Pens near knockout
PITTSBURGH — The night started with a catfish throw.
It ended with haymaker after haymaker — both literal and proverbial — from Sidney Crosby and the rest of the resilient Pittsburgh Penguins.
The defending champions provided an emphatic reminder of why they’re on the cusp of history with a 6-0 demolition of the Nashville Predators in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final to take a 3-2 lead. Pittsburgh will have a chance to become the first franchise to win back-toback championships since Detroit in 1998 when the series shifts back to Nashville for Game 6 on Sunday night.
“Still a lot of work to be done but the way we played tonight, if we can build off that momentum, that’s important,” Crosby said after collecting three assists. “We know we’re going to be facing a desperate team.”
One that can’t get back to the creature comforts of Smashville fast enough. The Penguins chased Pekka Rinne with a three-goal barrage in the first period and kept it going against backup Juuse Saros to push the Predators to the brink of elimination for the first time during their run to the final.
“I don’t know if anybody shakes off a game like that that quickly,” Nashville coach Peter Laviolette said. “Nobody feels good leaving the building playing the way we did.”
All the good mojo Rinne generated while helping Nashville rally to tie the series at 2 vanished in a span of 20 minutes. Justin Schultz beat Rinne just 91 seconds in, Bryan Rust and Evgeni Malkin followed before the first period horn sounded, continuing Rinne’s baffling inability to play effectively in Pittsburgh during the series. Rinne has stopped just 34 of the 45 pucks that have come his way during seven forgettable periods at PPG Paints Arena.
It was Crosby who sent the message — with his vision, his creativity and, oddly, his fists.
The two-time MVP’s eventful night included becoming the franchise’s all-time leading scorer in the Stanley Cup Final, a two-minute roughing penalty for trying to dribble Nashville defenseman P.K. Subban’s head on the ice near the end of the first period and what he said was an inadvertent flip of a water bottle onto the ice during play. “I think Sid really understands the opportunity that this team has and he’s not taking anything for granted,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. And apparently not taking any more stuff from Subban either. The two stars became tangled up behind the Nashville goal late in the first with Crosby on top. He attempted t o extract himself but couldn’t, then unleashed a torrent of punches at Subban’s head. “He was doing some sort of UFC move on my foot,” Crosby said. “I don’t know what he was trying to do . ... I don’t know what he was trying to do to my ankle.” —AP