Predators know road win won’t come easy
Penguins still hold home-ice advantage entering Game 5.
PITTSBURGH — Somewhere between the catfish lobbing, A-list national anthem singers, Carrie Underwood’s forgetfulness 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 Nashville Predators headed home down 2-0 to the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins. Pekka Rinne’s game seemed to be in tatters and the Penguins fan base was musing whether it 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. So, about that.
The vibe inside PPG Paints Arena for tonight’s Game 5 figures 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 first-timers are a clear threat to become firsttime winners.
Through four games, Nashville has more goals, more shots on goal and more swagger than Pittsburgh. What began as a two-month slog to the Cup is 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.
“I know people talk about how we’re tired, but believe me, they’re tired too,” Pittsburgh forward Evgeni Malkin said. “It’s not only us tired. It’s only three games left. We’re not talking about being tired.”
Maybe, but Nashville appeared a step quicker in its home building, pouring in nine goals and handing Penguins goalie Matt Murray the first back-to-back playoff losses of his young career. But Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan isn’t concerned about Murray. The Penguins have come within two games of the first team to capture consecutive Cups in nearly two decades due in large part to their resiliency.
Pittsburgh is just 7-7 over its last 14 games and has been limited to just one goal in six of its past 11. Still, Pittsburgh is pretty good in the house that owner Mario Lemieux built. The Penguins finished with the second-best home record in the league and have five straight victories on home ice, including the first two games of the Cup final when they needed just 36 shots to beat Rinne eight times.
Funny, Rinne hardly looked rattled back home, holding Pittsburgh to just two goals combined as Nashville rallied to tie things up in front of a giddy home crowd that included Underwood, who was so caught up in Cup fever she overlooked husband Mike Fisher’s 37th birthday. Not that Fisher or his teammates were keeping track anyway. Not with the ultimate prize so close at hand.
When the playoffs started in mid-April, the Predators were the last team in. Now they’re two victories away from a title few saw coming. But at least one of those wins will have to come in Pittsburgh.