The Pittsburgh Penguins team bus pulled up their hotel in downtown Nashville in the middle of a hot afternoon, drums and guitars echoing in the distance from a country music fan festival.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Pekka Rinne is a friendly, polite man off the ice. The biggest thing is just competing in those puck battles. In three games in Pittsburgh, Rinne has allowed 11 goals on 45 shots (.756 save percentage). Colton Sissons was assessed a match penalty for cross-checking Olli Maatta in the face with 30 seconds remaining in the game. Crosby's eventful night included becoming the franchise's all-time leading scorer in the Stanley Cup Final, a two-minute roughing penalty for trying to dribble Nashville defenseman P.K. Subban's head on the ice near the end of the first period and an flip of a water bottle onto the ice during play. And Rinne spent the past 40 minutes stewing on the bench as the Penguins finished off a 6-0 rout Thursday night in easily Nashville's worst playoff loss.
"It's disappointing, for sure", Rinne said. Pekka Rinne shined in net for the Preds, stopping 23 of 24 shots in the win, while rookie Frederick Gaudreau scored his third goal of the Stanley Cup Final, also his third career National Hockey League goal. That's a big reason why the Predators had 123 shots to the Penguins' 91.
The Penguins - who set a club record with their 10th home win of the playoffs - scored three times in the first period and another three in the second.
More meaningful to his night was the victory, which pushed the Penguins one step closer to becoming the first repeat Stanley Cup victor in 19 years. But they'll have to win again in Pittsburgh next week to lift the Stanley Cup.
Kessel had talked on Thursday about how he had missed a couple of shots he didn't want to miss, and that you want to bury them, but sometimes they don't go in. Losing the two previous games in Nashville gave them something to think about on the trip home.
"Nashville is a hockey town; they are insane about the Preds here", said country artist Darius Rucker, the former frontman of Hootie and the Blowfish.
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One of them, Khuram Shazad Butt, had appeared in a documentary, "The Jihadis Next Door," and was known to investigators. Corbyn's party colleague, London Mayor Sadiq Kahn, told Britain's Channel 4 News that the police force is underfunded.
Conor Sheary, Phil Kessel - just as linemate Malkin predicted - and 35-year-old playoff newbie Ron Hainsey also scored for Pittsburgh.
Yet there's been no question that Rinne, who has never won a start in Pittsburgh, will be in net Sunday night. All those rings on all those guys matter: Champions are champions because they know how to close the deal.
The cloud of the concussion symptoms that dogged him for the better part of two years in 2011 and 2012 are gone. It's just hockey, right?Would you rather listen to the same 10 clichés that we usually get in hockey interviews or have a good laugh at a colourful comment?
Before some in attendance even had the chance to take their seats, Crosby was barreling down the ice toward Predators defensemen Ryan Ellis and Roman Josi, unraveling the pair before firing a shot on net.
Confidence should return to a high level in the Nashville locker room as the Preds return to Bridgestone Arena, where they are 9-1 in the postseason. Also, in the 2017 playoffs, all three teams (Oilers, Ducks, Senators) that have lost by six or more goals in a game have won the next game.
"Certainly it's not like we've devised a new game plan", said Sullivan. "And when they do that, they're hard to defend".
Through the first four games, they had done a very respectable job on Crosby limiting him to a total of four points. Nashville went 3-1 in such games past year.
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