Defensemen help Penguins play fast in Stanley Cup Final

At the time of this writing, the Nashville Predators are down two games to three to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

It’s honourable and it’s hometown memorable and there is a certain quality and appreciation you can assign to it, but what it isn’t very often – and hasn’t been through five games of this Cup Final – is great hockey.

On the game’s first shift, Crosby wove down the slot, putting a shot off the left post and drawing a holding penalty on Nashville defenseman Ryan Ellis. “We had good communication in our zone working the puck out quick and with speed”. We’re 2-2. It’s even.

“We go about our business just like the players do”, Sullivan said. We were “just trying to move it up to our forwards and play the way we’ve been playing all year”.

Frustrate the Pens’ stars: The high-scoring trio of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel has generally not produced when it has been thrown off its game by the Predators’ on-ice barbs, be they physical or verbal. Will it be Carrie Underwood, whose husband, Mike Fisher, is the Predators’ captain? It’s going to be interesting to see if Crosby ends up getting targeted in this upcoming game, and if the Predators have enough firepower to stave off elimination. We know what we need to do in Game Six. “I know you’re not allowed to do that, so I’m not going to start doing it in the Stanley Cup Final“. Too many Penguins have been entering Peka Rinne’s net while in Pittsburgh, around 560 miles from Nashville.

One more loss away from the season being over, the “C” word kept coming up again and again heading into a must-win Game 6. Penguins F Nick Bonino missed his third straight game with a lower-body injury. The Preds will have a chance to redeem themselves when they head to Nashville on Sunday for Game 6. Game 7, if necessary, will be Wednesday at PPG Paints Arena.

“This team doesn’t have success if that group of defencemen doesn’t play the way that they’ve played throughout the course of this playoffs”, Sullivan said.

Combined, all of this – the home-road thing, the hook in Game 5, the Bridgestone effect – makes for a fascinating situation heading into Sunday’s tilt. It always has a connotation of hopelessness. “Definitely things we could have done better defensively”. “But I promise you, in 10 years when we’re talking about this to our kids, our friends, our grandkids, we’re not going to be complaining about where we parked or how crowded it was”. But this is the playoffs, this is the final, you’ve got to try and put it behind you as soon as possible. “It’s not about me, it’s all about us”. Dress the torso of the building in a Predators jersey preparing to spring a trap on the hockey team team from Pittsburgh with Public Enemy No. 1, Sidney (no longer the Kid) Crosby. Ron Hainsey got the last goal of the game, putting the puck into a wide-open net after being set up perfectly by Malkin.

When the Penguins talk about “playing fast”, this is what they mean.

The Predators, in contrast, just want more of the same results they got the past two games as they chase the franchise’s first Stanley Cup.

Instead, Mattias Ekholm was on the ice for four goals, P.K Subban and Matt Irwin were each on for three goals, and Yannick Weber was on for two goals. “So, when you go through the types of experiences the players on our team have been able to go through, you can’t help but learn from it, both their successes and failures”.

“I think our guys will be ready to do that”.