Preds even Stanley Cup Final at 2-2, beat Penguins 4-1

Nashville Predators right wing Craig Smith, center, celebrates a goal by teammate Calle Jarnkrok, not shown, as Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Matt Murray, bottom, falls on the ice during the first period in Game 4 of the National Hockey League hock.

Game 5 is scheduled for Thursday, back in Pittsburgh, where the Penguins hope their fan base can match the raucous atmosphere that Nashville’s supporters produced over two wild and entertaining nights at the Bridgestone Arena.

The good times will continue to roll when the series shifts to Pittsburgh for Game 5.

Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby has game, but he’s not into gamesmanship. They got more, just not almost enough against Pekka Rinne and the Nashville Predators.

Frederick Gaudreau has scored on a wraparound, giving the Nashville Predators a 2-1 lead early in the second period against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final.

It’s the fifth time Crosby, with 160 career playoff points and 23 points this postseason, had been held without a shot and third this spring. Sidney Crosby, of all people, broke in alone off a sharp pass from defenseman Brian Dumoulin to tie it just 66 seconds later with a insane fake of Rinne that had people thinking Crosby was back. The scene for Game 3 was something akin to Mardi Gras, with an estimated 50,000 people descending on Broadway, live music everywhere, celebrity sightings, flying catfish and a city amped up for its first time hosting a Stanley Cup Final game. Malkin didn’t even have a shot attempt last game, and Kessel has scored one goal in his last eight playoff games. That gave the Predators a 2-1 lead in the second period. “You got to hit the net, so let’s start there”. “They’ve got to find a way to get pucks on net”. “He’s just a real good solid two-way center iceman we know makes our team more competitive when he’s in our lineup”. “We believe in the group we have”. Game four will be pivotal in their quest to do that. In fact, the Pens’ only score on the Power Play came on a 5-on-3 advantage in game one.

As wonderful as all of that was, the most important thing that happened Saturday from the Predators perspective was that they won the game. “We have to go back and respond the right way”. We thought there were opportunities in the game for both of those guys to put pucks on the net.

His best may have been his stop on Chris Kunitz’s breakaway at 3:29 of the second.

As play continued after Matt Murray appeared to make a stick save on Gaudreau, the arena horn sounded alerting on-ice officials to stop play. It worked wonders. The fourth line was not pinned down in its own defensive zone and doing a bad job at doing damage control, but they rather were aggressive, using their speed to move the puck down into the offensive zone.

Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said Crosby and Malkin simply command a lot of attention, and he doesn’t want to interfere with their instincts on when to pass or shoot. Also, they were 0-for-7, smashing just two shots in Game 2.

And as a veteran of 120 playoff games, he has added locker room mentor to his list of responsibilities, aiding players like Woodbury’s Jake Guentzel.