Uncharted territory for Predators
Sissons plays the hero in Game 6 as Nashville franchise earns first shot at Stanley Cup
NASHVILLE — There is a car, or what used to be car, painted in Anaheim Ducks colours and parked outside Bridgestone Arena. All series long, fans have been paying $10 for the chance to swing a sledgehammer at it. Pay $20 and they’ll let you take three swings — and even throw in a cowboy hat.
It’s a heckuva deal. And it’s so very Nashville.
As Ducks head coach Randy Carlyle said last week, “you see these elderly women out there with a sledgehammer taking a pounding at a car that’s got a Ducks logo on it … those are the kinds of things you look to, that passion that’s been developed in their market.”
By Game 6, the “rent-a-wreck” was missing its hood and looked like it was made of tin foil. The Ducks weren’t faring any better on the ice. That’s sort of how the series had gone. With every game, the Predators kept pounding away and applying more dents on their opponent until the Ducks finally caved in.
Nashville’s Colton Sissons recorded a hat trick, including the game-winning goal with exactly six minutes remaining in the third period. But it was goalie Pekka Rinne who was mostly responsible for a 6-3 series-clinching win in Game 6 on Monday.
With the victory, the Predators won the franchise’s first Western Conference final 4-2. They will now wait to see whether they will play Pittsburgh or Ottawa in the final.
Either way, hold onto your cowboy hats hockey fans, the Stanley Cup final is coming to Smashville.
“It felt pretty good, man,” said Sissons. “A lot of energy. We worked so hard all year for this, so it feels good to get this far. But we’ve still got some work to do.”
“It’s a dream come true,” said Rinne, who stopped 38 of 41 shots. “But it’s a funny thing, though. With everything that’s happening around us, you still feel hungry, and now we have a chance to play for the Cup. It’s an amazing feeling.”
Before the opening faceoff, Nashville’s Ryan Johansen and Kevin Fiala — both out of the playoffs with injuries — got the crowd going by waving yellow rally towels from inside the stands. It had the desired effect. Less than two minutes into the game, Nashville jumped out to a 1-0 lead when Austin Watson banked a wrist shot in off an Anaheim defenceman’s skate. On their third shot of the night, Sissons beat Jonathan Bernier with a wrist shot.
Just like that, it was 2-0. And the roof was coming off the building.
That Bernier was even in the net reflected how banged up the Ducks were. The team was missing starting goalie John Gibson, who left Game 5 with a hamstring injury, as well as forward Rickard Rakell for the second straight game.
To make matters worse, first-line winger Nick Ritchie was ejected late in the first period after hitting Viktor Arvidsson into the boards from behind.
Nashville was also missing key players, including captain Mike Fisher for the second straight game. But playing at home, where the Predators had lost three times in the playoffs over the last two years, they had the so-called seventh man back in their corner.
Decked out in yellow, the soldout crowd spent the entire game alternating between standing up to cheer and breaking out into European soccer chants. Outside, there might have been even more fans. And yet, the Predators at times struggled to feed off the energy.
The first period ended with Nashville leading 2-0, but the ice wasn’t as tilted as the scoreboard made it seem. The Ducks outshot the Predators 12-4 in the first period, 13-4 in the second. Overall, the shots were 41-18.
“They were coming hard,” said Rinne. “We were fighting it for a bit, but you can’t take away anything. It was a gutsy effort.”
With Anaheim pressing in the second period, Ryan Getzlaf found Ondrej Kase in front of the net to make it 2-1. Nashville answered back in the third period. But just as shovels of dirt were being tossed onto the Ducks’ season, the team found new life.
Anaheim’s Chris Wagner banked a shot in off Rinne’s mask to make it 3-2. Four minutes later, with Corey Perry practically pulling Rinne to the ice, defenceman Cam Fowler tied the game on a point shot.
The Ducks had a chance to complete the comeback when Roman Josi took a delay-of-game penalty for shooting the puck over the glass. Instead, Rinne stood tall and three seconds after the penalty expired, Sissons scored the game-winner.
Filip Forsberg and Watson then drove the final nails into the coffin with a pair of empty-net goals.
“We played like crazy all night long,” said Getzlaf. “It’s 3-3 with the power play and we give up a goal. That’s the difference in the hockey game.”
As the clock ticked down, fans began shouting” “We want the Cup.” They’ll get their chance soon enough.