SAN JOSE, Calif. - Joe Pavelski scored two goals and the San Jose Sharks bounced back from a triple-overtime loss to beat the Nashville Predators 5-1 on Saturday night to take a 3-2 lead in their second-round playoff series.

Patrick Marleau and Logan Couture also scored as part of San Jose's reconfigured second line and the Sharks moved within one win of advancing to the Western Conference final for the fourth time in franchise history

San Jose will look to secure a spot in its first conference final since 2011 by winning at Nashville in Game 6 on Monday night.

Melker Karlsson added a late goal and Martin Jones made 24 saves to give the home team its fifth straight win in this series.

Game 4 overtime hero Mike Fisher scored and Pekka Rinne made 23 saves, but Nashville allowed goals in the opening and closing minutes of the second period.

The Predators now must try to repeat the trick they pulled off in the first round against Anaheim by rallying from a 3-2 series deficit if they want to reach the conference final for the first time in franchise history.

San Jose coach Peter DeBoer's decision to move Marleau from third-line center to second-line wing on Couture's line paid big dividends. Marleau opened the scoring midway through the first and Couture delivered big plays to start and finish the second period.

On the opening shift of the second period, Couture took a pass from Joonas Donskoi and skated in on a breakaway where stickhandled in and slid the puck between Rinne's pads to put San Jose up 3-1 just 35 seconds into the period.

Couture then drew a tripping penalty from Roman Josi in the final minute of the period. The Sharks then scored right off the faceoff with Marleau setting up Pavelski on a one-timer for his second goal of the game.

The Sharks killed an early power play in the third period and limited Nashville's chances after that to seal the win.

The new second line wasn't the only lineup switch DeBoer made. He also gave Dainius Zubrus his first playoff action on the fourth line in place of Tommy Wingels. Zubrus brought a physical element to the game but it was Couture's line that did most of the damage.

Donskoi had two assists, including a nifty backhand pass right to Marleau for a one-timer that opened the scoring midway through the first.

The Predators answered with a familiar line when Fisher completed a tic-tac-toe passing sequence from James Neal and Colin Wilson to tie it with his third goal in the past two games. That line scored all four goals for Nashville in the Game 4 win, including Fisher's goal in triple overtime to end the game after 51:12 of overtime.

But San Jose answered right back with a goal from its top line when Joe Thornton sent a blind, backhand pass to Pavelski in the edge of the circle for a one-timer that beat Rinne late in the period.

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It's entirely possible Barret Jackman's made of steel.

Watch the Nashville Predators defenseman's reaction, or lack thereof, to the return stab he receives from Joe Thornton during a stoppage - an upward chop that actually lands flush between his legs.

That ain't right.

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More good news for the Minnesota Wild: Zach Parise won't require surgery on his ailing back.

Minnesota's high-priced winger, who had to sit out all six games of the club's brief postseason bid, says he's made enough strides in his recovery to avoid having to go under the knife.

"The doctors are really happy with the progress I've made so far, and they're not worried about it dragging into next season or being a continual problem," Parise told Sid Hartman of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

"You never know, because things can happen, but I'm hoping that after some rehab I'll be in the clear and not have to worry about it any more."

Parise played through the pain for several months, but was shut down when it worsened over the final few weeks of the season.

He seems to expect to be back and contributing when the Bruce Boudreau era begins in the fall.

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BRANDON, Man. - Jayce Hawryluk scored the winner at 6:56 of overtime on Saturday as the Brandon Wheat Kings edged the Seattle Thunderbirds 3-2 in Game 2 of their Western Hockey League final to take a 2-0 series lead. Tyler Coulter tied the ga...

Able to avoid - or at least temporarily stave off - an avalanche of criticism from fans, pundits, and detractors alike, Alex Ovechkin led the way Saturday for the Washington Capitals, who avoided a five-game defeat at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins with a 3-1 win.

In 20 minutes of ice time, Ovechkin scored with a the first shot Washington registered on goal, peppered in nine more toward target, bagged an assist, and absolutely lit a fire under T.J. Oshie.

"When you see a guy like him that can beat you in so many different ways come out and bring that type of energy, you better get on board or just stay on the bench," Oshie said, according to NHL.com's Tom Gulitti.

Ovechkin's urgency might have been palpable, but his head coach discerned patience, too.

"I think that's what Ovechkin's learned is that he doesn't have to do it all by himself, and that the great thing about being a part of a team," Barry Trotz remarked after the game.

Unfortunately for Ovechkin, only two wins in their next two tries will prevent the individual from being painted responsible.

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Able to avoid - or at least temporarily stave off - an avalanche of criticism from fans, pundits, and detractors alike, Alex Ovechkin led the way Saturday for the Washington Capitals, who avoided a five-game defeat at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins with a 3-1 win.

In 20 minutes of ice time, Ovechkin scored with a the first shot Washington registered on goal, peppered in nine more toward target, bagged an assist, and absolutely lit a fire under T.J. Oshie.

