For 37 minutes in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final, the Pittsburgh Penguins’ offense was nowhere to be found. For rest of the game, the Pens couldn’t miss.
Pittsburgh dispatched the Nashville Predators 5-3 on Monday night despite being held without a shot on goal for nearly two full periods. Jake Guentzel’s goal with 3:17 remaining — on the Penguins’ first shot since late in the first period — proved to be the difference.
Playing against a vaunted Predators defense led by P.K. Subban and Roman Josi, the Penguins managed just 12 total shots — the fewest ever by a winning team in a Cup Final game. An astounding 41.7 percent of those shots found the back of the net, however, including two by Nick Bonino, who sealed the deal with an empty-netter.
Bonino, Evgeni Malkin and Conor Sheary all scored during a 4:11 span late the first period to put Pittsburgh ahead 3-0, but Nashville rallied. The Predators, who dominated play for much of the night, got a goal from Ryan Ellis in the second period and markers from Colton Sissons and Frederick Gaudreau in the third to tie the score.
The deadlock did not last long, though, as Guentzel lit the lamp less than four minutes later to win Game 1 for the Pens. The teams will play Game 2 on Wednesday night at PPG Paints Arena before the series shifts to Nashville for Game 3.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89g9thlJma8
Thumbnail photo via Charles LeClaire/USA TODAY Sports Images
