Penguins storm to 2-0 lead in Cup final
Rinne now has a shaky .777 save percentage after two dreary Stanley Cup final outings
Pekka Rinne closed his eyes and went back to a happy place.
It was the morning of Game 2, but the Nashville Predators goalie was somewhere else entirely. He had gone to a place where he had made the big saves, where he had picked up the big win, where he was once again the best goalie in the playoffs.
A lot of goaltending is played between the ears, and after Rinne had allowed four goals on 11 shots in Game 1, he wanted to feel good about his game again.
“Obviously, it’s a mental thing,” said Rinne, who entered the Stanley Cup final with a 1.70 goals-against average and a .941 save percentage. “You look back to good games and make yourself feel good. As a goalie, it’s important that you feel good going into the night.”
After the Pittsburgh Penguins chased him from the net in a 4-1 win on Wednesday, he might want to get back to that happy place again. At the very least, he needs to go to a place where Jake Guentzel doesn’t exist.
Rinne, who had not lost two in a row in these playoffs, allowed four goals on 25 shots. That was more than he allowed in the entire first-round series against the Blackhawks.
But Pittsburgh is not Chicago, and this is not the same Rinne. The goalie who had been so dominant in the playoffs has now given up eight goals on 36 shots and has a .777 save percentage in the Stanley Cup final.
As a result, a Predators team that once again played well enough to win is once again shaking its heads after going down 2-0 in the best-of-seven series that is slipping from its grasp.
Game 3 is in Nashville on Saturday. While the Predators desperately need Rinne to rebound and return to form, they also need a way to keep Guentzel, who scored his leading 11th and 12th goals of the playoffs, off the scoresheet.
One thing is for sure: A new favourite has emerged for the Conn Smythe Trophy.
This game was closer to what was expected from these two uptempo teams. For one, they actually put pucks on the net.
In Game 1, the Penguins had gone 37 minutes — including the entire second period — without a shot. In Game 2, they had as many shots in the first period — 12 — as they did total in the previous game.
Still, it was Nashville striking first on a gorgeous individual effort from rookie Pontus Aberg. Skating one-on-one against Olli Maatta, the Predators rookie turned Maatta inside out on a deke and then cut toward the net and went upstairs on goalie Matt Murray.
Murray, who had the crowd chanting his name after stretching out to rob Filip Forsberg of a surefire goal, redeemed himself as the game wore on. At the other end, Rinne looked like he couldn’t wait for the period to end.
With less than four minutes remaining in the first, Game 1 hero Guentzel tied things up when he followed up a Conor Sheary rebound and snuck a backhand through Rinne’s equipment. After going the entire third round without scoring, the Penguins rookie has found his touch again with three in the last two games. In the process, Guentzel has put his name back at the top of the playoff MVP race. Still, it was a goal that Rinne should have had.
Before Game 2, Rinne allowed just one goal in each of the four games following a loss in these playoffs. He was a big reason why the Predators swept the Blackhawks and were able to oust the Blues and Ducks, even as the team dealt with significant injuries to its star forwards. But two games into the final, he is a reason why Nashville is down 2-0.
What has made Rinne’s performance so deflating is Nashville had been driving possession for most of Game 2 and might have actually been the better team. The Predators outshot the Penguins 18-12 in the first and 14-7 in the second. But the Penguins, who had needed just 12 shots to score five goals in Game 1, continued to be opportunistic.
A mere 10 seconds into the third period, Bryan Rust fired a long-range shot that bounced off Rinne and onto Guentzel’s stick for the game-winner. About three minutes later, Phil Kessel banked in a centring pass off Scott Wilson’s skate. Sensing their opponent was on the ropes and bleeding, the Penguins delivered the knockout punch 15 seconds after on a shot that went crossbar-down from Evgeni Malkin.
Rinne, who was last pulled on Feb. 21, was mercifully replaced with Juuse Saros.
It didn’t really matter, however. With the way that Murray has been playing since he took over for Marc-Andre Fleury in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference final, two goals were all the Penguins needed.