NASHVILLE, Tenn. _ Nobody could have reasonably expected the Nashville Predators to fade quietly into the night.
They don't do anything below maximum decibel level.
Why on Earth wouldn't they crank it up when the Stanley Cup made its Music City debut?
The Predators' 5-1 win over the Penguins in Game 3 Saturday included many ingredients, but any sort of postgame analysis should start with this simple caveat: Hey, the Predators don't stink.
They had won seven of eight games at Bridgestone Arena these playoffs. They swept the Blackhawks and beat the Blues and Ducks in six games to get here, locking down those teams' respective stars en route to victory. Nashville's players are paid to score and win, too.
Back home in front of their hockey-mad fans, a city that has been whipped into a frenzy by how cool playoff hockey can be whenever it's hot outside, the Predators turned this thing into a series again with a superb performance on home ice.
Game 4 is back at Bridgestone on Monday.
No. 1 on the list of things that did stink for the Penguins on Saturday included the power play. It was putrid. The unit failed to score on three chances and generated just one shot on goal.
For those of you sick _ or bored _ enough to keep score at home, that's 0 for their past 10 in this series, with three shots on goal in 17:26.
Worse, the key cogs on the Penguins power play _ Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel _ finished with three shots on goal and eight shot attempts on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Nashville's power play struck again for a key goal early in the second, which kick-started a three-goal run and gave the Predators' belief. Mattias Ekholm added a second man-advantage marker 13:10 of the third period.
With the game out of reach, things turned physical late, too. Mattias Ekholm and Patric Hornqvist were given 10-minute misconducts, and Matt Irwin shoved Matt Cullen from behind, irritating Kessel.
Three times the Predators beat Matt Murray (five goals on 33 shots) glove side, a part of his game that teams have targeted since he broke into the NHL, while odd-man rushes were another issue for the Penguins.
When Craig Smith scored to make it 4-1 at 4:54 of the third period, Chris Kunitz committed a turnover at center ice, the puck kicking off Kessel's skate, and Smith transitioned the other way.
After the Penguins scored first, the Predators took control of this one with three goals in the second period, the reward for Nashville flipping momentum in its favor around the midpoint of the first.
Roman Josi picked up the Predators' first goal on the power play at 5:51 on a shot from the right point. The puck changed directions when it hit off Carter Rowney's hand.
Frederick Gaudreau put Nashville in front, 2-1, at 6:33, when he beat Murray high glove side with a wrister from the right slot.
After scoring two goals in 42 seconds, Pekka Rinne, much maligned in the first two games of the series, made a timely save for Nashville, denying Kunitz shortly after Gaudreau's goal.
Rinne wound up stopping 27 of 28 in a bounce-back performance for him.
When Ryan Ellis was given a minor for boarding Jake Guentzel at 16:37 of the second period, Calle Jarnkrok enjoyed the best scoring chance of the two-minute sequence when he cut into the slot.
The Penguins, meanwhile, stirred together an ugly mix of ineffective entries, too much passing and clumsy puck management.
Nashville stretched its lead to 3-1 at 19:37 of the second period when former Penguin James Neal stuffed in a rebound following a scrum in front.
The Penguins actually started the evening decently well, too, playing the "dullest road game of the season" that Kunitz said would be important.
They withstood a couple of ferocious hits from Nashville _ Colton Sissons on Malkin, Neal on Brian Dumoulin and Ellis slinging Guentzel into the boards _ and pulled ahead with another Guentzel goal.
The rookie potted a rebound of Ian Cole's point shot at 2:46 of the opening period for his 13th of the playoffs, and it brought with it more historical talk.
One more marker and Guentzel will tie Dino Ciccarelli's playoff goal-scoring record from 1980-81. Since the NHL took control of the Stanley Cup in 1926, no rookie has ever led the playoff field in goal-scoring, as Guentzel currently does.
The Penguins power play failed to record a shot on goal during two first period chances. On one, Murray bailed them out with a two-on-one stop on Viktor Arvidsson from the left circle.
Crosby picked up the secondary assist on Guentzel's goal, the 160th playoff point of his career. It moved him into a tie for 20th place all time with such legends at Mike Bossy, Gordie Howe, Al MacInnis and Bobby Smith.
With Nick Bonino unable to play because of a left foot injury, Carl Hagelin drew into the lineup and was extremely effective early on the fourth line with Matt Cullen and Patric Hornqvist, the trio stringing together several quality shifts in the first period.
