oilers’ thrilling and inspirational joyride came to a heart-stopping halt Wednesday night with a 2-1 Game 7 loss to the Anaheim Ducks.

“It’s going to take some time to get over it, but there are a lot of positives we can take from this year,” captain Connor McDavid said in a subdued Oilers dressing room. “We won’t have to answer the experience question anymore, which is nice. Next season we’ll find ourselves in a similar spot and be able to look back on this, feel that disappointment and know what it’s like, how much it sucks.”

In a series that few expected the Oilers to win, they pushed the Ducks to the brink. But not over it.

In the end, a veteran Anaheim team, determined to change its own history after all those Game 7 defeats, refused to let Edmonton become the fifth team in a row to beat them on that stage.

They overcame a 1-0 deficit, taking over the game in the second and third periods and will play host to the Nashville Predators in the Western Conference final beginning Friday at the Honda Center.

But as NBC’s Chris Cuthbert said at the final horn, “We have not seen the last of these Edmonton Oilers.”

A season that began with many people wondering if the Oilers could even make the playoffs saw them eliminate San Jose in the first round and go seven games deep in the second.

It hurts like hell right now, but the Oilers will be better for this.

For once, wait till next year sounds more like a promise than an excuse.

“I don’t think many people gave us much of a chance this season to take it seven,” said McDavid. “The team battled hard. We took a huge step forward. If we would have told you in September we were going to take the Ducks seven in the second series, I don’t think anyone would believe it in a second.

“I think we can hold our heads high about that. It’s not the outcome we wanted, but I believe in this group. We’ll be back.”

If the Ducks didn’t know it before the series started, they definitely know it now: The Oilers are for real.

“They’re here for a reason, they’re a pretty good hockey team,” said Ducks forward Corey Perry.

That’s the frustrating part, that the Oilers truly believe that if they had won this game their run would have been a long way from over. They believed they were ready to win now.

“I have no doubt that if we win this game it would have been a long series against Nashville, but that’s not going to happen,” said Leon Draisaitl, whose own personal development mirrored that of the team.

“It’s frustrating right now, it sucks. But we have something here in Edmonton that we can look forward to.”

If the Oilers were feeling any stage fright in their first Game 7 in 11 years, it didn’t show. They got off to the start they wanted, with Drake Caggiula giving them a 1-0 lead just 3:31 into the game and led 1-0 at the intermission.

With the teams that score first in Game 7s posting an all-time record of 125-42, it looked like it be a fatal wound.

It wasn’t.

Anaheim’s desperation showed itself in the second period, which they controlled from start to finish. They were all over the Oilers and finally tied it on Andrew Cogliano’s goal at 8:55. The shots were 8-1 in the period at that point and 16-3 when the period ended.

It could have been worse, but Cam Talbot wouldn’t budge, giving a team that was badly outplayed a chance to come back and win it in the third period.

They couldn’t.

Nick Ritchie scored 3:21 into the third period to give the Ducks their first lead since the overtime of Game 5. It was one they would never give up.

The Oilers are done, but they promise they’ll be back.

“I don’t think anyone thought we’d be here, one period away from the conference finals,” said Talbot. “I’m proud as hell to be a part of this group right now and I’m looking forward to the future with this team.”

rtychkowski@postmedia.com

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Technically, the Conn Smythe Trophy is awarded to the player “judged most valuable to his team during the NHL’s Stanley Cup playoffs.” But let’s be real: it’s based almost solely on the final.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a ghost in the first three rounds of the playoffs as long as you come to play in the fourth, and most important, round.

With only two rounds in the books, now is not the right time to come up with a definitive list of candidates. Half of these players will not be around for the final. Even if they are, they might suddenly go cold and open the door for someone who’s been quiet up until now to shine.

Entering the second half of the Stanley Cup season, here are eight players who are having Conn Smythe-worthy playoffs — for now:

Pekka Rinne, Nashville
How dominant has Rinne been? Consider the following stat, courtesy of Elias Sports Bureau: heading into Game 1 of the Western Conference final, his .951 save percentage is currently the highest in the history of the playoffs. It’s going to be difficult for Rinne to maintain that mark, but considering he allowed just three goals against the Blackhawks and held the Blues to a 1.83 goals-against average, don’t bet too heavily against it.

Erik Karlsson, Ottawa
The Senators defenceman has already won two Norris trophies. But these playoffs have elevated Karlsson into superstar status. He’s wowed onlookers with his tape-to-tape Hail Mary passes, won over critics for his willingness to play on a fractured foot and confounded opposing defences with a variety of shape-shifting moves. Oh, and he also has 13 points in 12 games — without seeming to breaking a sweat.

Bruce Bennett/Getty ImagesErik Karlsson is an early contender for the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP because of his play in the first two rounds.

Ryan Getzlaf, Anaheim
What a last couple of months it has been for the Ducks captain, who has scored 42 points in his past 28 games dating back to March 1. Getzlaf, who only had 15 goals in the regular season, entered Game 1 of the Western Conference final with eight goals and 15 points in 11 games. Said Predators head coach Peter Laviolette: “He’s a terrific hockey player. He’s big. He’s strong. He plays both ends of the ice. He can skate. He’s powerful, can shoot pucks and make plays. Outside of that, he’s a good leader for their team. There’s not a lot that he doesn’t do.”

Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh
A Conn Smythe winner in 2009, Malkin was at times criticized for not scoring enough during Pittsburgh’s 2016 Stanley Cup run (he finished with 18 points in 23 games). He has already matched that total in just 12 games. But what has stood out is his leadership. When Sidney Crosby suffered a concussion against the Capitals, the Penguins could have easily folded. Instead, Malkin took charge by scoring a goal and picking up three points in back-to-back games, including the game-winning assist in Game 4.

Ryan Ellis, Nashville
From Shea Weber to Ryan Suter to Seth Jones, there is something about playing in Nashville that brings the best out of defencemen. Roman Josi and P.K. Subban began Game 1 of the conference final with 16 points between them, but Ellis has stood out as the Predators’ No. 1 offensive weapon. After two rounds, he was leading the team with four goals and nine points in 10 games. As GM David Poile said, “Ryan has just gotten better and better over the last two or three years.”

Patrick Smith/Getty ImagesMarc-Andre Fleury stepped into the breach when Matt Murray was hurt before Game 1 of the first round and has taken the Penguins into the third round.

Marc-Andre Fleury, Pittsburgh
Last year, Fleury got hurt right before the playoffs and when he returned he had lost the starting job to Matt Murray. This year, the goalies’ roles have been reversed. After Murray was injured in the warm-up before Game 1 in the opening round, Fleury took over and has not looked back, outplaying the Blue Jackets’ Sergei Bobrovsky and Washington’s Braden Holtby. Fleury has a .927 save percentage, but it was his 29-save shutout against the Capitals in Game 7 — after back-to-back rocky starts — that showed just how mentally tough he is.

Bobby Ryan, Ottawa
Where was Brian Burke when Bobby Ryan dove in front of a Rangers’ slap shot the other day? After all, it was Burke who was reportedly quoted as saying Ryan “can’t spell intense” when deciding to leave the winger off the 2014 U.S. Olympic team. If that was true then, it certainly isn’t true anymore. Ryan, who has four goals and nine points, has been a driving force behind Ottawa’s offence. And with six blocked shots and 12 penalty minutes — including a moment where he tried to pick a fight with Rangers defenceman Dan Girardi — he is playing with an intensity that has not gone unnoticed.

