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Stanley Cup Final now best-of-three as Preds even series

By Cliff McArdle Jun 6, 2017 | 2:46 PM

Two wins away, Nashville.

Thanks to their second dominating performance in a row, the Nashville Predators are tied with the Pittsburgh Penguins 2-2 in their best-of-seven Stanley Cup Final series. The Preds beat the Penguins 4-1 in front of yet another ruckus crowd, both inside and outside Bridgestone Arena.

Pekka Rinne was sensational between the pipes for Nashville. He faced 24 shots and the only one that beat him on Monday night was a clean breakaway by one of the world’s best players in Sidney Crosby. Other than that? Perfect. Including this ridiculous sequence of which we’ve pulled the Finnish broadcast because it’s just, in a word, fun.

There were a lot of notable things on Monday night: a catfish wearing a bedazzled hat while eating a penguin, Charles Barkley waving a Preds towel and tremendous signs that are worthy of a hall of fame for that sort of thing. But none more remarkable than the crowd on Broadway. Unlike Saturday’s Game 3, it was a work night and the weather was questionable, having rained all day off and on. Despite those obstacles, there were still about as many people taking in the game outside as there were on Saturday.

The TV ratings were another story. According to NBC, the Pittsburgh and Nashville markets were tops in the country, which is no surprise. What is a surprise, however, is the numbers Music City pulled down.

They then followed that info up later in the day with this amazing factoid:

Some other notable nuggets from last night:

  • With his 36th career win, Rinne tied Antti Niemi as the winningest Finnish-born netminder in Stanley Cup Playoff history
  • Since January 10, Rinne has allowed just 51 goals on home ice (27 games)
  • Freddie Gaudreau became the first NHL player since John Harms (Chicago Blackhawks) in 1941 to score his first three career goals in the Final
  • 11 different players have recorded game-winning goals during this playoff run and Gaudreau joins Colton Sissons and James Neal as the only Preds with multiple
  • This is the first Final in NHL history to feature four game winners scored by rookies (Gaudreau, Jake Guentzel)
  • With his assist last night, Mike Fisher now has eight points in nine career Stanley Cup Final games (four against Ottawa in 2006, four so far against Pittsburgh)
  • Since Ryan Johansen’s injury in the Western Conference Final, Calle Jarnkrok has five points in those six games
  • Now that a Game 6 is confirmed, the Penguins will have played the most games in back-to-back playoff years in NHL history (49)

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PHOTO CREDIT: Jeremy K. Gover
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