NASHVILLE, Tennessee: Ryan Kesler broke a tie with a power-play goal at 7:28 of the third period as the Vancouver Canucks beat the Nashville Predators 4-2 Thursday to take a 3-1 lead in their Western Conference semifinal series. Christian Ehrhoff scored a power-play goal and had two assists, Kesler also had two assists, and Alexander Edler had a goal. Henrik Sedin notched his first points in the series with two assists and an empty-net goal with 20.6 seconds left. The Canucks, the Presidents' Trophy winners for the NHL's best regular-season record, can close out the series Saturday night in Game 5 in Vancouver. Joel Ward and Cody Franson each had a goal and an assist for Nashville. The Predators lost consecutive games for the first time this postseason. Kesler scored his second straight winner with a power-play goal off a penalty he drew. This time, Nashville defenseman Ryan Suter yanked him down with an arm around his neck for a holding call, and Kesler scored 1:07 later with a beautiful goal. Kesler sliced through a couple of Predators and beat Pekka Rinne with a wrister from the slot. In Game 3, Kesler scored in overtime. “That was an unbelievable goal,” defenseman Christian Ehrhoff told reporters of his teammate's effort. “A nice goal and at a great time. He's worked really hard all playoffs long, and he got another game-winner. Well-deserved.” Nashville tried to rally, finally getting Rinne to the bench with about 30 seconds left. Vancouver took its timeout with 29.3 seconds left, and Nashville couldn't hold the puck in off the ensuing faceoff. Sedin clinched the victory with his first goal this postseason. “They were in striking distance and we got a couple of big plays from our goaltender,” Canucks coach Alain Vigneault said. “We had a great job from Dan Hamhuis, Alex Burrows and Ryan Kesler, who were out there for almost the full five-on-three. They were at the right place, doing the right things.”
