NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Some might have assumed the Nashville Predators would wear an extra layer of pressure under their gold uniforms with a 2-0 series deficit staring them in the face prior to Game 3 Tuesday night.

According to captain Shea Weber, those people assumed incorrectly.

"We just had to stick with what made us successful," he said. "We just talked about doing the right things like we did in Game 2. They got the better result, but if we keep playing that way, good things will happen."

Thanks to Weber and most of Nashville's stars, those good things happened. And now the Predators' Western Conference semifinal matchup with the San Jose Sharks is up for grabs again.

Overcoming an early deficit and reversing a pattern of third period explosions by San Jose, Nashville bagged a 4-1 win at sold-out Bridgestone Arena.

Weber notched the tie-breaking goal and an assist, while goalie Pekka Rinne stopped 26 of 27 shots. James Neal, Colin Wilson and Filip Forsberg also delivered goals to give the Predators a shot at squaring the series Thursday night in Game 4.

The Sharks scored seven third-period goals in 5-2 and 3-2 victories in Game 1 and Game 2, respectively, but were bottled up in this third period as Nashville found the proper balance between attacking and defending.

"Our team played a real gutsy game," Predators coach Peter Laviolette said. "I didn't sense the guys being tight before this game. We played a hard game. Our penalty kill was real good and our power play got looks. That was the difference in the game.

San Jose potted three power play markers over the weekend, but went 0-for-4 with the man advantage in this one. Nashville, which entered 2-for-31 in the playoffs on the power play, notched a pair of tallies with the extra skater.

Neal scored the first one with Joonas Donskoi serving a double minor for high-sticking. Defenseman Mattias Ekholm teed him up in the right faceoff circle and Neal wired a one-timer past goalie Martin Jones at 5:11 of the second period, bringing the crowd of 17,163 to full roar.

"It gave us a boost in momentum," Neal said. "We had good looks on that power play, and it gave energy to the building."

Sharks coach Peter DeBoer questioned why Donskoi's infraction earned four minutes.

"I'd still like an explanation for that one," he said, "but we still have to get the kill, and we almost did. That was a big momentum shift."

Weber gave the Predators their first lead in the series since Game 1 when he ripped a slapper past Jones at 14:44 of the second period, his third goal of this postseason and his 13th career postseason tally, tying David Legwand for the franchise record.

"Any time your number is called, you have to be ready to make a difference, whether it's 5-on-5, the power play or the penalty kill," Weber said.

Wilson made it 3-1 at 6:55 of the third period, collecting the rebound of a Ryan Ellis shot and roofing it for his third playoff marker. Forsberg applied the killing blow with a wrister on the power play at 15:49 for his second goal of the playoffs.

Jones finished with 21 saves for San Jose, which got its only goal from Patrick Marleau at 13:13 of the first period as he split two defenders and evaded Rinne's attempt at playing the puck for a tap-in tally.

"Nobody's sweeping anybody this time of the year," DeBoer said. "This is the Stanley Cup playoffs and you're down to eight teams. Everybody is good now. This could take seven games."

That would probably be fine with Nashville, which gained its first real traction of this series.

"It's in the back of your head," Rinne said of being down 2-0, "but I felt everyone stayed loose. We weren't too tight and our best players played well. That's huge."

NOTES: When San Jose scored five goals in the third period of Game 1, it marked the fourth time in NHL playoff history a team scored five or more goals in the third period after going scoreless in the first two periods. … Nashville RW Craig Smith (lower-body injury) didn't practice Tuesday but played in Game 3. Smith, who sat out Game 1, had seven shots in Game 2. ... Sharks scratches were Cs Dainius Zubrus and Micheal Haley, and Ds Dylan DeMelo and Matt Tennyson. ... C Mike Ribeiro led the list of Predators scratches, which also included D Petter Granberg, C Cody Bass, LWs Eric Nystrom and Austin Watson, G Marek Mazanec and RW Gabriel Bourque.