from Joe Rexrode of The Tennessean,
Desperation usually wins the day,” coach Peter Laviolette said a few hours before the brand-new biggest game in Predators history, but this was simply domination.
It took 91 seconds for the Pittsburgh Penguins to get on the board and it took 7 minutes for them to go up 2-0 in a Stanley Cup Final Game 5 both teams had to have but only one showed up to play. The Penguins used that start to destroy the Predators 6-0 on Thursday at PPG Paints Arena, take a 3-2 series lead and create an opportunity Sunday in Nashville to win their second straight Stanley Cup.
They deserve all due credit for responding like the championship team they are after losing Games 3 and 4 at Bridgestone Arena by a combined score of 9-2. But the Predators, who have been almost faultless and often overachieving in these playoffs, deserve the opposite.
Maybe this was just one too many “biggest game ever, man” moments in a row? Maybe the mean Pittsburgh fans were too loud? Maybe the pregame meal was too cold or the pregame hallway soccer too intense?
I’m searching here for some kind of excuse for the worst period of hockey the Predators have played in nearly two months of postseason hockey – the period that happened to open the biggest game ever, man. And, man, I just can’t find one.
Below, watch the game highlights...
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