For Preds, it’s do-or-die in Game 6
Predators need home win to send Stanley Cup Final to Game 7
NASHVILLE — Pekka Rinne is a friendly, polite man off the ice. Slipping the puck past the Nashville Predators goaltender is one of the few ways to anger the 6-foot5 Finn.
Pucks bouncing past him on the NHL’s biggest stage infuriate him. Rinne chopped his stick against a goalpost not once but twice after giving up a fifth and final goal a year ago when Nashville was ousted from the playoffs.
That was in the second round. Now Rinne goes into the biggest game of his career tonight needing yet another home victory to force last year’s champs and the Stanley Cup Final to a deciding seventh game back in Pittsburgh. And Rinne spent the past 40 minutes stewing on the bench as the Penguins finished off a 6-0 rout Thursday night in what was easily Nashville’s worst loss of these playoffs.
“You have those thoughts — that, why (is) the puck getting deflected in off our guys or something like that,” Rinne said Saturday. “You try to work so hard that the luck is also on your side. When bounces (are) not going your way, sometimes you question, have second thoughts in your head, but that’s life.”
The goalie, so competitive he doesn’t like teammates scoring on him in practice, is back in Smashville, where he’s been nearly unbeatable over the past two postseasons at 13-1.
Rinne is 9-1 this spring with a 1.44 goals-against average and a .949 save percentage at home. He has allowed two or fewer goals in eight of those 10 games and tied Antti Niemi with his 36th playoff win for the most in NHL history by a Finnish-born goaltender.
Although they may be on their heels, it’s Rinne and the Predators who stand between Pittsburgh and a big chunk of history. The Penguins are trying to become the first team to win the Stanley Cup since Detroit repeated in 1998. One more win gives the Penguins the franchise’s fifth NHL championship, tying them with Edmonton for sixth all-time.
But while Nashville has been tough at home this postseason, four of Pittsburgh’s titles have been clinched on the road.
“Opportunities like this, they don’t come around often,” Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby said, “so you want to make the most of them.”
The Predators haven’t scored since Filip Forsberg’s empty-net goal in Game 4, a drought that spans 63 minutes and 23 seconds. So Rinne will need to be at his best to give Nashville a chance at its first Game 7 and Pittsburgh’s third this postseason.
Rinne understands coach Peter Laviolette was trying to wake up the Predators by pulling the veteran after allowing three goals on nine shots in the first 20 minutes of Game 5. Crosby, Phil Kessel and Evgeni Malkin all put up at least two points each in that game.
Yet there’s been no question that Rinne, who has never won a start in Pittsburgh, will be back in net tonight.
“Right now our backs are against the wall,” Rinne said, “and this is our opportunity, and I think you try to do anything in your power and prepare the best you can for this one.”
Said Laviolette: “We made mistakes in front of him. So I know there’s things that we can do that can support our goaltender better.”
Nashville may be without defenseman Ryan Ellis, who didn’t finish Thursday night’s loss. Ellis was among several Predators who did not take part in an optional practice Saturday. Ellis plays with Roman Josi as Nashville’s top defensive pair and has scored 13 points this postseason.
The Penguins skated in Pittsburgh before flying to Nashville. Center Nick Bonino, who has missed three straight games with an injured left foot, did not practice.
Although they can’t win it tonight, the Predators know the Stanley Cup will be in their house because the Penguins can.
Nashville’s first chance to avoid elimination this postseason will also be its last.
“Our motivation is the Cup,” Nashville captain Mike Fisher said. “We want to win it.”