Ryan Kesler, Anaheim
He’s the player opposing teams and their fans love to hate. And for good reason. While Kesler headed into Game 1 of the Western Conference final with only one goal and seven points, he has played a pivotal role in the Ducks defeating the Oilers. It was Kesler who wrapped his arm around goalie Cam Talbot’s leg for a key goal against the Oilers, a play that somehow wasn’t penalized for goalie interference. And it was Kesler who shadowed Connor McDavid, limiting the Oilers captain to just one shot and no points in Game 7.

mtraikos@postmedia.com

ANAHEIM — When does rest turn into rust?

That might have been the question after Nashville Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne waved at a fluttering puck that Anaheim Ducks winger Jakob Silfverberg somehow snuck into the top corner five minutes into Game 1 of the Western Conference Final. It was the kind of shot that Rinne almost always saves. Then again, it had been some time since he had seen that — or any — shot.

While the Ducks were back on the ice less than 48 hours after they had advanced out of the second round, the Predators had not played since last Sunday.

Four days might not sound like much. But in the playoffs, it can sometimes feel like an eternity.

Whatever rust might have accumulated on Nashville’s players had worn right off by the time James Neal scored at 9:24 in overtime to give the Predators a 3-2 win over the Ducks in Game 1 of the best-of-seven series.

The one-timer, which hit an Anaheim defender on the way to the back of the net, ended what had been a sloppy, if not undisciplined, game. At one point, Anaheim took back-to-back puck-over-the-glass penalties. But even with a steady parade to the penalty box, neither team managed to capitalize on the combined nine man-advantage opportunities.

In other words, this was far from the best that we have seen from these teams in their run to the conference final. And yet, what we saw in a back-and-forth Game 1 was encouraging for what promises to be an exciting and evenly matched series.

Though Anaheim struck first, the first period belonged to Nashville. Still, it wasn’t until the 13th shot when Nashville’s shooters finally hit their target, with Filip Forsberg redirecting a point shot that tied the game 1-1. By then, the Predators had been outshooting the Ducks 13-1. And it was only getting worse.

In the second period, Ryan Johansen found Austin Watson with a cross-ice pass that the Predators winger one-timed past a helpless Gibson. It was Watson’s first goal, but at the same time he was the 15th Nashville player to score in these playoffs, a testament to the team’s depth.

They attacked the Ducks in waves, with their defence, which had entered Game 1 having contributed 32 per cent of the team’s goals, acting as fourth and fifth forwards. At times, Anaheim’s players looked like they were skating in slush. They had no legs. Maybe it was because they were still coming off the emotional high of the Game 7 win two days earlier.

If Anaheim couldn’t match Nashville’s speed, the Ducks made sure they matched their physicality. Andrew Cogliano dumped defenceman Ryan Ellis feet-first into the end boards on an icing. Ryan Kesler used his stick as though he was playing lacrosse. And Ryan Getzlaf, who has been a beast in these playoffs, finished every check, inserting himself into every post-whistle scrum and striking up a conversation with every Predators player.

With Getzlaf setting the physical tone, the Ducks lured the Predators into a couple of retaliatory penalties near the end of the second period for interference and roughing. But even with back-to-back power plays in the second, Anaheim had trouble getting much past Rinne.

The Predators goalie, who had looked so hopeless on the game’s first shot — granted, it was the eighth goal of the playoffs for Silfverberg — was considerably sharper on the following shots he faced. It wasn’t exactly surprising. Rinne headed into Game 1 with a ridiculous .951 save percentage, having allowed just 14 goals in the previous 10 games.

Rinne could not save them all, however. With Anaheim pressing for the equalizer, Hampus Lindholm forced overtime with a wrist shot from the point that Rinne might not have seen. In the end, rust or not, Rinne and the Predators were too much for the Ducks to handle.

mtraikos@postmedia.com

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ANAHEIM, Calif. — A day after scoring the overtime winner in Game 1 — his third goal in the last four games — a smiling James Neal said he’s feeling confident about his game.

Certainly, he’s feeling better than he did in the first round, when the Nashville Predators forward went four games without a goal. Back then, his stick felt chest freezer cold and every puck fired on net seemed to be the size of a beach ball. But then, just like that, he found his touch again.

Neal, who is tied for the team lead with four goals, can’t explain it. All he knows is that he doesn’t want it to end.

“I think you just feel good about your game,” he said of his hot streak. “You’re getting the looks, you’re getting the shots. You have that patience with the puck and you feel like you’re dangerous all over the ice. It’s like being in the zone. When you’re like that, you feel like you can put the puck in from anywhere.”

Neal might have added that food tastes better and the sun seems brighter these days. That his sleeps have been more restful. It’s like that when things are going your way. Everything you touch turns to gold.

Of course, it doesn’t always last forever. Neal knows that better than most.

Snipers, even ones that reach the 40-goal mark as Neal did four years ago, are a streaky bunch. They stay cold as fast as they heat up. Corey Perry has one goal in his last nine games and Ryan Kesler has one goal in the entire playoffs.

Neal might be one of the hottest scorers right now, but it wasn’t long ago when he was wondering when — or if — the next goal would come. During a disastrous 19-game stretch that lasted from February to April, Neal managed just one goal. He then snapped it by going on a three-game scoring streak, but still finished the season third on the team with 23 goals.

Even in these playoffs, Neal’s stick has been hot as much as it’s been cold. He went the entire first round without a goal, but scored three times in six games against the St. Louis Blues in the second round. The fact that he began Game 1 of the Western Conference final with an overtime goal could be a sign that he is continuing to heat up.

“That’s the right time of the year. We need that,” said Predators head coach Peter Laviolette. “We’ve gotten contributions from everybody, but I know James is a guy that can be a difference maker like he has been. To be chipping in points is a good thing.

“Sometimes that can come and go in cycles. If somebody can get hot, they can stay hot for a little bit. I liked his game last night. He was physical and was trying to play that power forward game. He’s the guy who you want to get that pass in the critical moment of the game.”

It’s not just that the puck is going in for Neal, it’s that he’s getting the puck on net. He had six shots in Game 1 against the Ducks. His last one, a one-timer that ricocheted off Perry’s back, was impressive because of where it came from.

P.K. Subban had the puck and wanted to shoot, but once he “wound up, everyone was diving and legs were trying to get in the way of the shot.” So he passed it to Neal, who happened to be parked off to the side in a shooting position.

“Everyone talks about the pass, but you can’t make the pass unless the guy makes the effort to get open and create that lane,” said Subban. “(Neal) did a good job of getting open and I just tried to put it in a place where he could shoot it.

“You know what, he’s so clutch and obviously his ability to finish is a big part of the reason why he’s had such a good career and scored so many goals in this league. He does it just as well as any other goal-scorer in this league. When he’s open, you just try to get him the puck as much as you can.”

That is, as long as it keeps going in. That’s the thing about a hot streak. It can vanish as quickly as it appears. For now, however, Neal cannot seem to do any wrong.

