NASHVILLE, Tenn. _ Predators center Frederick Gaudreau might get the keys to the city of Nashville before he gets a stall in the team's crowded locker room.
Spare players have filled all the stalls at Bridgestone Arena, leaving Gaudreau to dress at a chair and table set up at one end of the room during the Stanley Cup playoffs. He deserves a more luxurious spot after scoring the decisive goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday in the 4-1 victory that brought the Stanley Cup Final even at two games each.
According to the NHL, Gaudreau is the second player in league history to score his first three career goals in the Stanley Cup Final. The first was John Harms of the Chicago Blackhawks in the 1944 playoffs.
Nashville goaltender Pekka Rinne made 23 saves, including an array of spectacular stops in the second period, after Gaudreau had put the Predators ahead. He was serenaded and cheered by the Predators' passionate fans, who have turned games here into not-to-be-missed experiences.
Game 5 will be played Thursday at Pittsburgh, where the defending champion Penguins won the first two games. Game 6 will be played Sunday at Bridgestone Arena, where the Predators are 9-1 in the playoffs this spring.
Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, held to no shots on goal in Game 3, made his presence felt and got his name on the score sheet in the first period Monday. His finesse on a breakaway allowed the Penguins to match a goal the Predators had scored 66 seconds earlier, and the teams went to the first intermission even at 1-1.
After a slow start that was dragged out by several stoppages and no shots on goal until Penguins defenseman Ian Cole took a long shot at Rinne at 5:05, the pace picked up. And to the delight of the lively, buzzing crowd, the Predators took the lead.
Calle Jarnkrok, on the right side of the slot, was in perfect position to prod home the rebound of a shot by Craig Smith at 14:51. The Penguins challenged the call, claiming that Smith had interfered with goaltender Matt Murray, but the goal was upheld after a review. Smith and Austin Watson got the assists on Jarnkrok's second goal of the playoffs.
But before the cheers had died down, the Penguins tied it. Crosby, sprung on a breakaway on a pass from Brian Dumoulin, faked a shot but held onto the puck and lifted a backhander past Rinne at 15:57. He had gone without a goal in his previous 12 Stanley Cup Final games; his last one was against Detroit in Game 4 of the 2009 Final.
A couple of clutch saves by Rinne early in the second period set the stage for the Predators to take the lead on Gaudreau's wraparound, which was reviewed to be sure the puck had entirely crossed the goal line. It did cross the line, giving the Predators a 2-1 lead at 3:45. That magnified the importance of the saves Rinne had made on Jake Guentzel at 2:31 and on Chris Kunitz on a breakaway, a right pad save at 3:29.
Those spectacular saves were merely a warmup for Rinne, who stopped a point-blank backhander by Crosby on another breakaway and stretched himself full-length across the crease to keep out Guentzel's attempt to score on the rebound.
Filip Forsberg scored into an empty net at 16:37 of the third period to clinch the series-tying victory for Nashville. Penguins goalie Murray had been 7-0 in his career after playoff losses
