The last time the Penguins were in the Cup Final in back-to-back years, things had a very different feel to them. Coming off a loss the year before, there was a bit of that “something to prove” in the air as they met the Wings for the second straight season.
I imagine the Wings felt then how the Pens feel now. Because making the playoffs a year after hoisting the Cup is one thing, but you truly do not get a better chance at defending your crown without getting the chance to do so in the final round of the playoffs.
So here we are a year later, once again against a team making its first trip to the Stanley Cup Final. Take it all in, gang. The familiar faces, the injuries, the storylines. Take in the hate the other 29 30 fan bases will throw at you. Embrace it. Live it. Love it.
Because over the next 3-6 more games, it’s going to be coming. “But they were out-shot and out-possessed and out-played” will be flooding your timelines. But guess what? History won’t give a shit about the how. If they see out the rest of this road, history will only remember the Pens lifting their 5th Cup in franchise history.
And that, my dear Watson, is all anyone cares about.
FIRST PERIOD
The Peng lineup last night has a slightly different look to it than the team that triumphed over Ottawa a few days ago. Hornqvist returned to take on his former employers, replacing HagBro on 4L.
Let's do this. pic.twitter.com/srDmac33SP
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) May 30, 2017
Right off the hop, the game’s pace had established itself. The Preds were getting shot attempts at will while the Pens were having a decent bit of luck finding seams through the middle of the ice to fire off stretch pass after stretch pass. Scott Wilson was on the receiving end of more than his fair share of those, but he apparently has whatever dysenterious disease Conor Sheary had for the last 2 months. Despite the Perds really dictating the play, the Pens were finding themselves in decent positions in the offensive zone, but weren’t coming away with any real penetration.
And with that, it was Nashville opening the scoring, albeit only for a minute or two, after really hammering the Pens on a forecheck. Not sure if Hainsey has ever had a worse period of hockey in his career, but he was a total nightmare, turning the puck over to Forsberg and Aberg on this particular sequence. For Martin Erat worked it up to Pernell-Karl at the point, who sold laser and elected for a little wrister through traffic and in behind Murr. Sully challenged it for offside because on the initial zone entry, as Forsberg received the puck and crossed into the zone, he lifted his skate off the ice just before the puck entered the zone. Sully and his video crew are fucking wizards. No goal.
https://gfycat.com/WillingRemoteGiantschnauzer
https://gfycat.com/WaterloggedCorruptFirefly
https://gfycat.com/HeavyClearcutGermanwirehairedpointer
https://twitter.com/amc424/status/869360118420434944
Also, Olsucks being so convinced it was a good goal was maybe better than the goal itself not standing.
The non-goal sort of helped the Pens settle in and get their legs about them, earning a PP with 6:10 left in the period after Jarnkrok interfered with Hornqvist in front of the net. Fortunately for the Pens, James Neal is still a dumbdick and crosschecked Daley from behind as the Perds were trying to gain possession to give the Pens a full 2 minutes of a 5v3.
Despite this little bit of good fortunate, the Pens PP was an unmitigated disaster for the first 90 seconds. But as we’ve seen all year, they don’t need much time to make teams pay the troll toll. After having to gain the zone for the 708th time on the peep, Crosby got it all started with a first-time feed to Guentzel all alone on the door step. Bake missed the sitter, but they retained possession after Sid put Ekholm on his ass and with Daley and Malkin switching places at the point, Dales put it on a platter for a GeneBomb that Rinne, who actually fucking sucks, should’ve stopped. 1-0 for real this time.
https://gfycat.com/SatisfiedNearBats
That goal really gave them their skating legs and turned in 2 more great chances on the next two shifts, forcing Rinne to make 2 of his 7 saves on the night, including one on Kunitz alone in front. Dumoulin kept the play alive at the point for Kunitz to hit Sheary on the back stick for his first clean pass reception since February. 2-0
https://gfycat.com/DependentDifficultBengaltiger
And just when you thought your erection couldn’t get any harder or your loins frothier, the Pens weren’t about to take just a 2-0 lead into the first break. Nashville had a hell of a time dealing with Rust and Bonino working their sacs off, eventually giving Bones a free, all expenses paid trip down the right wing. Simple little one-handed backhander to the cage that Rinne chipped off Ekholm and in with 16 seconds left. Get bent. 3-0
https://gfycat.com/GrizzledDirectAlbacoretuna
Orlov, Phaneuf, Ekholm.
Pens are getting a lot of goals from the other teams defensemen.
— Jesse Marshall (@jmarshfof) May 30, 2017
helping to cover the loss of letang https://t.co/nbHLUVkwbk
— rich (@richtweetshere) May 30, 2017
Two goals in 65 seconds and 3 goals on 5 shots in the first period. Is that good?
