NHL Playoffs 2017: Takeaways from Sunday's Scores and Bracket Results

Going home turned out to be the perfect formula for the Nashville Predators, but it did not work out as well for the Edmonton Oilers.

Both teams played on home ice Sunday and displayed plenty of energy, but the Predators came up with a much sharper effort in their home game with the St. Louis Blues than the Oilers did against the Anaheim Ducks.

Nashville picked up a 3-1 victory and moved 2-1 ahead in its conference semifinal series, while the Oilers fell behind early, caught up but dropped a 6-3 decision. Despite the loss, Edmonton still leads its series 2-1.

Nashville played well in splitting the first two games of the series in St. Louis and were close to leaving the Gateway City with a 2-0 advantage. The Preds were razor-sharp from the start of the game and controlled most of the play.

Matchup	Series standing	Next Game	Time (ET)	TV
Pittsburgh-Washington	Pittsburgh 2-0	at Pittsburgh, May 1	7:30 p.m.	NBCSN
N.Y. Rangers-Ottawa	Ottawa 2-0	at New York, May 2	7 p.m.	NBCSN
Nashville-St. Louis	Nashville 2-1	at Nashville, May 2	9:30 p.m.	NBCSN
Edmonton-Anaheim	Edmonton 2-1	at Edmonton, May 3	10 p.m.	NBCSN

Defensemen Ryan Ellis and Roman Josi both scored for the Predators, and Cody McLeod also found the back of the net for Nashville. The Predators have won six of the their seven postseason games, and the offensive contributions of Ellis, Josi and fellow defensemen P.K. Subban have been a big part of their success.

Additionally, the Nashville forwards did an excellent job of backchecking throughout the game and limited St. Louis to 23 shots on goal. The only shot that got past Nashville goaltender Pekka Rinne was an artful deflection by Alexander Steen in the second period.

"It shows a lot of character coming off a loss last game," Rinne said, per the Associated Press (h/t CBSSports.com). "We knew that coming in it's a huge game. Responded really well. It's a good feeling obviously, but you already start thinking about the next one and trying to keep this momentum going." 

With their earlier victory in St. Louis, the Preds can put the Blues in a precarious position if they win on home ice Tuesday night in a game that NBCSN will televise.

The Ducks came out with some determination in Game 3 after losing the first two games of the series at home. They took a quick 3-0 first-period lead on goals by Rickard Rakell, Jakob Silfverberg and Ryan Getzlaf, and the Oilers appeared be stunned by the quick onslaught.

However, they woke up before the end of the period, as Patrick Maroon scored in the final minute as a shot from Kris Russell deflected off of him and past Anaheim goalie John Gibson.

The Oilers dominated in the second period, and they tied the score via goals by Anton Slepyshev and Connor McDavid.

After McDavid scored at the 8:40 mark of the second period on an eye-catching wrist shot, the partisan Edmonton crowd was roaring its approval, and it seemed the momentum shift was complete. However, Chris Wagner scored for the Ducks 48 seconds later on a shot that Edmonton goalie Cam Talbot appeared to have in his sights, and that proved crucial.

The Oilers continued to fire away at Gibson, but he tightened up his game and made several game-changing saves the rest of the period.

After withstanding that assault, the Ducks added a pair of third-period goals to get back in the series.

The two teams will reconvene in Edmonton Wednesday night in the fourth game of the series. A Ducks win would square the series, while the Oilers could take a 3-1 lead if they can bounce back from Sunday's home defeat.

The Washington Capitals will hope to match the example set by the Ducks when they go on the road after dropping the first two games of their second-round series at home to the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins.

Those two teams meet Monday night at 7:30 p.m. ET in a game that will also be televised on NBCSN.