Pekka Rinne, Predators bounce back to top Penguins in Game 3 in raucous Nashville
Forty-two seconds were all the Predators needed Saturday night to ruin the Penguins' dreams of a Stanley Cup Final sweep. In that amount of time, Nashville went from looking at a Game 3 loss in the Stanley Cup Final to a victory, as the Predators went on to beat the Penguins 5-1. Pittsburgh now leads the series two games to one.
Jake Guentzel gave the visiting Penguins an early lead. A shot from Ian Cole near the blue line didn't find the back of the net, but Guentzel was at the right spot at the right time. He collected the rebound right in front of the crease and slipped the puck in between Nashville netminder Pekka Rinne's legs for the goal 2:46 into the first period. The goal was Guentzel's 13th of the postseason and fourth of the Cup Final. He's scored in every game of the series so far, joining Dino Ciccarelli (1981) as the only two rookies to register a goal in a Cup Final's first three games since 1926-27.
The Predators erased their deficit in the second period. Roman Josi provided Nashville a power play goal courtesy of a slap shot from behind the right face-off circle at 5:51 to tie the game. Frederick Gaudreau followed with a goal of his own 42 seconds later. Gaudreau's wrist shot at 6:33 was his second goal of the postseason. He's played in five games during the 2017 playoffs after a nine-game stint with Nashville during the regular season in which he recorded just one point, coming off an assist on November 29 against Colorado. James Neal made it 3-1 in favor of Nashville with 23 seconds left in the middle frame.
Craig Smith's unassisted goal 4:54 into the final stanza gave Nashville that much more of a cushion at 4-1. A power-play strike from Mattias Ekholm with 6:50 left made it 5-1.
Rinne made 27 stops on 28 shots in the win. His performance Saturday follows a forgettable one Wednesday when he gave up four goals on 25 shots. He's now 8-1 at home during the 2017 playoffs, and 4-0 in Game 3s. Matt Murray saved 28 shots for Pittsburgh in the loss.
Nashville will look to even the Stanley Cup Final at two apiece Monday night when the Predators host Game 4.
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