“For sure, it gives you confidence,” he said. “For any goal-scorer, scoring in the playoffs is emotional. It’s an amazing feeling. The way your teammates come after you, how exciting the crowd is, just everything about it is a lot of fun. It definitely gives you a big boost.”
 
mtraikos@postmedia.com

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Randy Carlyle has changed a lot since the last time Toronto fans saw him.

For one, he’s expanded his vocabulary.

Back when he was coaching the Maple Leafs, Carlyle kept describing the team’s constant collapses as “mind-boggling.” Really, it was an accurate assessment. But beyond all that, the veteran bench boss has become more communicative and patient with his younger players — something that might have been lacking when coaching Toronto’s Jake Gardiner and Nazem Kadri or in his previous stint with the Anaheim Ducks.

“Today’s player wants to know why you’re doing something,” said Carlyle, who won a Stanley Cup with the Ducks in 2007 but was fired five years later. “Before it was more of, ‘this is what you’re going to do’ and you didn’t have to really explain yourself on a day-to-day basis. Now today’s player has evolved to where you have to always give them the why — why you’re doing it, explain it, explain it, consult with the people that are involved to make the decision and why you made that decision.”

Carlyle was often criticized in Toronto for his treatment of Gardiner and Kadri, two young players whose games were still developing. Carlyle admitted to Postmedia News in January that he was hard on both, but “there was never a rift” between the coach and the players.

Still, it wasn’t until Carlyle was fired and Mike Babcock was brought in as a head coach that both Gardiner and Kadri enjoyed career seasons.

When asked how Carlyle is different this time around, Andrew Cogliano said the Ducks coach is still just as demanding as he has ever been. But Cogliano, who was 24 years old when Carlyle first coached him, said he’s noticed that Carlyle is “more approachable” and patient with younger players.

“I feel like he’s also much better in terms of when you’re younger and you make mistakes, I think there’s a sense now where you need to continue to play and continue to work through those details, where back then that wasn’t going to happen,” said Cogliano. “I think he’s a lot better in terms of letting guys play and letting guys — in terms of figuring out their game and not having to be perfect all the time.”

* * *
Though the Ducks lost Game 1 on a one-timer that deflected in off one of their players in overtime, a big reason for the 3-2 loss was special teams.

While Anaheim went 5-for-5 on the penalty kill, the team went 0-for-4 with the man-advantage. In fact, the Ducks haven’t scored a power play goal since Game 2 of the second round.

“The power play hasn’t been working good,” said Carlyle. “We’re 0 for 20 (in the last six games) and that has to change dramatically. And the one thing that we’ve stated is that the will that has been demonstrated by the penalty killing units that our power play has been up against has exceeded our power play’s will. And that means work ethic, puck recovery, establishing shot and net presence. All those things are the staples in which you try to create a strong power play with, and right now our power play is not running at anywhere near its capability.”

One of the big reasons for Anaheim’s lack of success with the man-advantage is the absence of Patrick Eaves, who was injured in Game 3 of the second round and who scored 13 of his 32 goals on the power play this season.
 
* * *
With a corps that includes P.K. Subban, Roman Josi and Ryan Ellis and has combined for nine goals and 41 points, it’s no wonder that Nashville’s defence is getting most the attention in this year’s playoffs.

But after Cam Fowler logged a game-high 31 minutes and 22 seconds on Friday, it was difficult not to be impressed by Anaheim’s defensive anchor.

“Cam’s developed into being able to play in every situation, I think that’s been the biggest thing,” Ryan Getzlaf said of Fowler, who has five points in 11 playoff games. “He came in the league as the young guy that mainly played on the offensive side of things and obviously, we needed him to develop into that player that can take on both roles and be our No. 1 guy, and he’s done that. So it’s been very satisfying.”
 
* * *
 The NHL tends to be a small world, where two — never mind six — degrees separates one player from another.

An example of that are Fowler and Ellis, who are playing against each other in the Western Conference final but were Memorial Cup-winning teammates for the Windsor Spitfires in 2010. That bond remains just as strong these days, with Fowler happy to see that Ellis is enjoying personal success, as long as it doesn’t come at Anaheim’s expense.

“We’re fighting for the same thing right now, obviously, but I’ve stayed in touch with him a little bit here and there,” said Fowler. “We’re obviously two competitive guys, but once this is all wrapped up, I’ll get a chance to talk to him and just tell him that I’m happy for him and he deserves it. He’s been playing great.”
 
* * *
James Neal joked that it was the best day of his teammate’s life. And while that might be a slight exaggeration, Josi was both happy and proud to hear that Switzerland upset Canada at the world hockey championship on Saturday.

“It’s great for Switzerland,” said the Swiss-born defenceman. “They’re a good team, Canada. It’s always a great thing for Switzerland if you can beat a team like that.”

mtraikos@postmedia.com

ANAHEIM — Some trades never go away.

It doesn’t matter how much time has passed or how much turnover the roster has undergone. Players are forever linked to the team that gave up on them and the person they swapped places with.

So it was not surprising that Jakob Silfverberg was watching as Ottawa’s Bobby Ryan picked up an assist and scored the overtime winner in Game 1 against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday. After all, it was four years ago that Silfverberg was traded — along with prospect Stefan Noesen and a first-round pick, which was used to select Nick Ritchie — from the Senators to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for Ryan.

“You always try to look at what other teams are doing,” said Silfverberg. “I was watching the game a little bit last night and (Ryan) made two great plays. I don’t like comparing myself to other players. I don’t think that’s fair to anyone, but he’s having a really good post-season, too, and I’m happy for him.”

Four years later, the trade is working out well for both teams.

Gene J. Puskar / Associated PressOttawa Senators forward Bobby Ryan (left) scores the overtime winner against the Pittsburgh Penguins on May 13.

While Ryan has had his ups and downs with Ottawa — he only scored 13 goals and 25 points this season — he is earning his US$7.25-million salary in the playoffs, with five goals and 11 points in 13 games. Silfverberg has also been playing his best hockey in the spring, with eight goals and 12 points in 12 games.

Silfverberg, who scored a career-best 23 goals and 49 points in the regular season, credited his recent success to “puck luck.” Shots that didn’t go in earlier in the year are now finding the back of the net, as was the case in Game 1, when a fluttering wrist shot somehow snuck over Pekka Rinne’s glove hand for a goal.

“It was a little bit of a lucky bounce for me,” said Silfverberg. “I wouldn’t say everything goes in, but I always try to take that extra shot, even if it doesn’t go in for me it sometimes creates some havoc and maybe you’ll get a rebound. I’ve always been a shooting-first kind of guy. Hopefully, the luck will keep coming.”

The big change for the 26-year-old, according to head coach Randy Carlyle, is he is taking the initiative.

Silfverberg, who has a quick and accurate release, has always left coaches wanting more out of him offensively. Criticized for his slow starts in the past — head coach Randy Carlyle called him “a November player” — he was told last summer that if he wanted to play on a line with Ryan Kesler, he would have to become more of a consistent scorer.

“That was the message last summer,” said Carlyle. “‘Silvy, we can’t wait for you to catch fire. If you’re going to play with our group, the offence that’s required playing on the (Ryan) Kesler line is going to have to be something ramped up.’”

Harry How / Getty ImagesAnaheim Ducks forward Jakob Silfverberg (right) shoots against the Nashville Predators on May 12.

To his credit, Silfverberg bought in. He led the team with 227 shots this season and headed into Game 2 leading the entire playoffs with 51 shots.

