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Stanley Cup Final Preview / Prediction

May 29, 2017, 10:36 AM ET [56 Comments]
Paul McCann
Nashville Predators Blogger •Predators Radio Network • RSSArchiveCONTACT
After a weekend recharge trip to New York, it is finally Game Day. The Nashville Predators and Pittsburgh Penguins tangle in the final series to determine where the Stanley Cup resides for the next year. The Pittsburgh Penguins are the favorites in this series as they shoot for their second consecutive Cup, if they are successful it would be the first time a team has won back-to-back Cups since the season before the Predators started play.

This subplots in this series are many… One team chasing history, the other making history… former Pred Patric Hornqvist versus former Pen James Neal…GM of the Pens Jim Rutherford vs. Head Coach of the Preds Peter Laviolette, both won the Cup in those roles with the Carolina Hurricanes, now they are facing each other… and of course, P.K. Subban making his first Cup final… redemption, revenge, history… sounds like the making of a good serial drama, and that is exactly what it will be, played out over the next couple of weeks, with twists and turns, heroes and villains and a champion.

The Pittsburgh Penguins got here by taking out Columbus in five games, the Washington Capitals in seven games and the Ottawa Senators in seven hard fought games. They have endured decimating injuries to their defense corps and a minor goaltending controversy. The Nashville Predators swept the Chicago Blackhawks, took down St. Louis in six and beat the Anaheim Ducks in six very dirty games. They have endured major injuries to Kevin Fiala and Ryan Johansen and also dealt with injuries to Craig Smith and their captain Mike Fisher among others.

I look at this series and see three major keys for either side…

Goaltending Both teams have had outstanding goaltending in the playoffs. Matt Murray has a 3-1 record with a 1.35 GAA and a save percentage of .946 since regaining the starter’s job for the Penguins for the last four games of the Eastern Conference Final. Nashville’s Pekka Rinne has simply been outstanding, shutting up the nay-sayers (that still can’t seem to choke down the crow they so richly deserve) by posting a .941 save percentage and a GAA of 1.71, posting a record of 12-4 through the playoffs. If one or the other cracks, it could go a long way to determining the Cup winner.
Advantage - Even

Defense - The Nashville Predators have the best top four in the league and have shown that over and over again shutting down Kane and Toews in round one, Tarasenko in round two, Getzlaf, Perry and Kesler in round three. Nashville’s team defense is outstanding, they are bought into the system and so far, have played it to perfection. Pittsburgh has put their blueline together with tissue paper and spit for these playoffs, but getting Trevor Daley back was huge for them… they are still missing Kris Letang. The Pens have really had to count on five man units for their defense and so far it has worked… but they have not run into a blueline like Nashville.
Advantage - Nashville

Depth Scoring - Pittsburgh has gotten it from Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust with 15 goals between them in the playoffs, then has spread it out with 18 more among 11 players. Nashville has spread the wealth as well, after Colton Sissons five goals and Austin Watson’s four, the Preds have nine goals spread across seven players. Both teams have 21 players that have posted at least a point. Both teams know that Crosby, Malkin and Kessel will get their share, Forsberg, Neal and Arvidsson will get theirs… but the depth scoring will be key.
Advantage - Slight edge to Pittsburgh

Those are the three major keys as I see them, but to add something else to the mix… X-Factors - There are really two X-Factors I am looking at…

Endurance - I have said this before and will say it again… the longer this series goes, the more advantage this becomes for Nashville. By the time the puck drops on this series, the Nashville Predators will have had almost a full week between games. This rest factor was huge against Anaheim as we saw the Ducks run out of gas in the third period game after game after game, especially on games after travel. After two consecutive hard-fought seven game series, I will be watching for this closely from Pittsburgh. Advantage - Nashville

Working the Officials - I am already sick of the articles complaining about Sidney Crosby being targeted in these playoffs. Talk about being unfair to the man… Crosby hasn’t whined one bit this playoff season, that part of his game is gone… but boy, the media and other minions have taken up the cry… it’s almost as if they want another “Jordan Rules” scenario for him. Ummm… those that are calling for that need to call it out for ALL skilled players… Filip Forsberg and Viktor Arvidsson were beaten, bloodied and abused in the Anaheim series and weren't protected at all, I haven’t heard much complaining about that. Welcome to the playoffs boys… I will be curious to see what impact this has, because the Penguin’s power play is lethal… if this complaint strategy is allowed to be successful, it’s really bad news for Nashville.
Advantage - Pittsburgh

This is really going to be a very good series, compelling story lines and some fresh faces in the spotlight. My prediction for the series comes down to the Penguins experience vs. the Predators rest… both team’s injuries are fairly even and both teams have impressive depth. I say that the extra rest makes a difference…

My prediction - Predators in six.

Game one is tonight at 7pm central… NBC (channel 4 in Nashville) has the game starting at 7pm. Radio coverage starts with pregame at 6pm on 102.5 the Game, the Voice of the Predators, Pete Weber has the call starting at 7pm.

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Anyone who follows me on social media saw some of the crazy crap we were doing in New York City over the weekend. A quick getaway weekend with my wife turned into the “Predator’s Evangelization Tour.” We ran into a few Pred fans but the overwhelming sentiment from New Yorkers was clear support for the Predators… now a lot of that is pure divisional hate of a rival… but a good chunk of it was just seeing a fresh face in the Final.

We visited the NHL Store on 6th right as they were finishing their window display for the SCF. They were unpacking SCF merchandise as we got there and we stocked up… We even saw a Pred fan on one of those double decker tour buses that we shouted out to… he stood and waved his gold hat and screamed “Go Preds!” We sported our Preds stuff proudly and tried to convert some folk in Times Square… but it was hard to get their attention with the Naked Cowboy singing and the topless woman running around, at noon... on a Friday... SMH.

We even turned Lady Liberty into a Preds fan…



It certainly was a fun weekend, but now… I am ready for some hockey.

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Playoff Random Notes

- All indications are that Mike Fisher and Craig Smith will be available for tonight’s Game One. No clear word on if Patric Hornqvist will be in the lineup for Pittsburgh.

- The Penguins are showing an abundance of respect for the Nashville blueline, even comparing them to Senator’s superstar Erik Karlsson, more than one Penguin has said that they will be playing “four Karlsson’s.”

- James Neal has spoken of extra motivation for this series… considering how he has been heating up over the Ducks series, that could be very good news for the Preds.

- The Stanley Cup Final – Game One – 7pm tonight from Pittsburgh, coverage on NBC. Radio on 102.5 the Game.

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SSR’s season nine is on, our next show is tomorrow night at 7pm, we are moved to Tuesday because of Game Two on Wednesday… on 102.5 the Game. SlapShot Radio is the longest running hockey show in the mid-south and Pete Weber and I bring you the best in hockey talk all playoffs long. We are talking to Sports Illustrated’s Alex Prewitt and very special guest, the first captain of the Nashville Predators… Tom Fitzgerald.

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