Predators primed for first crack at cup
NASHVILLE, Tennessee — Different players just keep stepping up for the Nashville Predators, and now their magical postseason run has an even bigger destination: the franchise’s first trip to the Stanley Cup final.
Colton Sissons scored his third goal of the night with 6:01 remaining as the Predators eliminated the Anaheim Ducks with a 6-3 win in Game 6 of the NHL’s Western Conference final on Monday night.
“In the back of your head, you’ve been thinking about the final and then when the buzzer goes off, it’s an amazing feeling,” said Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne.
The Predators, who’ve never won even a division title in their 19-year history, came in with the fewest points of any team in these playoffs.
They lost their top center, Ryan Johansen, for the playoffs after Game 4 because of emergency surgery on his left thigh. Captain Mike Fisher has missed two games with an upper-body injury.
“We went through a tremendous amount of adversity the last 72 hours losing two key guys in our lineup,” Nashville defenseman PK Subban said.
“I said it before — this team’s got tremendous composure. There is so much confidence in this dressing room what we can accomplish together if we play the right way.”
The Preds swept the West’s No 1 seed in Chicago, downed St. Louis in six in the second round and now the Pacific Division champion Ducks.
Peter Laviolette becomes the fourth coach to take three different teams to the Stanley Cup final, and the first since the playoffs split into confer- ence play in 1994.
Laviolette joked that probably means he’s been fired a lot.
“Our guys know the big picture,” Laviolette said of his Predators. “They understand what it is that we’re trying to do here. And when that time comes, we’ ll be ready.”
The Predators will play either defending champion Pittsburgh or Ottawa for the Stanley Cup. Game 1 is on Monday. Anaheim lost in the conference final for the second time in three years.
“Our effort was there and we were a desperate hockey club right from the opening faceoff, and we didn’t quit until they scored the second empty-net goal,” Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle said.
Cam Fowler tied it 3-3 at 8:52 of the third for Anaheim as the Ducks tried to rally for the fifth time this season when trailing by multiple goals.
But Sissons, who scored on the third shot of the game, scored twice in a wild third period.
“I don’t think I even dreamt of this moment, scoring a hattrick in the conference-clinching game, but I can’t speak enough for just our whole group,” Sissons said.
“We’ve been through some challenges together and we stuck together no matter what, just always believed and here we are.”
Austin Watson scored on Nashville’s first shot and had an empty-netter with 1:34 to go. Filip Forsberg also had an empty-net goal.
Rinne made 38 saves to improve to 12-4.
Ondrej Kase scored to give Anaheim a chance to tie the NHL record with a fifth rally when trailing by multiple goals and Chris Wagner banked the puck off Rinne’s head for early in the third to keep the Ducks close.
This has been the best postseason ever for Rinne, a threetime Vezina Trophy finalist, a stretch ranking among the NHL’s best.
The 6-foot-5 Finn used his big body to turn away shot after shot even with the Ducks trying to crash the net every opportunity.
Music City buzzed all day leading up to the opening faceoff.
Hours before the game, superstar Garth Brooks spoiled the mystery of who would sing the national anthem with Twitter hints. Sure enough, his wife Trisha Yearwood had the honor.