Still, the Sharks had a chance to win and advance on one of the first shifts of overtime. Forward Joonas Donskoi had the puck on his stick, bearing down on goalie Pekka Rinne, but Rinne made the save and the Predators stayed alive. Arvidsson scored on the next rush up the ice.
Donskoi thought he was going to score, right up until the moment he didn't.
"Yes, I had a good chance but didn't get it in," Donskoi said. "That's how it is sometimes."
Championship teams move on from bad performances and turn their attention to the next challenge. The Sharks began that process minutes after Game 6. They hope they can finish it by the time Game 7 begins.
"Like I said, based on how the series has been played, it should come down to one game in a Game 7," San Jose coach Peter DeBoer said. "That's what hockey is about and we're excited it is in our building. We worked all year for home-ice advantage in this situation and we intend to take advantage of it."
They were not thinking about their past failures, although those will certainly come up between now and Thursday. They weren't thinking about the blown opportunities to take control of the series in Game 4 or to win it in Game 6.
They were thinking only of the future and those factors that suggest a better outcome Thursday.
The home team has won every game in this series and Game 7 is at the raucous SAP Center, they said. The Sharks didn't play their best game and were still one bounce away from awaiting the winner of another Game 7, between the Dallas Stars and the St. Louis Blues, in the Western Conference Final, they pointed out.
They will continue to emphasize the positives. The words, however, will mean little. What the teams do, on the ice, in Game 7, will be all that matters.
Despite the gut punch they took Monday, the Sharks insist they can't wait for Thursday.
"It's not easy," Donskoi said after Monday's game. "It shows there are two good teams on the ice all the time. So it is tough battles and a tough series. I think this series deserves a Game 7."
And, now this series has it.