“I like my time here (in Anaheim), and hopefully (Ryan’s) having a good time in Ottawa, too,” Silfverberg said of Ryan. “Hopefully, we’ll see him in the final.”

***

You usually have to wait two to three years before determining the success of a first-round draft pick. The wait often becomes even longer for power forwards, whose bodies sometime need time to mature to play an effective physical game against men in the NHL.

But Ritchie, whom the Ducks selected 10th overall in 2014 as part of the Ryan trade, is intent on shaving some time off that.

The 6-foot-2 and 232-pound forward was called up for 33 games last season, scoring just two goals and four points. It was a wake-up call, said the 21-year-old, who not only spent the summer getting stronger but also worked with a power skating coach to become faster.

The training seems to have paid off.

Sean M. Haffey / Getty ImagesAnaheim Ducks forward Nick Ritchie (right) battles Nashville Predators forward Mike Fisher on May 12.

Though he only has two goals in the playoffs, both have been big ones. Ritchie scored in an 5-4 overtime win against the Calgary Flames in the first round and then had the winner in Game 7 against the Edmonton Oilers.

“It was more about understanding the work that was going to be required during the off-season,” said Carlyle. “He’s going to have to follow up on that year after year … to become what we believe is a pretty good power forward.”

This year, Ritchie finished second on the team in hits. But his major growth in his game came offensively, where he scored 14 goals and 28 points in 77 games. He has a ways to go in his development before he gets compared to Leon Draisaitl, William Nylander or Nikolaj Ehlers, who were selected ahead of him in 2014. But with his blend of size and skill, Ritchie could provide Anaheim with another big-time scorer.

“Obviously, getting that taste last year was huge, and it translates over to this year,” said Ritchie. “Playing a full season and getting into playoff action has been great for me. Now that we’re in the conference final, there’s no better way to learn than getting deep in the playoffs.”

***

The Nashville Predators’ defence has frustrated opponents with their ability to jump up in the rush and become part of the offence. It’s not surprising when you consider who is pulling the strings behind the bench.

Assistant coach Phil Housley, who could be on his way to becoming the next head coach of the Buffalo Sabres, scored 1,232 points in 1,495 career games in the NHL.

“I think the big thing with Phil, he thinks the same way we do when we’re out there,” said Predators defenceman Ryan Ellis. “He’s got a brilliant mind for the game. He sees a lot of the plays we’re either trying to make or the reads we’re trying to make … with all the knowledge and experience he has, it’s easy just to listen and take what he says and apply to the game.”

ANAHEIM — It was somewhat humourous — and just a tad premature — when a reporter asked Anaheim Ducks head coach Randy Carlyle if Sunday night’s Game 2 against the Nashville Predators was of the “must-win” variety.

After all, this was Game 2 of a best-of-seven series. And besides, Anaheim had lost the opening two games at home against the Edmonton Oilers in the previous round and still went on to win that series in seven games. Not that anyone with the Ducks wanted to repeat that scenario.

“Obviously that’s common sense,” said Carlyle. “But again, it’s all about trying to get better than we were in the last game.”

Well, that’s up for debate. Certainly, the start of the Sunday’s game wasn’t any better than in Game 1 which ended badly for the Ducks with the Preds winning 3-2 in overtime. But thanks to some spotty goaltending, a wild second period and another timely goal from Nick Ritchie, the Ducks defeated the Predators 5-3 at the Honda Center and head to Nashville tied 1-1 in the best-of seven Western Conference final.

“It’s huge. I don’t care. In sports, it’s always critical. We don’t want to put the pressure that you people put on it that it’s end-all,” said Carlyle. “But we know how important these games are and every one gets more important as we go forward and tonight’s response after getting down 2-0 was a character builder for our group.”

This was a game when the goaltenders finally took mercy on the other team’s shooters. Nashville’s Pekka Rinne, who fought the puck all night, allowed four goals for the first time in the playoffs. Anaheim’s John Gibson played as though he were breaking in new skates.

Because of it, fans were treated to a wild, back-and-forth game where every shot was a scoring chance and no lead was safe.

“Personally, I’ve got to be better moving forward,” said Rinne. “A few of the goals they crashed the net — good plays — but they just ended up going in. It’s tough to explain . . . obviously disappointed personally.”

After getting outshot 15-6 in the first period of Game 1, Ducks forward Jakob Silfverberg said the team had “to come out with that pack mentality.” But for the first 20 minutes, it was as if the Ducks’ skates were stuck in quicksand.

Nashville took a 1-0 lead at 4:18 in the first period when Viktor Arvidsson sprung Ryan Johansen on a breakaway. A couple of minutes later, Anaheim’s Ritchie took a needless interference penalty for a late hit and Nashville made it 2-0 when Johansen found James Neal for one of the easiest goals he has probably ever scored.

Once again, the Ducks had dug themselves a hole. But, as they had done time and time again, they managed to dig themselves out and for the fourth time of these playoffs won a game in which they had trailed 2-0.

Still, Anaheim is playing with fire if it continues this.

Rinne, who had entered the game with a sparkling .950 save percentage, is unlikely to play this shaky again. And unless the Ducks figure out a way to shut down Nashville’s top line of Johansen, Arvidsson and Filip Forsberg, who played a role in all three goals, the outcome isn’t going to continue in Anaheim’s favour.

That the Johansen line has combined for three goals and eight points in two games on the road, where they have seen a steady diet of slashes and hacks from Ryan Kesler and the Ducks’ shutdown line, has been even more impressive. With the series heading to Nashville, where the Predators are 5-0 at home, look for Johansen to get a much-needed break from his pesky shadow.

“I mean he just blows my mind,” Johansen, who took a high-sticking penalty on Kesler, said of the extra treatment he’s received from the Anaheim centre. “I don’t know how you cheer for a guy like that. It just doesn’t make sense how he plays the game, so I’m just trying to go out there and play hockey and it sucks when you gotta pull a stick out of your groin every shift.”

Said Kesler to Sportsnet’s Christine Simpson: “He’s a skilled player and I play the game hard. Obviously he doesn’t like that.”

While the Predators have had no trouble scoring goals, preventing them has not been quite as easy. It was 39 seconds into the second period when Johansen temporarily lost his man at the side of the net, allowing Silfverberg to tie the game with his ninth goal of the playoffs.

Minus the intermission, it was two goals in a span of 99 seconds for the Ducks. And they were just getting started.

Anaheim, which had trailed 2-0 and then 3-2 after Filip Forsberg’s goal, scored three straight to take a 5-3 lead. “I think the momentum shifted just a bit,” said Predators head coach Peter Laviolette.

Game 3 is in Nashville on Tuesday. And no, it’s not a must-win. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t once again important.

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NASHVILLE — It turns out there are people out there who have no problem cheering for Ryan Kesler. And it isn’t just fans, friends or family members — but rather a fellow rodent.

“I love the way he plays the game,” Claude Lemieux told Postmedia in a phone interview. “He leaves it all out there. He plays on the edge.”

A night earlier, Lemieux had watched in admiration as Kesler poked, prodded and pestered Ryan Johansen during the Anaheim Ducks’ 5-3 win against the Nashville Predators in Game 2 of the Western Conference final. But it was Johansen’s post-game comments, in which he complained that Kesler crosses the line, that put a Cheshire cat-like smile on Lemieux’s face.

