Crosby scores, Malkin shoots yet Penguins lose 4-1 to Preds

The defending champions provided an emphatic reminder of why they’re on the cusp of history with a 6-0 demolition of the Nashville Predators in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final to take a 3-2 lead.

Pegged for eight goals on only 36 shots in dropping the first two games, Rinne has rediscovered the form which helped the Preds storm through the first three rounds.

Will Pittsburgh press under the pressure of knowing that if they drop Game 5, their destiny may be determined?

Crosby set up three goals as Pittsburgh stomped Nashville 6-0 in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup final on Thursday night. The Predators in past years have given out a construction workers hard hat to recognize the best player in a game.

At Vivid Seats, the minimum ticket price for Game 5 is $236.90 and the median price is $492.10.

“You always have ups and downs, and you try to stay even-keeled”, Rinne said.

“I thought I was OK in Game 3, obviously not great”. We did a good job of that tonight. The Predators’ fans were pumped in Game 4, and it was nearly like an extra skater on the ice for them. “I’ve got to put one of those away”. Twelve different players had scoring points for Pittsburgh: This was more like the Penguins and San Jose Sharks than any game of the series to date.

“Gaudreau is also just the third rookie to score game-winning goals in consecutive games in the Stanley Cup Final since the National Hockey League took over sole possession of the trophy in 1926-27”.

But the Predators had little to enjoy from this one.

Phil Kessel scored and added two assists for the Penguins. Crosby and Evgeni Malkin finished with six shots, but just the lone goal.

“It’s disappointing, for sure”, Rinne said. The big reason is the ratings of the two games on cable this year are twice as high as they were a year ago. I don’t believe that’s the word that we want to use to describe our team.

It was a familiar showing for Rinne. People will bellow and yell, stammer and scream for him to replace Murray after the Penguins fell to Nashville, 4-1, in Game 4 to even the series at two games each.

“The real hockey starts now”, Subban said.

The NHL stopped play shortly thereafter, awarding Gaudreau the score after a review clearly showed the puck crossed the line.

Rookie Pontus Aberg has a pair of goals and five points after mustering only a single goal and assist during 15 regular season games. The Predators won 4-1 to tie the series 2-2. With Rinne’s no-look left pad stop on Jake Guentzel early in the second period of a tie game on Monday night? The 34-year-old was especially sharp in Game 4 – notably denying Crosby on his second breakaway attempt of the game. “We just didn’t get the result”.

On the other side was Nashville, now not only on the verge of elimination, but potentially without top-four defender Ryan Ellis, whose night ended after two shifts in the second period. Calle Jarnkrok, Viktor Arvidsson and Filip Forsberg also scored for the Predators.

Gaudreau’s tally came 3:45 into the period on a wraparound, but there was no goal signal on the ice at the time. But the 9-2 scoreline in favor of Nashville across the two games could hardly have been predicted. “We have to continue to get better in this series because we know it’s not getting any easier”.