from Joe Rexrode of The Tennessean,

Nashville has never held a 3-0 lead in a playoff series. And Nashville has never looked more like a Stanley Cup contender than it does now. If the Blackhawks can’t win four straight games to become the fifth team in NHL history to overcome a 3-0 deficit, the Western Conference is an attainable prize for the Predators.

“It’s a good position to be up right now, up 3-0, but I think we still have to treat this next game like we treated Game 3,” Rinne said. “Nothing should change.”

For much of Monday, it looked like the Blackhawks were going to change things up and make this a series. After it looked like the Predators would squander that stirring start.

The club has been criticized for ticket policies designed to keep out opposing fans, but it worked out OK for them in Game 3. There might have been 100 red jerseys in the crowd.

This is still a small fan base compared to most, in a place where kids playing hockey on a frozen pond is not a thing, and these people follow a 19-year-old franchise that has never been past the second round of the playoffs. But the place was sold out and legitimately rocking for all 41 regular-season games. Monday was another level entirely.

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