“I mean, he just blows my mind,” Johansen had said of Kesler. “I don’t know what’s going through his head over there. But like, his family and friends watching him play, I don’t know how you cheer for a guy like that. It just doesn’t make sense how he plays the game, so I’m just trying to go out there and play hockey, and it sucks when you gotta pull a stick out of your groin every shift.”

Opponents used to say the same thing about Lemieux more than 20 years ago, when he won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP with the New Jersey Devils. When they did, Lemieux didn’t tone down his game. Rather, it was a sign to ramp it up.

“If that was me, I’d be thinking I’ve got him right where I want him,” the former player-turned-agent said of Kesler.

Harry How / Getty ImagesRyan Kesler (centre) celebrates an empty-net goal with Anaheim Ducks teammates on May 14.

Lemieux should know. During his career, he was considered to be dirtier than dirt. He didn’t just cross the line; he erased it. Lemieux once rammed Kris Draper face-first into the boards, shattering his jaw. He was both feared and respected.

But it wasn’t the slashes, hooks or cheap shots that did the most damage. Like Kesler, he preyed on an opponent’s mind.

“You would try to throw them off the game,” said Lemieux. “You lived off their mistakes.”

That is what Kesler has been trying to do with Johansen this series. And we say “trying” because it’s debatable just how effective Kesler’s antics have been so far. Despite the late hits and constant slashes, Johansen still had a goal and an assist in Game 2, and he leads all players in the series with four points in two games.

As Predators head coach Peter Laviolette said of Johansen, “He’s played terrific … I think Ryan’s been completely composed.”

For now, that is.

We’re only two games into the series, and as Kesler showed in the second round when he was matched up against Connor McDavid, this is about setting the table for later. The Edmonton Oilers won the first two games of their second-round series against the Ducks, with McDavid scoring three goals and five points in the first five games. But eventually, Kesler’s constant needling started to wear on McDavid, who went the final two games without a point and was held to just one shot on goal in Game 7.

It’s death by a thousand paper cuts — or pokes to the groin.

We saw that a bit of that in Game 2, where Johansen was far more effective in the opening 10 minutes than he was for the final 50. In the second period, Kesler assisted on a tying goal when Johansen lost his man in the defensive zone. In the third period, with the Predators trailing by a goal, he was frustrated to the point where he took a high-sticking penalty on Kesler.

Laviolette called the high-stick “accidental more than anything,” the result of a face-off battle gone wrong. But Johansen’s post-game comments hinted at it being more than that. This is Johansen’s deepest post-season run, the first time he’s really had to deal with a shadow as relentless as Kesler.

“You watch throughout the series and throughout the playoffs, he takes pride in throwing guys off their game,” said Ducks defenceman Josh Manson. “So hopefully it is working.”

Kesler has made a career of not being liked. He thrives on it. But with eight points in 13 games, he’s not a one-dimensional rat. Kesler can hurt a team as much on the scoreboard as he can with his stick. While playing for the Vancouver Canucks, he scored 41 goals and won the Selke Trophy in 2010-11 as the league’s best defensive player. He’s a finalist again this year after scoring 22 goals and 58 points.

“He plays the game and is used in a role that I was used in,” said Lemieux. “I was the same player in my career. He’s doing a great job at it.”

Spoken like a true pest.

NASHVILLE — Ryan Kesler couldn’t help but laugh.

Speaking to reporters for the first time since Ryan Johansen called him out as a dirty player and questioned how Kesler’s friends and family could even cheer for him, the Anaheim Ducks agitator said he wouldn’t back down from pestering the Nashville Predators centre.

If anything, he is just getting started.

“I laughed. I got a lot of text messages from my friends and family saying they still cheered me on,” Kesler said when asked what his immediate reaction was upon hearing Johansen’s comments after Game 2. “He can say whatever he wants, though. I’m not going to change my game. I’m here for one reason and one reason only, and that’s to win some games here — and to ultimately win the series.”

Harry How / Getty ImagesAnaheim Ducks forward Ryan Kesler (left) checks Nashville Predators forward Viktor Arvidsson on May 14.

Johansen, who headed into Game 3 of the Western Conference final with 13 points in 12 games, isn’t the first player Kesler has targeted in the playoffs. From Calgary’s Sean Monahan to Edmonton’s Connor McDavid, skilled players have had to battle through stick work, late hits and a constant stream of chirping from this year’s Selke Trophy finalist.

But this is the first time in these playoffs that someone has called Kesler out for crossing the line.

Not that it bothers Kesler. He said he would not change his game just because of what Johansen said. His job isn’t to make friends with the opposition. He wants Johansen to hate him. That means he is doing his job.

And while Kesler couldn’t care less about what Johansen had to say, hearing that he was upset with the extra attention was music to Kesler’s ears.

“He’s not my friend, he’s not going to be my friend and he can say whatever he wants,” said Kesler. “Obviously, it seems like he was a bit rattled, so I’m just going to play my game like I always do.”

Johansen might seem rattled, but he still headed into Game 3 on Tuesday night with four points in the series. And unlike McDavid, the 6-foot-3 and 218-pound forward has given back just as much as he has received. It’s that aggression which Kesler has tried to feed off of.

“Obviously, he’s a big body, good vision and he can skate, so it’s a bit different than other guys I’ve faced,” said Kesler. “He likes to use his stick a little bit. I think he’s taken two (stick) penalties on me already.

“I know he doesn’t like it now. I’m not going to let up just because he said so.”

***

According to Ducks head coach Randy Carlyle, it isn’t constant playing of country music or the endless stream of honky-tonk bars that makes Nashville a unique setting for playoff hockey.

It’s the chance to lay a pounding on the orange-and-blue car in front of Bridgestone Arena.

“You see these elderly women out there with a sledge hammer taking a pounding at a car that’s got a Ducks logo on it,” said Carlyle. “Those are the kinds of things you look to, that passion that’s been developed in their market.”

It’s something that the Predators began in the first round, with fans paying up to $20 to pound on a Blackhawks-painted car. In the second round, a Blues-themed car was destroyed. The money raised goes to a cancer charity. Both cars, which have now been crushed into a square, are on display in front of the arena.

Harry How / Getty ImagesNashville Predators goalie Pekka Rinne stares down the ice against the Anaheim Ducks on May 14.

Carlyle said the promotion is befitting of a team that has a workmanlike approach.

“They’ve taken on that blue-collar attitude and the work ethic that they display and the style that they play has been maintained for a number of years. Always been competitive. Always hard to play against. Always been a team that has shown up and shown that there is an ability for a smaller market team to have success.”

***

Hampus Lindholm, who missed significant time this season because of a contract dispute and injuries, had a down year offensively with just six goals and 20 points. But while his production shrunk, the 23-year-old grew in other areas.

“I think I’ve gotten a little bigger,” said the 6-foot-3 and 205-pound defenceman. “I found my size now.”

Lindholm will never be confused with Dion Phaneuf. But the newfound size means he’s harder to knock off the puck, and, as Milan Lucic found out in the second round when Lindholm caught him with an open-ice hit, he is now the one initiating contact.

“You need guys to go out there and play a little harder,” said the sixth-overall pick in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft. “I’m not going to run someone over, but I can be harder to play against and make guys have to do something good if they’re going to get a scoring chance.”

