ING ON: Jacksonville is likely t

Filip Forsberg http://www.washingtonredskinsteamonline.com/zach-brown-jersey , Pekka Rinne and the Nashville Predators showed they aren’t ready for their season to end yet.

Forsberg had two goals and an assist, Rinne stopped 34 shots for his second shutout of the playoffs, and the Predators beat the Winnipeg Jets 4-0 on Monday to force a decisive Game 7 in their Western Conference semifinal series.

”Desperation,” Rinne said after his fifth career playoff shutout. ”It just shows that we have a really tight group.”

Viktor Arvidsson also scored twice, including a late empty-netter, and added an assist for the Predators. Roman Josi and Ryan Johansen each had two assists.

After the Jets’ top line combined for eight points in a 6-2 victory in Game 5 in Nashville to take a 3-2 series lead, the Predators No. 1 trio of Forsberg, Arvidsson and Johansen did the same when it mattered most.

”It’s the most fun,” Forsberg said. ”You can never have more fun than playing these elimination games. … Just try to enjoy it as much as possible.”

Connor Hellebuyck stopped 25 shots for the Jets.

Game 7 in this series in which neither team has won consecutive games is Thursday at Nashville, Tennessee, with the winner advancing to face the expansion Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference final. Each team has also won twice on the road.

”It’s been back and forth, up and down http://www.buffalobillsteamonline.com/patrick-dimarco-jersey ,” Winnipeg head coach Paul Maurice said. ”It’s probably right that it’s going seven.”

The Jets finished 0 for 4 on the power play, including three chances in the first period.

”The power play is probably just a microcosm of the way we played,” Winnipeg center Paul Stastny said. ”We probably weren’t moving as well or as sharp as we wanted.”

With the Predators up 1-0 after one period, Forsberg doubled the lead at 8:44 of the second on a great solo rush for his sixth of the postseason. After breaking his stick in the defensive zone blocking a shot, the Swedish forward raced to the bench to get a new one as the puck almost simultaneously arrived at his feet. Forsberg stayed onside, fought off Jets defenseman Ben Chairot and beat Hellebuyck short-side before crashing into the net.

Winnipeg had made an earlier push coming out of the first intermission, with Paul Stastny’s shot just wide being the best chance after Mathieu Perreault’s dump in hit the linesman and caromed into the slot. Stastny also missed from a tight angle off the boards on the follow up on Rinne.

After Forsberg made it 2-0, Rinne was there to stop Adam Lowry with his pad before just getting a piece of Mark Scheifele’s shot on an abbreviated 2-on-1 to keep Nashville up by two.

The Jets got their fourth power play of the night early in the third, but Scheifele fired wide on the best opportunity.

Forsberg then took a pass from behind the net, played it between his own legs and beat Hellebuyck for his second of the night and seventh of the playoffs at 5:55.

”I don’t think there’s any question that Fil’s a big-game player,” Predators coach Peter Laviolette said. ”(The second) goal was just good work by their line, but he had to finish it off. Let’s be honest Andrew Luck Jersey , none of us in this room can make that play. … You’ve got to give him a lot of credit.”

With Hellebuyck pulled for an extra skater, Arvidsson scored into the empty net with 4:02 left to seal Nashville’s win.

Nashville took the lead just 62 seconds into the first period to quiet the usual rowdy, white-clad crowd at Bell MTS Place on Arvidsson’s fourth. The speedy winger crashed into the end boards after being taken down by Jets defenseman Dustin Byfuglien. Arvidsson briefly complained to the referee before getting back in the slot just in time to make a defensive deflection of a blast from Josi that looked destined to hit him directly in his head as he dropped to the ice.

Referee Wes McCauley initially waved off the goal that bounced past Hellebuyck for high-sticking, but it was determined after video review that Arvidsson’s stick was below the crossbar on the tip.

The Predators and Jets finished with the two best records during the regular season – Nashville had 117 points to win its first Presidents’ Trophy, while Winnipeg was right behind with 114 points.

