>
Article snippet: PITTSBURGH — This is what was said in the Nashville Predators’ locker room late Monday night: “I thought we played a great game,” goaltender Pekka Rinne said. “I like the way we responded,” left wing James Neal said. “We deserve it for sure,” defenseman Mattias Ekholm said. This is what was said when Pittsburgh Coach Mike Sullivan arrived in the interview room not long after: “We weren’t very good,” he said. “You know, we weren’t very good.” This is what the scoreboard at PPG Paints Arena showed when there was no more hockey left to play in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals: Penguins 5, Predators 3. The Predators did play a great game, excluding a 7-minute stretch of the first period. And they did respond, scoring three consecutive goals to even the score with 6 minutes 31 seconds left. And maybe they did deserve it, if for no other reason than they held Pittsburgh without a shot on Rinne — not Sidney Crosby, not Evgeni Malkin, not Phil Kessel — for exactly 37 minutes. They had waited 19 years for this moment, their first finals appearance in franchise history, and as they discussed afterward why they could have won — and in their minds, should have won — they also had to explain why they didn’t, and why they now trail in a series for the first time all postseason. The simple answer is that a rocket of a wrister by rookie Jake Guentzel beat Rinne high to the glove side and erased all of Nashville’s diligent work with 3:17 remaining in the third period, the fourth ... Link to the full article to read more