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Predators stun Penguins to tie Stanley Cup series
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FREDERICK Gaudreau sure is doing his best to earn his own locker with the Nashville Predators with a Stanley Cup Final debut for the ages.
For now, he insists he is happy enough just to sit on the floor as long as he plays.
An undrafted free agent playing in just his sixth postseason game, Gaudreau scored the go-ahead goal 3:45 into the second period and Pekka Rinne made 23 often-spectacular saves as the Predators beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-1 on Monday at home to tie the series at 2-2.
It’s now a best-of-3 sprint to the Stanley Cup, and Nashville is riding a wave of momentum after outscoring the defending champions 9-2 in Games 3 and 4 of its Final debut.
Game 5 is in Pittsburgh.
Gaudreau, a 24-year-old rookie, only has a chair in the locker room, but he now is the second player in NHL history to score his first three career goals in a Stanley Cup Final, joining Johnny Harms with the 1944 Chicago Blackhawks.
“He’s been unbelievable for us the way he’s come in, and he’s just been so good, timely goals and composed,” Nashville captain Mike Fisher said. “He definitely belongs.”
Gaudreau is also just the third rookie to score game-winning goals in consecutive games in the Stanley Cup Final since the NHL took over sole possession of the trophy in 1926-27. Pittsburgh’s Jake Guentzel did it in the first two games of this series and Roy Conacher did it for Boston in Games 3, 4 and 5 against Toronto in 1939.
Calle Jarnkrok, Viktor Arvidsson and Filip Forsberg also scored for Nashville, which improved to 9-1 at home and roared back after dropping the first two games of the series on the road.
Pittsburgh star Sidney Crosby scored his first goal in the series after not getting a shot on goal in Game 3. The goal was his first in the Final since June 4, 2009, a span of 12 games, but it wasn’t enough as the Penguins lost two straight for the second time this postseason. Goalie Matt Murray lost consecutive games for the first time in his young career.
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