Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Now a fight to the finish
Penguins, Preds reach final stretch for championship
PITTSBURGH — Somewhere between the catfish lobbing, A-list national anthem singers, Carrie Underwood’s forgetfulness, Charles Barkley’s surprise cameo and P.K. Subban’s breath, there’s been another notable development during the Stanley Cup Final.
A series has broken out. Perhaps the seeds of an upset too.
A week ago, the Predators headed home down 2-0 to the defending Stanley Cup champion Penguins. Pekka Rinne’s game seemed in tatters and Penguins fans were musing whether they preferred a clean sweep or just a split of the two games in Nashville so the defending champions could raise the Cup on home ice.
But the vibe inside PPG Paints Arena for Game 5 on Thursday night figured to be more anxious than anticipatory after the Predators evened the series at 2-2 with a pair of vintage performances on home ice that sent “Smashville” into a frenzy and delivered a very clear message that the firsttimers are a clear threat to become first-time winners.
Through four games the Predators have more goals, more shots on goal and a bit more swagger than the Penguins. What began as a two-month slog to the Cup was now a three-game dash, one that appears to be a coin flip.
The Penguins have the experience; the Predators have the momentum. Both are fighting fatigue with adrenaline.
“I know people talk about how we’re tired, but believe me they’re tired too,” Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin said. “It’s only three games left, (so) we’re not talking about being tired.”
Maybe, but the Predators appeared a step quicker in their home building, pouring in nine goals and handing Penguins goalie Matt Murray the first back-toback playoff losses of his young career.
While captain Sidney Crosby said the “desperation level” would ramp up, Penguins coach Mike Sullivan was quick to point out the term doesn’t mean what people think it does.
“‘Desperate’ is a funny word for me because it gets thrown around our game a lot,” Sullivan said. “It always has a connotation of hopelessness. I don’t believe that’s the word we want to use to describe our team.
“We’ve got to play with urgency, play determined, play with conviction. When our team plays that way, we’re at our very best.”
The Penguins finished with the league’s secondbest home record and had ripped off five straight wins on home ice since the Senators stunned them in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals. That included the first two games of the Cup final, when they needed just 36 shots to beat Rinne eight times.
“We have no home ice,” Predators coach Peter Laviolette said. “We have to win a road game. There’s no other way around it.”