Well, the first period of the Stanley Cup Final could have gone a lot better for the Nashville Predators.
Everything went wrong for the Predators in the first period of Game 1 in the Stanley Cup Final
The opening 20 minutes of the Predators first Stanley Cup Final game were ones to forget.
Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
After 20 minutes, the Pittsburgh Penguins had jumped out to a 3-0 lead, but a lot happened in the period that won’t show up on the scoresheet. Let’s count the ways.
The P.K. Subban goal that was not
Nashville actually had a 1-0 lead thanks to an early goal from P.K. Subban. However, the Penguins challenged the goal for offside, which lead to an overturned call after minutes of deliberation from the referees.
You can check out the entire sequence below.
Here’s a picture of the play in question, where Filip Forsberg was entering the zone some 10 seconds prior to the goal.
The Penguins 5-on-3 that likely should not have been
At 13:50 of the first period, the Predators went down a pair of players after Calle Jarnkrok went off for interference and James Neal went off for crosschecking.
Except, in Jarnkrok’s case, it looks like Patrik Hornqvist goes down on his own.
Neal’s penalty is deserved though.
The Penguins ended up scoring on the 5-on-3 power play, but Sidney Crosby seemingly gets away with interference on Mattias Ekholm seconds before the goal is scored.
The Predators go down 2-0, then 3-0 off an own goal
Conor Sheary doubled the Penguins lead less than a minute after Evgeni Malkin’s opening goal.
Then, with 16 seconds to play in the first, Nick Bonino scored on an accidental own goal off Ekholm.
There’s a lot to say about the referees in the first period, but the Predators essentially stopped skating after the Subban goal was disallowed.
The Penguins, to their credit, were unrelenting after the Predators opened the first 10 minutes on a roll.
See More:
