Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Preds eye bigger prey than reaching 1st Final
The Predators, the final team into the NHL playoffs, are headed to the first Stanley Cup Final in franchise history.
Coach Peter Laviolette insists they won’t just be happy to be there either.
“Our guys know the big picture,” Laviolette said. “They understand what it is that we’re trying to do here. And when that time comes, we’ll be ready.”
Colton Sissons scored a hat trick as the Predators beat the Ducks 6-3 on Monday night in Game 6 of the Western Conference finals.
No matter what happens next, the Predators already have turned in a thrilling run this postseason as just the third franchise seeded last in its conference to reach the Final since the NHL went to the current conference-based playoff format in 1994.
They also are the eighth team in the last 15 seasons to reach the Stanley Cup Final after finishing the regular season outside the top 10 in the final standings.
Goaltender Pekka Rinne, the Predators’ longest tenuredplayer at 34, called the victory an amazing feeling.
“It’s a funny thing though,” Rinne said. “Everything that is happening around us, you still feel hungry and now we have a chance to play for the Cup. It’s a pretty amazing feeling and you’re working for that for a long, long time. I feel like the last number of years, we’ve been going in that direction, building this team and having more depth.”
Laviolette tapped into the Predators’ pipeline and tied the all-time mark by using 18 forwards this postseason.
Sissons, 23, is the latest to respond with 10 points this postseason.
“I don’t think I even dreamt of this moment, scoring a hat trick in the Western 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.”