"When you see a guy like him that can beat you in so many different ways come out and bring that type of energy, you better get on board or just stay on the bench," Oshie said, according to NHL.com's Tom Gulitti.

Ovechkin's urgency might have been palpable, but his head coach discerned patience, too.

"I think that's what Ovechkin's learned is that he doesn't have to do it all by himself, and that the great thing about being a part of a team," Barry Trotz remarked after the game.

Unfortunately for Ovechkin, only two wins in their next two tries will prevent the individual from being painted responsible.

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Joe Thornton is one of the best passers in the game.

Exhibit A:#StanleyCuphttps://t.co/0U7u6SYGIZ

— #StanleyCup Playoffs (@NHL) May 8, 2016

San Jose Sharks captain Joe Pavelski's incredible postseason continued Saturday night and he has the team's former captain to thank.

Joe Thornton found Pavelski alone in the slot with a perfect, no-look pass from the sideboards, and Pavelski made no mistake beating Pekka Rinne to give the Sharks a 2-1 lead in the first period of Game 5 against the Nashville Predators.

The goal was Pavelski's team-leading seventh of the postseason.

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Two days after being showered with affection from his coach, Patric Hornqvist was reduced to two minutes of ice in the third period of Game 5 with a trip to the conference final on the line.

Sidney Crosby's staple at right wing was stapled to the Pittsburgh Penguins' bench in the final frame, as coach Mike Sullivan shortened his rotation in an effort to spur a comeback versus the Washington Capitals.

Following the 3-1 loss in Pittsburgh's first of three potential opportunities to eliminate the Presidents' Trophy winners, Sullivan explained his thinking:

"We were trying to climb back into it," he said, according to Yahoo's Greg Wyshynski, denying there was an injury involved. "We went with the guys we thought were going and had some energy. So we tweaked the lines a little bit."

Tom Kuhnhackl started the period with Crosby and Conor Sheary, and Matt Cullen and Carl Hagelin rotated in as well, helping limit Hornqvist to a little over 10-and-a-half total minutes.

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LONDON, Ont. - Matthew Tkachuk scored a hat trick and had an assist as the London Knights cruised to a 6-1 victory over the Niagara IceDogs Saturday night in Game 2 of their Ontario Hockey League final series. Christian Dvorak added a goal an...

WASHINGTON - Alex Ovechkin did everything he could to keep the Washington Capitals' season alive.

Ovechkin threw his body around, skated around and through Pittsburgh's defense and scored a power-play goal to help the Capitals beat the Penguins 3-1 in Game 5 on Saturday night.

Related: Watch: Ovechkin, Kunitz trade PPGs in dizzying start to Game 5​

Behind a two-point game from Ovechkin and 30 saves by Braden Holtby, Washington cut its deficit to 3-2 and forced Game 6 on Tuesday night in Pittsburgh. T.J. Oshie also scored on the power play and Justin Williams at even strength, cracking Matt Murray after the goaltender looked superhuman for most of the series.

Murray allowed three goals on 19 shots and was victimized on a brutal turnover by defenseman Brian Dumoulin that led to Williams' goal. Meanwhile, Holtby was stellar and at his best when he stopped three in a less than minute on Evgeni Malkin, Patric Hornqvist and Justin Schultz.

That succession of saves by body, pads and glove late in the second period drew a standing ovation and chants of ''Holtby! Holtby!'' from the sellout crowd at Verizon Center hoping it wasn't seeing its final game of the season.

Penguins star Sidney Crosby had an extra gear to his game, too, but Ovechkin was even better with the Capitals on the brink of yet another early playoff exit. From the drop of the puck, Washington's captain was a force all over the ice.

Ovechkin scored 4:04 in, 8 seconds into the first power play of the night, to give the Capitals the kind of strong start the Penguins anticipated given the situation. After Chris Kunitz scored the Penguins' first power-play goal of the series 3 minutes later and the momentum shifted, Ovechkin was at the center of the Capitals seizing it back.

It was Ovechkin's shot off Murray's right pad that set up Oshie for his rebound goal 4 minutes into the second period. After no power-play goals in the past two games and a 1-for-12 showing in the series, the Capitals' unit that ranked fifth in the NHL during the regular season woke up just like coach Barry Trotz wanted.

''You've got to find the back of the net, be it Ovi or Osh or someone,'' Trotz said Saturday morning. ''They've got to do that. They've got to get a little more traffic, as they always do when you're not getting the goals that you want. You've got to go to the hard areas.''

Trotz also wanted better 5-on-5 production up and down his lineup and got that boost from Williams 9:58 into the second period. When Dumoulin threw the puck into the middle of the ice, it landed on the tape of Williams' stick, and the 33-year-old awoke from his postseason slumber to beat Murray five-hole for his second goal of the series.

The Capitals signed Williams for these situations, and he made up for committing his team-leading seventh penalty of the playoffs. His goal squirted through the legs of Murray, who had stopped 104 of the past 109 shots he faced.

AP Sports Writer Stephen Whyno contributed to this report.

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