Predators stun the Penguins to level series

THEHE Nashville Predators roared back intoto Stanley Cup contention on Mondayay with a series-levelling 4-1 victory over ver the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Calle Jarnkrok, Frederick Gaudreau, Viktorktor Arvidsson and Filip Forsberg scoredored as the Predators swept to a deservedeserved win at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena ena to tie the best-of-seven series at twowo apiece.

Nashville, who droppedopped the opening pening two gamesames of the seriesries before rompingmping to a 5-1 1 win i n Game ame 3 on S a t u r d a y , pickedcked up w h e r e t h e y l e f t offo at the weekend to overwhelmw t he d e f e ndi ng champions.cha NetminderNet Pekke Rinne had anotheranoth inspired night for the Predators,Preda saving 23 of 24 shots includ including an incredible double save i in the second period to deny b both Sidney Crosby and Jake GuentzelG what would have been a game-tying goal. Jarnk Jarnkrok (pictured, AFP) fired the Pre Predators into the lead in the first period,p tucking away a rebound from close range. Pittsburgh ch challenged for goaltender interferen interference but Jarnkrok’s goal was deemed goo good. The Pengui Penguins responded swiftly, however, with C Crosby getting the visitors back on levellev terms, coolly finishing past Rinne a after sending the Predators’ goalie the wr wrong way. Gaudreau then sent Nashville into the lead with a clever wraparound. Initially it looked as if his shot had been cleared but a replay review showed the puck had crossed the line to send the Predators 2-1 up.

Rinne’s double save brought the home fans to their feet soon afterwards and the stadium erupted shortly after that when Mike Fisher and Arvidsson combined superbly to double the lead.

Fisher’s desperate lunging pass sent Arvidsson through on goal and the Swedish star finished with aplomb to trigger delirium. With time ticking down in the third period, Forsberg then applied the coup de grace, steering the puck into an empty net from long range to make it 4-1.

Predators coach Peter Laviolette singled out netminder Rinne for praise before attributing the victory to a team effort. “Pekke was excellent tonight, outstanding,” Laviolette said. “But I liked the way the guys stayed focused from start to finish. And that’s the difference sometimes. Now everything matters, every pass matters, every check matters, every face-off matters. And I thought our guys were sharp from start to finish.”

Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan bemoaned his team’s failure to breach the Nashville defence more than once.

“It’s hard to win when you score one goal,” Sullivan said. “Having said that, I thought tonight, of all the games we played, we generated the most chances and the highest quality.

“It didn’t go in the net for us. We had a number of grade A opportunities, a couple of breakaways. There were a lot of things from a process standpoint that we really liked. I think we just got to stay with it. We believe we got guys that can score goals and can finish.”

Game 5 takes place in Pittsburgh at 7am on Friday morning Cambodian time.