WASHINGTON (AP) James Neal has become a source of leadership and inspiration for the Vegas Golden Knights during their improbable run to the Stanley Cup Final.So Bobby Orr Jersey , it came as no surprise that the 11-year veteran made a point of seeking out teammate Alex Tuch, a 22-year-old rookie who missed a chance to score the potential tying goal late in Game 2 against the Washington Capitals”I talked with him a little bit today,” Neal said Friday. ”It’s all good. He’ll get a bigger one for us later in the series. He’s been great for us so far, so no reason to think about that anymore. At the end of the day, it’s a great save and you move forward.”Braden Holby snuffed the shot with his goalie stick in a 3-2 victory that evened the series heading in Game 3 on Saturday night.Vegas snagged a winner when they selected Neal from Nashville last June in the expansion draft. They got a skilled forward who scored 20 goals in 10 straight seasons (now 11) and a player who turned out to be perfect for a team that had to mesh immediately to be successful.”He’s a natural leader,” Golden Knights right wing Ryan Reaves said. ”He likes leading the boys into battle. When he has something to say he’s going to say it, and people are going to listen.”Neal reached the Stanley Cup Final last year with the Predators, who lost to Pittsburgh. Now here he is again, with another crack at winning it all.”It’s a special team and a special group of guys,” Neal said. ”I’ve been to the finals before, so just try to give them little tips. I try to lead by example, do the right things on the ice. We’ve got a group that responds well.”Neal seriously wants to win, but he isn’t always serious. And that’s the way his teammates like it.”I’m not going to pump his tires too much because I don’t want to hear about it http://www.officialbruinsproonline.com/authentic-adidas-brad-marchand-jersey , but he’s definitely one of those guys that keeps it loose,” Reaves said. ”You need guys like that around the team. You can’t be 100 percent business-like all the time. You’ve got to have fun.”Vegas goaltender Marc Andre-Fleury is the only other player on the club who’s played in the Stanley Cup Final, so he and Neal have been taking turns doling out advice.”In the locker room he’s a big voice,” Fleury said of Neal. ”He’s been to the finals, so it’s good to have someone else who can share that experience.”Although Neal is a rarity in that he’s been to consecutive Stanley Cup Finals with two different teams, his most emphatic message is: Don’t take this ride for granted.”You see how badly he wants to win,” left wing David Perron said. ”To go through that last year and not come out on top, he’s got a huge chip on his shoulder and really wants to get it this time. He’s talking to guys, telling them you never know if you’re going to get another opportunity, so you’ve got to find a way to bring your best.”Toward that end, the 30-year-old Neal has helped carry the team with his stick. He has five goals and five assists in 17 games during the playoffs, including Vegas’ first goal in Game 2 on Wednesday.Asked whether Neal is more valuable as a player or a leader, Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant replied Youth Brandon Carlo Jersey , ”On the ice is the major thing for me. When he scores goals like he did the last game, he makes our job a lot easier as coaches. James has been outstanding for us. He definitely helps our room with the young players, for sure.”Most notably, Tuch.”He’s been a mentor to me. He brought me aside today and told me what I could have done better on that shot but also that I have to move on,” Tuch said. ”Everyone knows how good a hockey player he is. I don’t know if people knew he was that much of a leader. Maybe it was a different vibe in Nashville. But this year he’s been a huge leader for us, one of our (six alternate) captains, and it’s been great.”—More Stanley Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/tag/StanleyCupFinals NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) Playing the Winnipeg Jets is exactly why Nashville coach Peter Laviolette wanted home-ice advantage in the NHL playoffs.Even if it’s a round – or two – earlier than anyone really wants.Laviolette’s Predators play Winnipeg in the Western Conference semifinals after turning in their best season in franchise history to grab the right to start and end a series in the place called ”Smashville.”They edged out their Central Division rival by a mere three points for the Presidents’ Trophy, and this will be just the fifth series since 1990 between the NHL’s top two teams in the regular season.”They wanted divisional battles, got them,” Laviolette said. ”This should be a big series.”It’s the second straight postseason that division foes and the league’s top finishers meet in this round. Pittsburgh, which wound up beating Nashville in the Stanley Cup Final, advanced to the Eastern finals by downing the Capitals in Game 7 in Washington.Winnipeg and Nashville played so well that this series has been anticipated for weeks Womens Charlie McAvoy Jersey , so good it could be a Cup Final despite the Predators winning the regular-season series 3-1-1. Nashville defenseman P.K. Subban dismissed such talk Thursday, noting this round remains a long way from the Stanley Cup Final.A thrilling series with lots of speed and goals? That the Jets and Predators can provide.”The thing about winning, and I’m sure you ask anybody who’s won a Cup, is the steps that it takes to get there,” Subban said. ”You have to go through some thick walls, and this is definitely one of the thickest walls that we’re going to have to get through to get there.”Winnipeg goes against the defending Western Conference champs coming off the franchise’s first postseason series victory after relocating from Atlanta in 2011 with 10 Jets making their playoff debuts against the Wild. Winnipeg center Bryan Little says that makes the Jets the underdogs by just a little bit.”It’s going to be a really tough series and a tight series, so I think that’s why everyone’s so excited about it,” Little said.Some things to know before Game 1 on Friday night:VEZINA FINALISTSGoalies for both the Jets and Predators are finalists for the Vezina Trophy with Nashville veteran Pekka Rinne looking to win the award in his fourth try.Connor Hellebuyck made his postseason debut, shutting out Minnesota twice with a 1.94 goals-against average and .924 save percentage. Rinne’s numbers weren’t nearly as glitzy against Colorado, but he tightened up over the final three games with a 1.34 GAA and .951 save percentage, including a shutout in the series clincher.HOME AND ROADNobody was better in the NHL at home than the Jets who went 32-7-2, and they have won 12 straight in Winnipeg, including all three in ousting Minnesota. The Jets haven’t lost at home since Feb. 27 – to Nashville. The Predators were the league’s best away from home (25-9-7). The Predators won twice on the road in the first round Danton Heinen Jersey Kids , including clinching in Colorado in Game 6.OFFENSIVE FIREPOWEREven with Rinne and Hellebuyck in net, these teams combined for 42 goals in five games in the regular season with Nashville outscoring the Jets 22-20. It was the most goals the Jets scored against any team, while they also gave up the most goals to any opponent. The Jets also ranked second in the regular season for both most goals (273) and average goals per game (3.33)SHUT DOWN WHO?Nashville’s top trio is nicknamed the ”JOFA” line for Ryan Johansen, Filip Forsberg and Viktor Arvidsson. But the Predators’ top scoring line against Colorado was their third line of center Nick Bonino with Austin Watson and Colton Sissons, who combined for 19 points. The Jets can match Nashville’s scoring depth with seven players scoring at least 43 points in the regular season led by Blake Wheeler (91 points) and Patrik Laine (team-high 44 goals).SO DEFENSIVENashville has four of the NHL’s best defensemen in Roman Josi, Ryan Ellis, Subban and Mattias Ekholm. But the group that led the league with 55 goals only had one goal in the first round, and that came in Game 6 from Ekholm. Subban says defending comes first for a team that ranked second in the regular season in allowing both the second-fewest goals (204) and average goals per game (2.49).—