Harry How / Getty ImagesAnaheim Ducks defenceman Hampus Lindholm celebrates his goal against the Nashville Predators on May 12.

As for the offence, Carlyle is confident it will come.

“We look at him as a guy that still has room to grow on the offensive side of it because he can shoot the puck,” said the Ducks head coach. “He’s shown the ability to score goals from the point.”

***

P.K. Subban set up the overtime winner in Game 1 and had seven points in the first two rounds of the playoffs. But for someone who was labeled as an offensive defenceman during his time in Montreal, it’s been his attention to detail in the defensive zone that has really stood out since coming to Nashville.

And yet, don’t expect head coach Peter Laviolette to take any credit for Subban’s supposed transformation.

“We’re not talking about a project. It wasn’t a project,” Laviolette said of Subban, who is a plus-5 after the first 12 games of the playoffs.

“He was a good defensive player when he got here. And, in fact, his defence, for me, and the way that he played defensively, the way he can break out of an end, the way he can hold off a forecheck and use his skating ability, and his passing is elite passing … He’s been a really good 200-foot, two-way player for us.”

NASHVILLE — Not every villain has a playoff beard and wears an Anaheim Ducks jersey.

Some are dressed in stripes.

At least that might be the way fans of the Nashville Predators are looking at it after on-ice officials nearly “cost” the team a win in Game 3 of the Western Conference final.

Anaheim’s Ryan Kesler was booed almost every time he touched the puck on Tuesday night. But most of the venom was saved for referees Brad Meier and Wes McCauley, who had the audacity to disallow two Nashville goals.

It wasn’t necessarily the wrong call. But try explaining that to a sold-out crowd, who chanted, “Refs, you suck!” and littered the ice with bright yellow rally towels after two goals were disallowed in less than 10 seconds. Worse yet, on the second non-goal, Nashville received a goalie interference penalty

For the Predators, it would have been an easy opportunity to throw up their hands and pack it in. Instead, they got angry. Not only did the Predators kill off the penalty, they came back and eventually scored on a power play of their own to defeat the Ducks 2-1 on Tuesday night.

With the win, the Predators took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference final. Game 4 takes place in Nashville on Thursday. And with how close and how physical both teams have been playing, you can bet the officials will once again have their hands full.

“Obviously, we wanted the goals to be counted,” said Filip Forsberg. “But we just kept playing.”

It helped that the crowd never stopped making noise. This was Nashville’s first time hosting a game in the conference final. And the wait was definitely worth it. For the final 10 minutes, fans stood and rallied behind their team to keep pushing, keep pressing and keep battling. Eventually, it worked.

After Anaheim’s Chris Wagner caught Nashville’s Ryan Ellis with a high stick in the final minutes of the third period, Predators defenceman Roman Josi scored the game-winner on the ensuing power play.

“You’ve got to be in here to feel the energy,” said Josi, who credited the crowd as much as Viktor Arvidsson, who set up the goal, for the assist. “They just keep cheering and cheering. I haven’t been in a building with that much energy in my life.”

Heading into the game, the most of the talk was about the ongoing battle between Ryan Johansen and Kesler, who on-ice feud had spilled into a war of words off the ice.

Johansen, who had been shadowed for the first two games of the series, should have seen less of Kesler in Game 3. But even with the Predators controlling the last line change, head coach Peter Laviolette did not shelter the team’s top scorer from the Ducks’ top checkers.

Of course, it wasn’t just Ryan Johansen that Nashville had to worry about.

As the Predators realized, the Ducks had more than one agitator capable of knocking opponents off their game.

With the score tied 0-0 in the second period, Jared Boll caught Harry Zolnierczyk with an open-ice hit that crumpled the Predators forward to the ice. Cody McLeod immediately jumped in to his teammate’s defence, picking a fight with Boll.

It was a valiant — if not foolish — decision, as McLeod received an penalty for instigating and was kicked out of the game.

On the ensuing power play, Corey Perry delivered the knockout blow that McLeod couldn’t. Taking the puck wide, Perry banked a shot off Pekka Rinne to give the Ducks a 1-0 lead.

It had been that kind of series for Rinne, who had uncharacteristically struggled in Game 2, allowing four or more goals for the first time in the playoffs. He bounced back with a far better effort in Game 3, but there were still some close calls, like when the Ducks cleared the puck the length of the ice and it nearly skipped over Rinne’s pads at the last moment.

Another time, Anaheim’s Brandon Montour fanned on a shot that snuck underneath Rinne’s pads. Luckily for Nashville, defenceman Mattias Ekholm knocked the net off before the puck could cross the line.

Still, it was Anaheim goalie John Gibson who was causing Nashville the most worry. The Predators outshot the Ducks 28-13 through 40 minutes — the Ducks only had four shots in the second period — but it was not until the third period when Forsberg finally timed the game.

“Gibson played great,” said Forsberg, who scored his sixth of the playoffs. “We just kept pounding them. That was the key.”

Getting more to count proved to be a more difficult challenge. But the Predators, who remained a perfect 6-0 at home in the playoffs, fed off a crowd that refused to quit.

“I think we’re a confident team,” said Josi. “Nobody panicked.”

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NASHVILLE — Cam Fowler figured they would run out of gas. They had to. No one can sprint up and down the ice — always sending two forwards deep on the forecheck, always blitzing defenceman up in the neutral zone, always going full speed — for 60 minutes.

“I think it’s hard to sustain,” said the Anaheim Ducks defenceman. “It takes a lot of effort to play that hard.”

Most teams, even in an era of the 40-second shift, pace themselves. If they don’t, the tank empties in the third period and players start to tire. When that happens, mistakes are made and they start giving up goals.

But in Game 3 of the Western Conference final, the Nashville Predators never took their foot off the gas. They never stopped pressuring the puck carrier or challenging each and every pass. They never gave an inch of space. They just kept going and going, like a team full of Energizer Bunnies.

Nashville outshot Anaheim 17-9 in the first period and 11-4 in the second. By the end of the game, it wasn’t the Predators who ran out of gas, but rather the Ducks, who gave up two goals — not included the two that were disallowed — in the third period of a 2-1 loss.

Frederick Breedon / Getty ImagesNashville Predators forward Filip Forsberg controls the puck against the Anaheim Ducks on May 16.

“I thought that our hockey club was flat with emotion, and you’ve got to give the opposition credit for taking that out of us, too,” said Ducks head coach Randy Carlyle. “There was frustration because of their aggressiveness and them playing in our face. And then we weren’t allowed to execute at the level that we have been accustomed to.”

There are many ways to win a hockey game. Some are more pleasing to the eye than others. While the Ottawa Senators have been criticized in the playoffs for sitting back and playing a boring, trap-style system, the Predators are playing as though they are concerned with putting on a show as much as picking up the win.

“It’s been our identity and it’s the way we want to go about our business,” said Predators forward James Neal, who credited head coach Peter Laviolette for introducing the system. “It’s really paying off so far right now.”

This is a fun team to watch, even if it requires fans to wait for the whistle before they can blink. The defencemen are encouraged to play like forwards, the forwards are encouraged to play like heat-seeking missiles and the team has accepted the fact that they will always be out of breath.

