Predators Fight Back, but Penguins Hang on to Take Game 1
Pittsburgh was the place to Monday night as the Stanley Cup Final began with a great back and forth game between two great teams in the Nashville Predators and Pittsburgh Penguins. Heading into the third period the Penguins were up 3-1, but the Predators scraped away at the lead, tying it up, but ultimately coming up short because a Jake Guentzel goal put the Penguins up for good. The final was 5-3.
Jared McCabe: If you're an NHL fan this was the type of game you wanted to watch. It was a classic hockey game with two teams giving it their all on the biggest stage of their careers. In the first period it was all Predators. They were faster, more physical, and overall the better team. It seemed like the Predators struck first with a strike from P.K. Subban from the blue line that the Penguins would later challenge and the call was overturned. From that point on, I haven’t seen a huge momentum shift that I saw last night. Evgeni Malkin took advantage of the two penalties from James Neal and Calle Jarnkrok and scored a powerplay goal that went just about Pekka Rinnes glove. Couple minutes later Chris Kunitz had great tic tac toe pass that lead to an empty net goal for Conor Sheary. From that point on it seemed like it was going down hill for the Predators because the Penguins got a lucky bounce where the puck went off of Ekholm and into the net. Going into the locker rooms the Penguins were up 3-0. Start of the second the Predators hung in and Ryan Ellis got them on the board and the Predators stormed back. In the third period they got goals from Colton Sissons and Frederick Gaudreau to tie the game at three. But that didn’t stop the Penguins because Jake Guentzel scored his team high tenth goal to secure the victory. Before he scored the game winner, the Predators held the Penguins to zero shots on net for 37 minutes. If I were the Penguins coaching staff and fans I would be a little concerned because that's happened multiple times in these playoffs, but the Penguins are a great team and they always seem to have luck on their side. Nashville plays with heart and for each individual on the team, they almost did the impossible being down three goals and winning it, but they fell short. They look to even the series at 1 Wednesday night at 8 pm EST on NBC.
Caden Balint: This series is going to be a great series for starters. You have the defending Stanley Cup Champions taking on a team who made the finals for the first time in their history. If you look at the stats of both teams, they are pretty much even in every category. The Predators started off game 1 strong keeping the Penguins in their zone for most of the first half, and almost getting the first goal again after a shot from P.K. Subban came from the blueline, but after the goal was called off due to an offsides call the momentum shifted in a heartbeat. The Penguins would play to the Predators weaknesses like they have played this team 100 times before and this game was no different. The Predators would make a mistake as James Neal and Calle Jarnkrok would both get penalties giving the Pens a five on three for 2 minutes, and the Penguins would make sure that the Predators would pay for it. On the penalty kill the Predators looked fantastic, with every time they touched the puck, it would be cleared, but giving the slightest opening for the Penguins is giving them a chance to score and that’s what they did. Evgeni Malkin would score on a slapshot from the blueline to give the Penguins the 1-0 lead. Around a minute and five seconds later Conor Sheary would be given a beautiful pass from Chris Kunitz and Sheary would put the puck into the empty net giving the Penguins the 2-0 lead. Then with 25 seconds left in the first period Nick Bonino would shoot a puck on net and there was a lucky bounce for him as the puck bounced off of Mattias Ekholm and went in the net to give the Penguins the 3-0 lead. The second period would be scoreless and shotless for the Penguins, and the Predators had all the momentum. About 8 minutes into the second Ryan Eillis would score slapshot from the point to cut the lead to two goals. That would be the last goal until the third period. 10 minutes into the third Colton Sissons would score on a deflection to make it 3-2. Then 3 minutes later Frederick Gaudreau would score on a rebound to make it 3-3. Then 2 minutes later Jake Guentzel would break the shot less streak for the Penguins after 37 minutes and he would score to make it 4-3. Then with a minute left Nick Bonino would score his second on an empty net to make it 5-3.
