RINNE RETURNS TO HIS MVP FORM AND TIES SERIES
Crosby the only one to break through as Preds goalie stonewalls Pens again
It was before Game 4 when word filtered down that the National Hockey League would not be accepting Conn Smythe Trophy ballots with two names on them — you know, just in case anyone was thinking about splitting their vote and putting the Pittsburgh Penguins’ goaltending tandem of Matt Murray and Marc-Andre Fleury, who have shared the net during this post-season, on the same ballot.
Of course, based on the Nashville Predators’ 4-1 win against the Penguins on Monday in Nashville, there was only one goalie now worthy of the award, and his name isn’t Murray.
Pekka Rinne, who had taken most of the blame for Nashville losing the first two games of this final, is the main reason why the Predators, who outscored the Penguins 9-2 at home, are heading back to Pittsburgh with the best-of-seven series deadlocked 2-2.
Game 5 of the Stanley Cup final is on Thursday.
Two nights after he stopped 27 of 28 shots in a 5-1 win in Game 3, the Predators goalie was even better in a 23-save performance. This was the Rinne we had seen for most of this year’s postseason, the one who entered the final with a sparkling .941 save percentage and was the reason why Nashville had swept the Chicago Blackhawks and rolled past the St. Louis Blues and Anaheim Ducks. If only he had he played this way at the beginning of the series, Nashville might be celebrating with the Stanley Cup already. Still, it’s better late than never.
If Rinne can keep this up — and the Predators continue to get depth scoring from the unlikeliest sources — the Penguins won’t have a chance.
Frederick Gaudreau scored his third goal of the final, while Calle Jarnkrok, Viktor Arvidsson and Filip Forsberg scored their first goals in what seemed like forever. But it was Rinne who was the difference-maker throughout a game that could have gone either way if not for a big save at the right time.
He was the spark for at least two of the Predators’ goals. Both could have been classified as turning points.
With the score tied 1-1 in the second period, it was Rinne who stopped Chris Kunitz on a breakaway. Seconds later, the puck went the other way and Gaudreau scored on a wraparound to make it 2-1.
Shortly after, Rinne not only stopped Sidney Crosby on a breakaway, but recovered and dove across the crease to rob Jake Guentzel of a surefire goal. Again, the Predators went the other way and made it 3-1 with Arvidsson beating Murray on a breakaway.
The game wasn’t all breakaways and highlight-reel saves. The first 15 minutes featured more icing calls than shots on net. It was ugly, boring hockey. The best chance might have come when Pens defenceman Brian Dumoulin found Nashville’s Forsberg with a beautiful no-look pass in front of the net. Then again, they play for different teams.
It was not until just five minutes remained in the first period when the teams started to connect for real. After Predators defenceman Yannick Weber kept a clearing attempt inside the Pittsburgh zone, Jarnkrok passed the puck to Austin Watson and then charged toward the net and banged in the rebound to give Nashville a 1-0 lead.
The Penguins challenged that it was goalie interference and were unsuccessful. So they did the next best thing and challenged it by scoring a goal of their own 66 seconds later.
In some ways, it was a goal that also shouldn’t have been. Crosby somehow caught Nashville’s defence napping and slipped unnoticed behind Ryan Ellis and Roman Josi, taking a breakaway pass from Dumoulin and beating Rinne on a backhand deke. It was Crosby’s eighth goal of the playoffs, but his first in the final since 2009.
The Penguins could have had more. Crosby was that dangerous.
Two nights earlier, he and Evgeni Malkin had failed to get a shot on net, and the way that Crosby responded in Game 4 made it seem as though he took the outlier of a stat personally.
Crosby, who scored Pittsburgh’s only goal, finished the game with four shots. Malkin had a more difficult night. He got split up from playing with Phil Kessel and managed just two shots. Worse, he was partly responsible for Nashville’s third goal, when he was stripped of the puck in the neutral zone that caused a breakaway in the other direction.
The big problem, however, wasn’t Nashville’s defence. It was the goalie who’s back to being the team’s playoff MVP.
Two nights after he stopped 27 of 28 shots in a 5-1 win in Game 3, the Predators goalie was even better in a 23-save performance.