Overtime victory ties up Western series

COREY PERRY scored the winning goal in overtime as the Anaheim Ducks beat the Nashville Predators 3-2 Thursday night (Bridget Samuels photo).

No one said it would be easy, especially if they were thinking about the Anaheim Ducks’ pursuit of the team’s second Stanley Cup. After blowing a two-goal lead Thursday night, the team eventually won 3-2 over the Nashville Predators in overtime.

The victory tied up the Western Conference finals at two wins apiece. Game Five will be Saturday at the Honda Center. Game Six will shift back to Tennessee on Monday, May 22. A sixth game would be on Wednesday, May 24 in Anaheim.

The Ducks went ahead 1-0 on a first period goal by Rickard Rakell and built that into a 2-0 edge with Nick Ritchie’s second period score. But the Preds battled back with two third period tallies and the game went into extra time.

Corey Perry settled the matter at 10:25 of overtime with an unassisted goal.