P.K. Subban called it a “dog on the bone mentality.” The Predators play hungry hockey. Unlike the Senators, they are not trying to lull their opponent into sleep and then attack. They are constantly putting opponents on their heels, like when Nashville lost a face-off in the offensive zone late in Game 3, but still came away with the tying goal after Filip Forsberg chased Sami Vatanen behind the net and checked him off the puck.

“We want to dictate the pace of the game and we want to attack you in all three zones as a five-man unit and be tough to play against,” said Subban. “I think everybody on our team can skate, move the puck and make plays. But I think the difference for us is the ability for us to get in there and challenge teams physically and really move our feet to check and defend.”

It helps that the Predators, who became faster when Subban replaced Shea Weber on defence, have the horses to playing a skating game. And that they have a goalie in Pekka Rinne who can clean up any messes made on a bad pinch. But it’s more than just having players who can skate. It’s having players who are willing to come to the bench gasping for breath after every shift.

Most teams could play this way if they really wanted to. But most teams aren’t willing to play a full-court press for the entire game because it takes so much out of them.

“You’ll see teams do that over the course of the season, but they’ll do it for stretches at a time,” said Fowler. “It’s pretty rare to see a team that expects their players to do that for the whole 60 minutes — and that’s what they do. They obviously feel like they have the players and the speed to do that. It’s effective. It’s hard to play against.”

It’s effective, but it’s not infallible. Constantly attacking puts you at risk of being out of position or chasing the game. The challenge for Anaheim is to use Nashville’s pace against them and move the puck quicker than the Predators can move their feet.

It sounds easy. But when the decision-making process goes from one second to half a second, making the right play when you’ve got a player charging at you can be nearly impossible. Even more so at this time of year, when the ice is soft because of rising temperature and the puck is bouncing like a tennis ball.

“I think we need to do a better job of making plays under pressure,” said Fowler. “There were times when we made a couple of plays and before you know it, then you can get them spread out because their first two forwards are so aggressive. If you make a couple of plays, there’s a lot of ice there to take advantage of.”

For now, don’t expect the Predators to slow down. And if you’re watching the game, don’t expect many opportunities to blink.

NASHVILLE — Good or bad, the playoffs are a time when reputations take form and are cemented.

It’s why a player like Alex Ovechkin, who has never made it out of the second round, is often criticized for his leadership abilities, or why some used to debate whether three-time Stanley Cup champion Jonathan Toews was a better player than Sidney Crosby.

The reputation that has been forming around Filip Forsberg is as a clutch performer.

The Nashville Predators forward, who scored the tying goal in Game 3, leads the team with six goals and has 11 points in 13 games. Though he struggled in last year’s playoffs, he still has 12 goals and 21 points in 33 games for his career.

“I think through the course of your career, there’s always going to be experiences that you gain,” said Predators head coach Peter Laviolette. “A guy like Justin Williams, he’s built a reputation as someone who’s a big-time player in Game 7s. He might not have thought that in his first Game 7, but when you repeatedly do things over time, you develop that reputation.

“Right now, Filip is a young player. He’s continuing to work hard, he’s got his head in the right place and his eye on the ball. We probably should leave it at that, because we still have a lot of work left to do. I think those are things that happen.”

Bruce Bennett / Getty ImagesNashville Predators forward Filip Forsberg (right) circles the net of Anaheim Ducks goalie John Gibson on May 16.

At this time a year ago, Forsberg was carving out a different reputation. Despite leading the team with 33 goals, he managed only four points in 12 games as the Predators failed to advance out of the second round.

“I think the way last year’s playoffs went for him as an individual kind of motivated him throughout the season and now in these playoffs to be the difference maker and be such a clutch player,” said linemate Ryan Johansen. “I mean, he seems to be the guy who’s always finding a way to get it done in those crucial points in games.”

It’s not just Forsberg who is playing better in this year’s playoffs. Johansen, who had eight points in 14 games in last year’s playoffs, is leading the team with 13 points in 13 games.

“As (Forsberg’s) linemate and the guy playing with him, we always feel like we’re a threat on the ice,” said Johansen. “In those times when we’re counted on as a line, we feel like we’re able to come through and find ways to make it happen.”

***

Though the story coming out of Game 3 was about how Nashville persevered after having two goals disallowed in the third period, it could have been much different had the team lost.

With that in mind, Laviolette was asked if he had any issues with the goaltending interference calls that had Predators fans tossing rally towels on the ice in anger. And, perhaps more importantly, why he chose not to challenge any of the calls.

“It’s tough,” he said. “The first one that took place last night, we didn’t challenge it; we felt it was a tough call. The call was made on the ice, which means we would have needed really some good evidence to overturn that call. In hindsight, looking back at it today, I still think the same thing.

“The second one, in hindsight, like going back and looking at it, we really felt that (Mattias) Ekholm had an edge to the net. And he made a strong move. He had his player beat. And it was the player that caused Ekholm (to make contact) … maybe there should have been a penalty the other way. But that’s neither here nor there. Things happen so quick.”

***

A year ago, the Anaheim Ducks had arguably the best goaltending tandem in the NHL. It came at an obvious cost. With Frederik Andersen in need of a new contract, the team traded him to Toronto and decided that 23-year-old John Gibson was ready to assume the No. 1 job.

It was a gamble. But while the Maple Leafs could not be happier with Andersen, who led the team to the post-season in his first year, Gibson has also proven that he was ready for a promotion.

Bruce Bennett / Getty ImagesAnaheim Ducks goalie John Gibson lies on the ice to make a save against the Nashville Predators on May 16.

“Well, he’s a world-class goaltender, very calm,” head coach Randy Carlyle said of Gibson, who has allowed eight goals in three games against the Predators. “Doesn’t outwardly display a lot of emotion and sometimes that gets misconstrued for lack of commitment, lack of caring.

“That’s not it at all. It’s just that he battles that internally and he doesn’t want to expose himself to any emotional level or any outburst that he thinks he shows a sign of weakness.”

***

The Predators won Game 3 on a power play goal from Roman Josi, which was no small feat.

The last time the Ducks allowed a goal on the penalty kill was in Game 6 of the second round. Nashville’s power-play goal was their first in 12 attempts in the series.

“The power play had a lot of looks last night. There was a lot of opportunity,” said Laviolette. “I still think when there’s opportunity, results usually come from it. But you’ve got to give Anaheim credit. They were one of the top teams on the penalty kill last year and this year. I know they struggled a little bit in the post-season prior to our series, but they are a terrific penalty killing team. They have been for a few years.”

NASHVILLE — Prior to Game 4, Randy Carlyle stopped to get some gas.

The Anaheim Ducks, who had blown a third period lead in a 2-1 loss on Tuesday, had looked tired as they struggled to match their opponents’ pace of play. But rather than bag-skate the team or drill the players to death in what they did wrong, he chose to give them the day off. A couple of days, really.

The Ducks did not skate on Wednesday — instead they spent the day playing darts and shooting pool — and held an optional skate prior to Game 4, where the emphasis was on “optional.” The idea was to put more fuel in the tank.

Carlyle, who said he asked his players for an extra 10 per cent, didn’t want any wasted energy. Better to save it for when it mattered the most.

“I don’t think we’ve had the emotional level we’ve had previously in the game the other night,” Carlyle had said. “And there were too many check points from my perspective that I felt the number one thing that we needed to prepare ourselves for tonight was rest.”