NOTES: The extra day before Game 7 is due to a Justin Timberlake concert at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on Wednesday night. … Teemu Selanne, a member of the original Jets from 1992-96, was in attendance. … Predators forward Scott Hartnell returned to the lineup after sitting out Game 5 as a healthy scratch. Calle Jarnkrok also drew in for Nashville on the fourth line with Mike Fisher after sitting out the last three.

The Jacksonville Jaguars won’t shock anyone next season.

A day after a disappointing loss to New England in the AFC championship game, players packed up their belongings and headed into the offseason. They carried with them more hope than heartache.

The Jaguars were one of the NFL’s biggest surprises in 2017. They ended a six-year run with double-digit losses by winning the AFC South for the first time in franchise history.

They hosted a playoff game for the first time in 18 years, stunned Pittsburgh in the divisional round and had a 10-point lead on Tom Brady and the Patriots in the fourth quarter.

It was far from a fluke. With young and still-emerging talent on both sides of the ball, the Jaguars look poised to be a postseason participant for at least the next few years.

”Going forward, we know that this team is going to be a true contender and we’re going to go out there and earn it,” All-Pro defensive end Calais Campbell said Monday.

Campbell was quick to point out that meeting higher expectations will only happen if they take the same approach to next season.

”You don’t get nowhere off of what you did last year Geoff Swaim Jersey ,” he said. ”It’s only what have you done for me lately. I’ve been a part of a team that went to the NFC championship and the next year we missed the playoffs. It happens quite a bit. This team is definitely, I feel like, we should be able to go out there and be a great team next year, but we’re going to have to put the work in.”

Before the next phase begins, the Jaguars will have to get over a stinging loss at New England.

They surely will be haunted by four plays that were as much a part of the outcome as Brady:

-The league’s best pass defense gave up a 21-gain on a third-and-18 play early in the fourth quarter. The Patriots went on to score a touchdown that cut the lead to 20-17.

-Linebacker Myles Jack stripped the ball from Dion Lewis at the end of a 20-yard gain in the third quarter. Jack picked up the fumble and started running the other way, but officials whistled the play dead. The Jaguars felt like it should have been a touchdown. Instead, the offense went three-and-out.

-With 55 seconds to play remaining in the first half and two timeouts, Jacksonville took a knee on consecutive plays instead of trying to make something happen.

”Let’s get ourselves going and let’s take this lead into halftime,” coach Doug Marrone said. ”That is exactly how I thought, right or wrong.”

-Blake Bortles was flagged for delay of game – following a timeout, no less – and negated a 12-yard completion to Marcedes Lewis on a third-and-7 play in the second quarter. Instead of moving the chains and milking the clock, the Patriots got the ball back and scored a momentum-turning touchdown heading into the locker room.

”It was just a lapse on our part Josh Doctson Jersey ,” Marrone said.

All of those contributed to Jacksonville’s collapse.

By Monday, players and coaches had started to recover. Soon, they will turn the page.

”Getting there and showing the world that we can play good ball and be consistent against a good team like that and not fold under pressure was big,” Pro Bowl defensive tackle Malik Jackson said. ”We answered a lot of critics now. People want to give us our respect; they don’t have to. We proved a lot to ourselves, and I think we’re going to continue to build from there.”

Here are some other things to know about Jacksonville heading into the offseason:

QB DECISION: The biggest question centers on Bortles and his future . Jacksonville picked up the fifth-year option in his rookie contract, meaning he has one year remaining at $19.053 million. Bortles showed progress in 2017 and played well at times in the playoffs, but the Jaguars could decide they want to try to lure a free agent with fewer flaws to complement a dominant defense.

”I would love to be able to play here for as long as they would let me,” Bortles said. ”What they do and all the decisions that are made are kind of out of my control. I’d be thrilled to be able to stay here and play here, and hopefully that can happen.”

MOVING ON: Jacksonville is likely to part ways with receiver Allen Hurns ($7 million) and running back Chris Ivory ($6.97 million), and they could lose cornerback Aaron Colvin and linebacker Paul Posluszny to free agency.

NEW LOOK: The Jaguars are expected to unveil new uniforms in April, making the two-tone helmets a collector’s edition. The black-and-gold helmets were mostly mocked the last five years.

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