As has oft been repeated the Stanley Cup Finals has not seen a repeat champion since the 1998 Detroit Red Wings swept the Washington Capitals, there have been several threats to do so by defending champions in the next season’s Finals. This list in its entirety includes the 2000 Dallas Stars (who lost to New Jersey in 6 in their repeat bid) the 2001 New Jersey Devils (who dropped the finals in 7 to the Colorado Avalanche), and most recently the 2009 Red Wings who lost in 7 to the Pittsburgh Penguins. How ironic then that the Penguins are on the cusp of breaking this nearly two-decade-long drought after last night, during which they destroyed the upstart Nashville Predators.
As was Nashville’s undoing in each of the first two games, a three-goal outburst at Pekka Rinne’s expense put the Penguins up and chased the goaltender who had been brilliant on home ice in Nashville. The scariest part for the Predators is that in the very next period the Penguins did it again, this time to backup Juuse Saros to make it 6-0 which would be the final with goals scored by Justin Schultz, Brandon Rust, Evgeni Malkin, Conor Sheary, Phil Kessel, and Ron Hainsey. The Penguins finally managed to have the same number of shots in a game as Nashville although all 24 of the Predators shots were turned away by Matt Murray. The hits kept coming for the hometown flightless birds as Conn Smythe favorite Jake Guentzel with an assist on the fourth goal tied the record for most points in a single postseason by a rookie with 21, and he needs just one more goal to tie Hall of Famer Dino Ciccarelli’s rookie mark of 14. Unfortunately, on a night of pure dominance, the hits weren’t all clean as Sidney Crosby gooned it up with P.K. Subban along the boards and smushed Subban’s head into the ice repeatedly resulting in Subban putting him into a headlock.
You may think the series is all but over given Rinne’s struggles, but that is an alternative fact as Rinne has absolutely dominated in Nashville which is the sight for Sunday’s Game Six tilt. Regardless of who you root for it is a guarantee that exciting hockey will be forthcoming. As a neutral, I am praying for Game Seven.
