‘We’ve got to return the favor’
Predators eager to get even after Game 5 blowout
Before Game 5 of the Stanley Cup final, Predators coach Peter Laviolette said the most desperate playoff team is the one that usually prevails.
He wasn’t sure whether Nashville or the Penguins had more urgency heading into Thursday. The answer was clear after the first period.
“It wasn’t good,” Laviolette said of the first period in which the Penguins scored three goals. “It was not the period we were looking for, and it really didn’t get much better after that.”
Despite both teams each getting 24 shots on goal, the Penguins were in control from beginning to end in their 6-0 victory at PPG Paints Arena. Frustrations boiled over in the final period for Nashville, as eight players received 11 penalties related to fighting.
But now the Predators are headed home, where they are 9-1 this postseason and outscored the Penguins 9-2 in Games 3 and 4. Facing elimination, defenseman P.K. Subban said the team understands what’s at stake and is eager to put Game 5 behind it.
“We’re going back to our building, and we know that we’re confident in that building,” Subban said. “Our focus now — it’s just like when we came in here for the first game. It’s gotta shift right to Game 6 now, and we’ve got to focus on giving ourselves an opportunity to come back here for Game 7. I still feel that we have a lot of great hockey to be played.”
Laviolette and players deflected blame from goaltender Pekka Rinne afterward, but Rinne struggled against the Penguins once again at PPG Paints Arena. He was pulled for the second time this series after a subpar first period in which he gave up three goals on nine shots.
Rinne’s replacement, Juuse Saros, wasn’t significantly better, giving up three goals on 10 shots in the secondperiod before holding the Penguins without a goal on five attempts in the third.
“They seemed to have a lot of stuff going for them,” Rinne said. “Their best players were their best players and played with a lot of speed, created a lot of good plays. I think everybody saw a lot of the goals here in the second period, nice passing plays, and they seemed to connect tonight. Just one of those games when they were going and we were trying to find it and didn’t really get it going at any point.”
Rinne was much better at home in Games 3 and 4, allowing one goal in each game and totaling 50 saves overall.
Nashville has yet to figure out how to consistently generate offense on the Penguins’ home ice. The Predators had a 5-3 postseason road record before the Cup final.
For at least one more game, though, they won’t have to worry about their road woes.
“We’ve been good on the road in the playoffs until this series,” forward Mike Fisher said. “We have to be a lot better. There’s no question. Especially in Games 1 and 2, we played pretty good. ... They were coming, they were hungry, and we’ve got to return the favor here in a few nights.”