NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – The Predators’ amazing, improbable playoff run finally is over.
After capturing the hearts of Nashville’s country music stars and tens of thousands more in and around Music City, Nashville’s season ended at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins 2-0 in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final.
Not many gave Nashville a chance. The Predators were the bottom seed in the West, seemingly unlikely to advance out of the first round much less be one of the last two teams standing. But Peter Laviolette’s fast-skating bunch with the lockdown defense roared past Chicago in a sweep to get things started and shrugged off the home-ice advantage of St. Louis and Anaheim on the way to the first Final in the franchise’s 19-year history – much to the joy of their catfish-tossing fans.
Injuries to forwards Kevin Fiala and Ryan Johansen opened the door for unsung playoff heroes like Colton Sissons and Frederick Gaudreau to not only get into the lineup but make significant contributions. Sissons recorded a hat trick in the clinching Game 6 of the Anaheim series. The undrafted Gaudreau scored Nashville’s game-winning goals in Games 3 and 4 of the Final.
Sissons had several chances Sunday. He had an apparent goal waived off in the second due to a quick whistle and was later stopped on a breakaway. In the third, both he and Filip Forsberg had shots ring off the post.