NHL playoff scores 2017: Predators and Ducks get nasty and back in the series

Emotion ruled Sunday’s NHL playoff games in different ways.

For the Nashville Predators, hosting Game 3 of a tied series, it was about planting a seed of frustration in the St. Louis Blues’ minds and letting it fester over three periods. Nashville made it to the second round by suffocating the Blackhawks to a mere three goals over four games. That defensive prowess showed up in a huge way in Game 3.

St. Louis hit the halfway point with 10 shots. The Blues had just four shots on net in the second period, and by the third they were trying to hit anything that moved just to get something going. A lot of Predators will be hurting on Monday morning. That pain is worth it. The Blues were utterly ineffective and likely enraged at how nothing worked for them.

Nashville drained the Blues of all positive emotions and won. The Ducks had to drain their own in a feisty Game 3 in Edmonton. Skim a bit of their emotion off the top before it overflowed.

The hatred was palpable, as you’ll see in a bit. Anger can be used against your opponent if you know how; the Ducks own a wealth of playoff emotional experience the Oilers lack. As the game wore on, the Oilers kept parading to the penalty box and any hope of a completed comeback was dashed.

Now the key for both winning clubs is repeating it.

Predators 3, Blues 1 (NSH leads, 2-1)

Ducks 6, Oilers 3 (EDM leads, 2-1)

The Oilers winger got mad as tensions kept rising in Edmonton and probably crossed a line here.

Is that really a choking attempt? I don’t know. But A) he grabbed under Hampus Lindholm’s face at the neck, slammed him into the glass, and held him there and B) this is Milan Lucic we’re talking about. The guy once threatened to kill someone in a handshake line. This doesn’t seem like a perilous leap.

At any rate, Bad Milan Lucic is bad news for the safety of this series.

Or, rather, the dam in front of him broke. As the game’s emotions slipped away from the Oilers, so too did Talbot’s consistency. The Edmonton netminder, who had been so good for so many months, finally had a dud of a game. Anaheim scored six times on 28 shots, an abysmal save percentage (.786) for any playoff goalie, let alone a borderline Vezina-worthy one. Edmonton will need Talbot to re-focus before Game 4.

He can dance if he wants to, dammit.

This was the shift of the playoffs and a dagger in the Blues’ hearts for Game 3.