The Ducks team needed that extra rest on Thursday, in what was a wild game of momentum swings. Anaheim gave up a two-goal lead in the third period, but still had enough in the tank to defeat Nashville Predators 3-2 in overtime.

Nate Thompson was initially credited with the winner at 10:25 in overtime, though it looked like the pass that Corey Perry sent on net from the corner redirected off Nashville defenceman P.K. Subban. Either way, it was crisis averted for the Ducks, who go home with the best-of-seven Western Conference series tied at two rather than down 3-1.

Game 5 is in Anaheim on Saturday.

“I’ll take it,” said Perry, who added the day off played a part in the win. “It was something that we needed and we responded fairly well.”

It was the first home loss of the playoffs for the Predators, who in case you were wondering had practised on Wednesday and skated prior to Game 4. And though they mounted a heck of a comeback in the third period and nearly pulled off the impossible, the first 20 minutes were probably their worst of the playoffs.

Then again, Nashville had been long overdue for a stinker.

The Predators had swept the top seed Chicago Blackhawks in the first round and overpowered the St. Louis Blues in the second round. Heading into Game 4 against Anaheim, they not only had never lost at home but also had outscored their opponents 17-7 at Bridgestone Arena.

And then, it started to go away.

The speed that had been evident in a stunning comeback win in Game 3 was nowhere to be found in the early going. The Predators looked tired, flat and out of sync, especially in the first period when the Ducks set a franchise record for fewest shots allowed in the playoffs.

For the first couple of periods, this wasn’t the up-and-down, track meet type of game that Nashville prefers. Instead, Anaheim ramped up the physicality and played keep-away. The Ducks, who had 20 total shots in Game 3, outshot the Predators 14-2 in the first period on Thursday night.

One of those shots was an absolute cannon.

Catching the Predators on a bad line change, Ducks forward Rickard Rakell stepped over the blue line and uncorked a slap shot that blew past Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne. It was a well-placed shot. But still, from that far out and with no one in front, it was one that Rinne would have liked back.

Then again, he probably would have liked if his teammates had mustered more than just two shots on the Ducks’ net in the first period.

“I thought we had some energy and played on our toes,” said Carlyle.

The Predators came out with a little more energy in the second period, outshooting the Ducks 18-12. But midway through, it was Nick Ritchie who gave the Ducks a 2-0 lead on a perfectly placed wrist shot from just above the face-off circle.

Nashville, meanwhile, finally got it going in the third period. With 6:27 remaining, the Predators finally put one past John Gibson when Subban blasted a shot from the point that banked in off the post and past Gibson.

The Predators weren’t done. They were just getting started.

Shortly after Subban’s goal, the Ducks took two more penalties — one for high-sticking and another for slashing — giving the Predators a 5-on-3 man advantage. Nothing came of it. But with the goalie pulled and 34.5 seconds remaining in the period, Viktor Arvidsson set up Filip Forsberg, who had scored the tying goal in Game 3, in front for the tying goal.

This time, however, the Predators couldn’t pull another stunner.

“I’m going to tell you you’re going to get frustrated,” Carlyle said of going into overtime after giving up the lead. “But you have to reset yourself.”

The Ducks did just that. And this series, which has been reset, is now down to best two-out-of-three.

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ANAHEIM, Calif. — It was a year ago when the Anaheim Ducks were presented with a goalie problem.

Well, problem might not be the right word. It was more like than an embarrassment of riches.

In John Gibson and Frederik Andersen, who had combined for the league’s lowest goals-against average in 2015-16, the Ducks had arguably the best tandem in the NHL.

The problem was boiled down to cost: With both contracts expiring last summer, the team had to choose one goalie over the other.

Anaheim ultimately went with the younger option, trading Andersen to the Toronto Maple Leafs for a package that included a first-round draft pick. It was a move that thrust Gibson into the starting job at the age of 23.

“It’s obviously exciting, but there’s pressure that comes with it,” said Gibson, who lost the starting job in last year’s playoffs after the Ducks lost Games 1 and 2 to the Nashville Predators in the first round. “You obviously want to prove to the guys and management that the decision they made was the right one.”

No argument there. While Andersen was spectacular in his first year in Toronto, leading the team to an unlikely playoff berth, Anaheim does not have seller’s remorse. If anything, with the Ducks six wins away from winning the Stanley Cup, Gibson has joined Pittsburgh’s Matt Murray as two of the top young goalies in the NHL.

“Obviously, with the situations with contracts and numbers and all those things get put to the test in the summer, the decision was made to stick with Gibby,” Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said. “And the decision looks like a good one right now, doesn’t it?”

Still, Gibson’s post-season hasn’t been without a few bumps along the way.

In the opening round against Calgary, he was pulled after allowing four goals on 16 shots in a come-from-behind overtime win over the Flames, sitting on the bench for all five of Anaheim’s goals. And, following a Game 1 loss to the Oilers in the second round, where Gibson gave up four goals again, Carlyle busted out an old line that he used when critiquing his goalie in Toronto: “One time I said he was just ‘OK’ and it got me in a lot of crap.”

Gibson’s biggest test, however, came in Game 6 against the Oilers when he was pulled after allowing three goals on six shots. It wasn’t just Gibson. The entire Ducks team had been awful in that 7-1 loss. Still, with Game 7 just two days later, there was some concern whether Gibson would be able to bounce back.

“I think it helped that that entire game almost didn’t even seem real,” Ducks defenceman Cam Fowler said of Game 6. “It was one of those games where you scratch your head after and say, ‘How did that even happen?’ But he’s a guy who doesn’t get fazed by the moment or the situation. He doesn’t overthink things.

“He knows he belongs there and is a starting goaltender and a really good one, so you knew he was going to bounce back with a really good performance, which he did in Game 7 and he’s just kept that momentum going.”

Bruce Bennett/Getty ImagesJohn Gibson of the Anaheim Ducks makes a save during the second period of Game 4 of the Western Conference final at Bridgestone Arena on May 18, 2017.

Gibson stopped 23 of 24 shots in that elimination game. Since, in four games against the Predators in the Western Conference final, he has played his best hockey of the playoffs, recording a .935 save percentage.

“It’s only one game,” Gibson said of his second-round hiccup against the Oilers. “I think the longer you play in the playoffs and the more you play, you’re bound to have an off night, whether it’s a couple of individuals or the team or whatever. I said from Day 1, it’s how you rebound and follow it up. And I think since then I’ve obviously done a good job.”

Said Carlyle: “With Gibby, there’s the first two series, Calgary and Edmonton, where we thought that in the situations that he was presented in the most stressful time or most intense time, he played his best hockey. So, that’s where you see the growth and you see the competitiveness inside where he doesn’t normally display them outwardly. But he definitely is a competitor inside.”

That he’s doing it at an age when most goalies are plying their trade in the minors or as backups might not be surprising to those who watched Gibson win gold for the U.S. at the 2013 world juniors. Either way, he’s a big reason why the Ducks are entering Game 5 with the series tied 2-2.

“There’s no surprise,” Fowler said. “He’s always had that ability. He’s a confident kid. No matter what the situation is, he’s never overwhelmed. He’s been amazing for us. He’s kept us in hockey games. He’s helped us win hockey games. He seems really confident, so he’s dong a great job for us.”

mtraikos@postmedia.com