And we want to dictate the pace of the game, and we want to attack you in all three zones as a five-man unit and be tough to play against. Viktor Arvidsson, who popped a career-best 31 goals in the regular season, scored only third goal of the playoffs Monday to snap a 15-game drought. Murray didn’t make the crucial save when he needed to, whereas Rinne was there time and again with the kinds of spectacular saves that both inspired his team and sent the crowd into a frenzy. “We need to do it again to win another game”. The puck barely snuck inside the goal line, bouncing off a lunging Matt Murray’s blocker pad and back out in a split second.He told me my breath smelled, but I don’t know, I used Listerine before the game so I don’t know what he’s talking about. “We felt as though, with each game we played [in Nashville], our team game is getting stronger”.
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“It’s a game of execution”, Crosby said.
Murray has thrived in Pittsburgh, where the Penguins are 9-3 in the playoffs. “This is a team that Games 1 and 2, there were a few minutes where we liked our game for some of it, then other parts of it, they took over”.
A week ago, the Nashville Predators headed home down 2-0 to the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins. A couple lapses, one in each game, making all the difference for a star-studded Penguins team that’s as opportunistic as anyone in the league. If not, you must have been vacationing in Belize, because it has been somewhat of a hot topic during these playoffs.
The Pens’ home-ice advantage also translates into them having the advantage as far as the handicappers are concerned.
Based on line rushes and who stayed out on the ice for extra work, it appeared that Predators left wing Colin Wilson will play Thursday and that P.A. Parenteau will come out of the lineup. “As I said, I think the balance we have when we have the ability to spread those guys makes us a much more hard team to play against”.
We’ve seen this (cat) fish before. They are so supportive of our group. “We didn’t score, but the movement, the momentum it got for our team I thought was where it needs to be”. Pekka Rinne silenced the critics for the second straight game with a 23 save performance for his 14th win of the playoffs that continued the Predators strong play on home ice. For Game 1, Pittsburgh is a -165 moneyline favorite against the +145 underdog Predators with a 5.5-goal total. Expect Rinne to be back in net for Game 6 in Nashville. Ellis has skated only two shifts in the second, a big loss for the Predators as they trail 5-0 and are well on their way to falling behind 3-2 in the series. When the Penguins had just three goals during the first three games of the Eastern Conference finals against Ottawa last month, they scored 10 over the next two to take control. “That is what’s good”. “They still have home ice”.
Crosby had another break-away midway through the period, but this time Rinne stopped both the first shot and the rebound.
With eight goals and 27 points, Crosby isn’t leading the playoffs in scoring (Malkin is). That’s something that we’ve talked about, how we can just get better at our transition speed.
He was disappointed that his team scored only one goal in each of Games 3 and 4 and knows that they can be better. He was pulled after the first period by coach Peter Laviolette after surrendering half the goals in a 6-0 rout by the Penguins in Game 5 on Thursday night.
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The Predators have the best top four defensive group in hockey, and it shows. “We came here with the mission to win the game and we didn’t have the start or the game we wanted”. Heck, even their worst players were better than the Predators’ so-called best.
