Predators Chomp Penguins, Knot Series at 2-2

We’ve got a fight on our hands. A full-blown brawl, in fact.

Looking every bit our equal, the Nashville Predators—fueled by a lethal combination of timely scoring and clutch goaltending—toppled our Penguins, 4-1, in Game Four to even the Stanley Cup Final series at 2-2.

So much for those victory parade plans, at least for the near future.

Out to impress an amped-up, adoring throng at Bridgestone Arena, Nashville drew first blood at 14:51 of the first period on a classic, playoff-style goal. Taking full advantage of a botched black-and-gold clearing attempt, the Preds followed the time-honored recipe of getting bodies and pucks to the net. Matt Murray stopped Austin Watson’s initial shot from point-blank range, but Calle Jarnkrok rambled to the net and buried the rebound.

Thanks to a brilliant individual effort by Sidney Crosby, the Pens wasted no time in answering. Sixty-six seconds after Jarnkrok’s tally, Sid slipped behind Preds defender Ryan Ellis and picked up a beautiful outlet pass from Brian Dumoulin at the Nashville line.

Turning on the jets, No. 87 burst in alone on Pekka Rinne, faked a shot and deftly switched from forehand to backhand. With Rinne sprawled on the ice, Crosby slipped the puck home with a two-cushion bank shot off the post and the goalie’s skate blade.

Unfortunately, Sid’s super goal proved to be the highlight of an otherwise disappointing evening.

It wasn’t for a lack of opportunities or effort. With the score knotted at 1-1, Rinne robbed Jake Guentzel early in the second period, the first in a series of game-saving stops by the rangy netminder. At 3:27, Phil Kessel sprang Chris Kunitz on a breakaway. In perhaps the pivotal moment of the game, “Kuny” attempted to slip the puck through Rinne’s exposed five-hole, but chipped it into his stick instead.

On the ensuing rush, Preds rookie Frederick Gaudreau appeared to score on a wraparound. Play continued for another 35 seconds until the horn blared, indicating the play was under review. Video clearly showed the puck had crossed the line.

Still, the Pens had a golden chance to knot the score on a wild flurry near the nine-minute mark. Crosby swept in on a partial breakaway, but couldn’t beat Rinne with a backhander. During the ensuing scramble, Bryan Rust swatted the puck toward a yawning net, only to be thwarted by the stick of a diving Roman Josi. Guentzel pounced on the rubber, still loose, but shoved it into Rinne, who slid across the crease at the last millisecond.

The Pens kept firing (57 shot attempts in all). But the goalmouth barrage represented their last and best chance to even the score. A short time later speedy Viktor Arvidsson streaked in and beat Murray with a sizzling glove-side wrister. Backed by Rinne’s 10 third-period saves, the Preds made the 3-1 lead stand up until Filip Forsberg struck for an empty-netter in the waning minutes.

My take?

A ghastly 16 giveaways aside, I thought we gave a good account of ourselves. Following Crosby’s inspired example, we skated hard, played with passion and crashed the net whenever possible. Although the Pens failed to cash in with the man-advantage, the power play was much improved. While hardly airtight, Murray made a number of big saves, especially in the third period.

Perhaps that’s what I find most disturbing. We gave it our best shot and came up short. Well short. In fact, if I didn’t know better, I’d swear the teams had switched uniforms. It was the Preds who scored the big goals at crucial junctures, much like our Pens usually do. And Rinne outshone Murray for the second game in a row.

Nashville even usurped our trademark resilience by bouncing back from a 0-2 series deficit.

Now the Pens face an uphill climb against an emboldened, high-energy foe—not to mention what for all intents and purposes is a must-win Game Five in the ‘Burgh on Thursday night—if they’re to repeat as Cup champions.

The optimist in me wants to believe. The realist in me can’t ignore what he sees.

Wish I felt better about our chances.

Puckpourri

The Penguins held the edge in most statistical categories, including shot attempts (57-50), faceoffs (37-29), hits (32-28) and blocked shots (18-15). Nashville had a slight advantage in shots on goal (26-24).

Crosby paced the Pens with four shots on goal. He led all black-and-gold forwards with 22:15 of ice time, second behind Dumoulin (22:57).

Nick Bonino missed his second-straight game with an ankle injury. Josh Archibald (5:11 TOI) replaced Scott Wilson in the Pens’ lineup. The gritty Alberta native was on the ice for the first Predators goal, along with linemates Carter Rowney (6:36 TOI) and Conor Sheary.

With the exception of Crosby-Guentzel-Rust line and defensemen Dumoulin and Ron Hainsey, each Penguin finished the game a minus.