Game 7 is tonight for Jets, Preds
NASHVILLE — Nashville Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne has years of postseason experience, including a couple of Game 7s and a Stanley Cup Final.
Connor Hellebuyck has the Winnipeg Jets on the verge of the Western Conference finals for the first time in his first playoffs, and the best comparison he can make to tonight’s Game 7 in Nashville is playing for Hockey East championships back in college.
“I have yet to be scored on in one, so I like those odds,” Hellebuyck joked.
“This has nothing to do with that,” he added. “This is a whole new level, and you’ve just got to get into the game as much as you can.”
Nobody has reflected the roller-coaster ride of this thrilling Western Conference semifinal series between the NHL’s top two teams in the regular season than their Vezina Trophy finalists. Rinne has been pulled from not one but two games — both on his own ice — before staving off elimination in Game 6 with his second shutout this postseason.
“When you think about Game 7, as a team, as an individual, you’re just going to give it all and do your best and do it as a team and trust your teammates,” Rinne said Wednesday. “I think that’s the best formula — and focus on your own team.”
Hellebuyck’s stats include a 2-1 record in Nashville in this series, which will end with the only Game 7 in this year’s conference semifinals. NBC Sports Network will televise the 8 p.m. EDT matchup.
Hellebuyck gave up three goals in a 4-0 home loss Monday night, turning this into a winner-take-all fight for the right to play the firstyear Vegas Golden Knights for the conference crown. Nashville is trying to return to the Stanley Cup final for the second year in a row, but if that happens it will be against a different opponent. The Pittsburgh Penguins, winners of the past two Stanley Cups, were eliminated by the Washington Capitals in
six games in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
The eventual Stanley Cup champion each of the past five seasons has won a Game 7 along the way.
“We know it’s all on the line, and nothing in the past is going to bother us,” Hellebuyck said. “We can’t let it. This is going to be the most fun game we’re going to play, and I think a lot of us are going to enjoy ourselves.”
Nashville coach Peter Laviolette, 5-2 in Game 7s, is one of only four NHL coaches (Pat Burns, Mike Keenan and John Tortorella are the others) to win a Game 7 in each of four different playoff rounds. He also has 19 Predators who have at least one Game 7 on their résumés. Jets coach Paul Maurice is 2-0 in such situations, though only seven of his Jets have played in a Game 7.
“It’s the final game for one team,” Maurice said. “So, there’s lot of emotion, lots of excitement. But there’s definitely a calmness to it. There’s a finality coming. It brings out the best, I think.”
Nashville finished only three points (117) ahead of Winnipeg (114) for the Presidents’ Trophy as the regular season’s top team, and this series has been about as close as possible. The Jets have more goals (22-18), while Nashville has more shots on goal (217-213). But even-strength shot attempts are 338 apiece with each team blocking 97 shots. The Predators have only three more hits (144-141).
None of those stats will matter after tonight.
“Ever since I started playing hockey, I was 5 years old, you put yourself in that position where you play a Game 7 in the playoffs,” Jets forward Mathieu Perrault said. “This is what we play for. So this should be the most fun we’ve had all year.”
A Justin Timberlake concert Wednesday night at Bridgestone Arena pushed Game 7 back a day, giving the 35-year-old Rinne two days of rest. During the regular season, the Predators goalie went 11-3 with a 1.99 goals-against average and a .936 save percentage during the season when he got two days to rest between games.
Not surprisingly, he had no complaints about JT’s visit.
“It’s nice to have that extra day,” Rinne said.