His Pittsburgh Penguins fell to the Predators, 4-1, Monday at Bridgestone Arena, and now the Stanley Cup Final is tied at two games apiece.
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Malkin finished with two shots. He got the Penguins on the scoreboard late in the first, converting on a breakaway to even the score at 1 after banking the puck off of the right post and by Rinne.
The Penguins are grappling with a fundamental flaw in their power play: they can not get away with a clean zone entry.
Except for some of the offensive outbursts from the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Predators have controlled most of the action this series.
The Nashville Predators defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-1, on Monday night in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final.
Imagine a packed seating bowl, both lower and upper levels, full of fans in Nashville Predators gold screaming at the top of their lungs at near deafening levels, imploring their team to get back in a series in which they were down two games to none to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Pittsburgh has sported positive odds on the road with regularity since the final days of the regular season.
If only the Penguins could get the replacement production of a Frederick Gaudreau, who has scored his first three National Hockey League goals in the Cup Final. They have been held to just three shots, none of them goals, on their last ten man advantages.
The Predators have outshot the Penguins in each game so far with Pittsburgh taking a 2-0 series lead with quick scoring bursts.
Crosby said the next game is key. Smith’s goal on a breakaway at 4:54 was his first of the playoffs, and Ekholm padded the lead with a power-play goal with 6:50 left.
Arvidsson made it a 3-1 Nashville lead with his first goal since the end of the first round. Judging on how he has rebounded, it’d be a pretty good guess that Murray is going to play a big factor in how Game 4 turns out.
“Now you’re talking about goal line to goal line”.
The Predators’ 5-1 win over the Penguins in Game 3 Saturday included many ingredients, but any sort of postgame analysis should start with this simple caveat: Hey, the Predators don’t stink. That being said, Malkin crossed a line here, and he’s getting a free pass from the NHL, so please remember this when you go on your next “The NHL hates the Penguins” diatribe. If we want to finish up against these Predators we are going to need to get this sorted out by game four. When Ryan Ellis was given a minor for boarding Jake Guentzel at 16:37 of the second period, Calle Jarnkrok enjoyed the best scoring chance of the two-minute sequence when he cut into the slot.
Worse yet from a Penguins perspective, they got no shots on goal from either of their star centers – Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin. SlapShot Radio is the longest running hockey show in the mid-south and Pete Weber and I bring you the best in hockey talk all playoffs long. Bridgestone Arena has been a tough place for opponents so I’m tempted to back the them again… Frustrated but not without hope, captain Sidney Crosby is confident they will eventually crack the code and breakthrough to make an impact.
Pittsburgh now has to go home – where it’s been very, very good – and win.
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Predators coach Peter Laviolette heard all the questions and criticism of Pekka Rinne after the goaltender’s struggles in the Stanley Cup Final in Pittsburgh.