SECOND PERIOD
So 3:20 into the period, down 3-0 in the first game of the series, some shitbird Preds fan threw a catfish on the ice. Now, look. I get it. I don’t have a modicum of understanding about how to behave in public settings. And in 1991 when I attended my first Stanley Cup Final game, I may have shit my pants. That probably falls along the same lines as throwing a dead animal on the ice. The difference: I was 2.
📣 We need a cleanup on the ice 📣 pic.twitter.com/GVK2fLPcyr
— SB Nation (@SBNation) May 30, 2017
As a result, a subset of humanoids believed that misdemeanor was what changed the tide for the Preds the rest of the game. That subset of humanoids can also be classified as idiots, bozos, or knuckleheads. What did change the tide was the Pens going down a man twice in a row with Maatta going off for Forsberg taking a dive interference and Cole for a needless roughing penalty. The hockey gods didn’t punish the Pens on Maatta’s penalty, but they did with Cole in the bin. The Preds peep looked a whole lot better while focusing primarily on getting point shots one their seconds powerplay. Makes sense when the only players on your team that are any good are your defensemen. Subban to Ellis with an Arvidsson screen to beat Murray. 3-1
https://gfycat.com/EmbellishedInbornBuzzard
The Preds dominating control of the game continued throughout the rest of the period, holding the Pens without a shot in the entire middle frame.
THIRD PERIOD
That trend unnaturally continued into the 3rd despite the Pens process being lot better to the point where it felt like they were #ActuallyGood again. Halfway through the period, there was only one shot on goal and it was in the Preds favor until they went back to the PP with 10:24 remaining after Malkin went off for a bad slashing penalty. Once more, the Preds worked the Pens with some fancy perimeter and point movement, setting up Josi to shoot the puck off Sissions to pull the Preds within 1. 3-2
https://gfycat.com/IllSandyHarpseal
Low key fuck James Neal for kneeing Murray in the head.
https://twitter.com/G_Off817/status/869346967612215296
However, about 90 seconds later, the Pens would get a clear chance at actually getting a shot with Subban in the box for delaying the game by throwing the puck over the glass. Laughably, they still weren’t able to register one and instead, it was Nashville getting another goal as the penalty expired on a simple clearance in which Austin Watson made Maatta and Daley look like Dion Phaneuf and Cody Ceci. Pens had 4 guys below the dots. Nashville had two. Cannot give up a chance there. Not sure what 3 and 6 were doing there or what kind of defending that was from Cullen or why no one picked up Gaudreau jumping in, but… 3-3
https://gfycat.com/HighSatisfiedDrafthorse
With Gaudreau’s goal came the dissipation of the “I don’t give a shit if the Pens don’t get another shot the rest of the game, as long as they win” mentality because they had to get one more if they were going to win. And despite the Pens not registering a shot for 37+ minutes, Sully asked his team who the fuck was going to get a shot on goal. Guentzel, fresh from his AP Bio final, raised his hand and asked if he should snipe. With 3:17 left, he did just that for his league-leading 10th of the postseason and first in forever. What a play by Jakey and his stepfather to disrupt Josi and Gaudreau in the neutral zone and turn the puck over. CullDaddy’s little area touch pass to Bake was everything. 4-3
https://gfycat.com/VerifiableClosedEchidna
https://gfycat.com/FluffyRevolvingAlleycat
Pens woke the fuck up and started rolling like they popped some molly and clamping everything down. Rinne vacated the cage with about 100 seconds left for the extra skater, just long enough for Bones to loft home the gimme goal and close it out. 5-3
https://gfycat.com/HopefulRawBernesemountaindog
https://gfycat.com/ParallelBlaringHairstreakbutterfly
Game.
NOTES
- Fewest number of shots a winning team has had in a Stanley Cup Final game with 12.
- Between Josi and Subban, the Preds PP is scary. But even so, there’s no chance they continue to click at 66% in this series. But the Pens PK has to be better and, more importantly, the Peng cannot continue to take bad and dumb penalty.
- Pens may have been a bit lucky, but their process didn’t fail them.
- Despite being held without a shot for over half of the game, the Preds only had 10 more shot attempts at 5v5 than the Pens (36-26). Moreover, scoring chances were just 23-20 in favor of Nashville as well. What’s even more encouraging, and has been the trend all postseason for the Pens, is where they were getting their attempts and chances from in comparison to how well they limited the Preds high danger shots, despite getting out-shot again (via hockeystats.ca).
Game 2 Wednesday night at the Paint Can. Let’s do it. Go Pens.
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