Pittsburgh Penguins Beat Nashville Predators in Finals Rematch

The Pittsburgh Penguins picked up where they left off against Nashville, shutting out the Predators 4-0 to get their first win of the season.

Nick Bonino was a -2 in his return to Pittsburgh, and Matt Murray stopped 26 shots for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Murray has not given up a goal to the Predators in 183:23—more than three games—dating back to Game 4 of the 2017 Stanley Cup Final.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Pens Offense Wakes Up

Evgeni Malkin started off the scoring for the Penguins just over a minute into the first period when he slammed the puck past Juuse Saros from the high slot. Jake Guentzel put the Pens up 2-0 when, with 9:03 remaining in the first, he knocked home the third rebound in a crowded crease.

Ryan Reaves got his first goal as a Penguin in the second period when he deflected an Olli Maatta slapshot past Saros. Maatta finished out the scoring less than a minute into the third with a slapshot from the top of the left circle.

Rematch Gets Chippy

By the end of the game, each team had racked up over 30 penalty minutes. The Pens and Preds combined for a whopping 82 penalty minutes, the bulk of which came in the third period. Reaves endeared himself to Penguins fans by getting into not one, but two fights—one against Austin Watson, the other against Cody McLeod. Sidney Crosby had an unusually pugnacious game, taking two penalties and being involved in multiple scrums.

Pens Lose Cole

The biggest downside of the game was the loss of Ian Cole. He took a Roman Josi one-timer to the face, causing a delay in the game as blood was scraped off the ice. Cole did not return for the rest of the game. Head coach Mike Sullivan reported after the game that Cole was out indefinitely pending evaluation.

It was a relief to see the Penguins finally look like the team that won back-to-back Stanley Cups. They’ll need to continue their strong play when they face the Washington Capitals and the red-hot Alex Ovechkin on Wednesday.