Pens draw first blood

Not many shots, but Pittsburgh makes 'em count

PITTSBURGH - For most of Monday's opening game of the Stanley Cup final, the Pittsburgh Penguins rarely tested the NHL's hottest goaltender.

But they beat Nashville's Pekka Rinne anyway.

Rookie Jake Guentzel zipped a wrist shot past Rinne with 3:17 left in regulation to put the Penguins ahead to stay in a back-and-forth 5-3 victory over the Predators.

Guentzel snapped an eight-game scoring drought with his 10th goal of the playoffs to help the defending champions escape after blowing a three-goal lead.

Nick Bonino scored twice for the Penguins, while Conor Sheary and Evgeni Malkin notched singles.

Pittsburgh won despite putting just 12 shots on goal.

Matt Murray finished with 23 saves for the Penguins, who used a coach's challenge to wipe out an early Nashville goal and held on despite going an astonishing 37 minutes without a shot.

"I think at the end of the day we're up 1-0," Bonino said. "We had a good first, we had a terrible second and we were terrible in the third.

"I don't think it's Xs and Os. We've got to work harder, compete a little harder, but we got some timely goals."

Game 2 is on Wednesday night in Pittsburgh.

Ryan Ellis, Colton Sissons and Frederick Gaudreau scored for the Predators. Rinne finished with just seven saves.

Pittsburgh had all of three days to get ready for the final following a draining slog through the Eastern Conference that included a pair of Game 7 victories, the second a double-overtime thriller against Ottawa last Thursday.

The Penguins downplayed the notion they were fatigued, figuring adrenaline and a shot at making history would make up for any lack of jump while playing their 108th game in the last calendar year.

The Predators, who crashed the NHL's biggest stage for the first time behind Rinne and a group of talented defenseman, were hardly intimidated by the stakes, the crowd or the defending champions, who are trying to become the first repeat winner since Detroit in 1998.

All the guys from "Smashville" have to show for it is their first deficit of the playoffs.

The Penguins, who led the league in scoring, stressed before Game 1 that the best way to keep the Preds at bay was by taking the puck and spending copious amounts of time around Rinne.

It didn't happen - mostly because Nashville's forecheck pinned the Penguins in their own end. Clearing attempts were knocked down or outright swiped, tilting the ice heavily in front of Murray.

Yet Pittsburgh managed to build a quick 3-0 lead, thanks to a fortunate bounce and some quick thinking by video coordinator Andy Saucier.

Part of Saucier's job is to alert coach Mike Sullivan when to challenge a call. The moment came 12:47 into the first when PK Subban ripped a slapper past Murray that appeared to give Nashville the lead.

Sullivan used his coach's challenge, arguing Preds forward Filip Forsberg was offside. A lengthy review indicated Forsberg's right skate was in the air as he brought the puck into a zone, a no-no.

"The impact of that moment and then the chain of events that happened after that with the penalty kills I think changed the course of the game," Nashville coach Peter Laviolette said.

The decision gave the Penguins all the wiggle room they needed to take charge.

Malkin scored on a 5-on-3 15:32 into the first, Sheary made it 2-0 just 65 seconds later and when Bonino's innocent centering pass deflected off Nashville's Mattias Ekholm and past Rinne just 17 seconds before the end of the period, Pittsburgh was in full command.

But Nashville didn't bail.

Ellis scored the first goal by a Predator in a Stanley Cup final 8:21 into the second period, while Pittsburgh didn't manage a shot on net in the entire 20 minutes - the first time it's happened in a playoff game since 1958.

Sissons beat Murray 10:06 into the third and Gaudreau tied it just after a fruitless Pittsburgh powerplay.

But the Penguins proved once again they can win with both firepower and precision.

Associated Press

(China Daily 05/31/2017 page22)