Stanley Cup: Pittsburgh Penguins take 2-0 lead over Nashville Predators

Will Rinne return for another chance at redemption? 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. “He was playing a lot of minutes”.

After two periods of Game 2 on Wednesday night, the Predators should’ve felt confident about their chances of evening their Stanley Cup final series against Pittsburgh. “You look back to good games and make yourself feel good”. “Will be happy to get home”. That rookie: Jake Guentzel. “Only in Nashville could you have A-list artists on hand and excited to help the city come together for great music while we cheer on our Nashville Predators”.

“I think he’s had an opportunity to get a little bit of a second wind”, Sullivan added.

Pekka Rinne went from postseason MVP to Stanley Cup Final liability for the Predators.

Most important, the Predators have played well throughout these playoffs, including this series.

But Pittsburgh is not Chicago. His game-tying goal in Game 2, in particular, is a shot that should have been shut down at the post immediately by Rinne. In the history of the National Hockey League, 50 teams have grabbed a 2-0 lead in the final. They went 9 minutes and 50 seconds without a shot, reminiscent of the second period of Game 1when they had no shots at all. Nashville is a minus-129 favorite to win Game 3, according to OddsShark. Game 3 is Saturday night at 8 PM. For the second straight game, the Nashville Predators were the better team for the majority of the game, but were unable to pull out the victory against the Penguins.

The 22-year-old forward’s Conn Smythe Trophy stock is rising rapidly.

“We’ve been talking about just throwing pucks off the pad and see what happens”, Guentzel said. “We’re looking at ourselves”. The NHL’s stats showed that Bonino returned to play one shift late in the period.

“I get nervous before pretty much any game”. For one, they actually put pucks on the net.

Rinne had been dominant throughout the first three rounds of the playoffs, posting a 12-4 record with a.941 save percentage and a 1.70 goals against average in 18 starts.

Pittsburgh has just two shots on five power plays and has not scored on any of them.

A strong individual effort by Aberg gave Nashville a 1-0 lead at 12:57 of the first.

Nashville is outshooting Pittsburgh 32-19 and the Penguins had only seven shots in the second period. Guentzel pounced on a rebound from Pekka Rinne, and just passed it into the net past the goaltender. But the Evgeni Malkin goal on a rush up ice ended Rinne’s night nevertheless. “A goal goes in and he can play the exact same way right after that, which is hard for any goalie to do, but especially one that’s still really quite young”.

It was Nashville’s first lead of the series – no offside challenge this time – but it did not last.

None of that mattered when Guentzel struck again 10 seconds into the third, slamming home a juicy Rinne rebound.

He might see his name etched on Stanley Cup for a second time instead. The Boston Bruins did it against the Vancouver Canucks in 2011. We’re down 2-nothing. We’re coming back in our barn, and we don’t lose here. Who will come out on top and win the 2016-17 Stanley Cup?

Nashville posted a 16.3 local rating, the market’s second-best ever for a Predators game on NBCSN, trailing only Game 6 vs. Anaheim in the Western Conference final (16.5) last month.

The Predators aren’t of this series yet, but they sure need more from their aces, Subban, Filip Forsberg, Viktor Arvidsson and Roman Josi. That’s it. It’s done.

“I know our guys enjoy playing at home”.

“We have a tough Game 3 ahead of us that’s in an atmosphere that’s going to be a raucous building, a place that’s going to be really loud and insane and we’ve got to go out there and play maybe one of the dullest road games of the season and take that crowd out of it and try and keep their team from getting that momentum”, he said.

Nashville had a nervous moment at the midway point of the first when P.K. Subban took a cross-check to the neck from Kunitz. Any goaltender will tell you that.

In many ways, Subban’s word are refreshing because so many athletes refuse to say what’s on their minds.