Predators top Canucks, avoid elimination

VANCOUVER, Canada -- Joel Ward scored two goals less than five minutes apart early in the third period and the Nashville Predators stayed alive with a 4-3 victory Saturday night in Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinal series.

David Legwand also scored twice, Pekka Rinne made 31 saves and Ward had three points for the Predators, who still trail 3-2 in the best-of-seven series but will return home for Game 6 Monday night.

Vancouver's Ryan Kesler, who had his face stitched up after he was struck by a deflected puck, scored his second goal of the game with 3:46 left. Kesler has five goals in three games, but it wasn't enough to put the Canucks into the conference finals yet.

The Predators, in the second round for the first time in franchise history, won for the first time when facing elimination. They had been 0-5.

Coming off a two-point effort in a Game 4 loss, Ward one-timed a cross-ice pass from Mike Fisher past the blocker of Roberto Luongo to put Nashville ahead 3-2 at 1:14 of the third. He pounced on a turnover inside the left circle 4:31 later and quickly snapped a shot past Luongo's glove to make it a two-goal lead.

Ward has four goals and six points in the last three games, and already has set franchise records with seven goals and 12 points in the playoffs.

Raffi Torres also scored, and Luongo made 19 saves for the Canucks, who blew a 3-0 series lead to Chicago in the first round before winning Game 7 in overtime.

The Canucks lost forward Mikael Samuelsson to an undisclosed lower-body injury in the first period. Bothered by an abdominal injury most of the season, Samuelsson got tied up with Nick Spaling in a puck battle, spun to the ice and couldn't get up. -- AP