Bourque scores 2 in Predators’ win

Associated Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn.

Gabriel Bourque scored two goals in his postseason debut, and the Nashville Predators held onto home-ice advantage by beating Detroit Red Wings 3-2 on Wednesday night to open their Western Conference playoff series.

Paul Gaustad scored his first postseason goal, and Pekka Rinne made 35 saves.

Henrik Zetterberg and Tomas Holmstrom scored power-play goals for Detroit. The Red Wings lost center Darren Helm to an upper-body injury in the first period.

Nashville gave Detroit 44 seconds of a 5-on-3 when Ryan Suter was called for slashing at with 3:52 to go. The Predators killed off the 5-on-3, but Holmstrom scored with 2:07 left to give Detroit a chance.

After Holmstrom’s goal, Nashville took its timeout while Detroit coach Mike Babcock pulled Jimmy Howard for the extra attacker. With 22.9 seconds left, Martin Erat went to the box for holding, but the Predators sealed up the victory.

The Red Wings spent the past few days talking about how they enjoyed the chance to start the postseason on the road for a change.

But they came into a sold-out Bridgestone Arena with much less of the Detroit red the Red Wings usually see in Nashville.