Stanley Cup Final 2017: Penguins chase Pekka Rinne en route to a 2-0 series lead

Welcome to regression, Pekka Rinne. If Game 1 was an unfortunate showing due to some extremely wacky circumstances, Game 2 was the complete opposite for the Predators.

The Penguins bested the Predators 4-1 on Wednesday evening to take a commanding two-game lead in the Stanley Cup Final. Rinne was pulled from the net after the fourth goal three-and-a-half minutes into the third, as he allowed four goals on 25 shots.

Even worse, the game was tied 1-1 after the first two periods.

Jake Guentzel once again had the game winner for the Penguins, this time just 10 seconds into the third period. The rest, they say, is history, as the Penguins turned on the heat and snuck another two goals behind Rinne in a matter of moments.

The Predators actually controlled five-on-five play for the entirety of the game, and yet another few minute lapse turned into an unscalable mountain. Pittsburgh’s opportunistic play, and extremely bad goaltending from Rinne, turned this game on its head in a very similar way to Game 1.

Nashville will get the next two games at home, but Game 3 is a must-win for the Predators or they’ll fall down a three-game hole to the defending Stanley Cup champions.

Penguins 4, Predators 1 (Pittsburgh leads 2-0)

Guentzel has found his stride again

After a bit of a lull against Ottawa, the Penguins rookie has come back in full force for the Stanley Cup Final. His two goals, the Penguins early equalizer and eventual game winner, now have him sitting at 19 points this postseason, the most by any American rookie player in the playoffs.

Guentzel is also now three points away from the rookie playoff record. Quite a catch the Penguins have found.

Rinne was just as bad as the stat-line shows

The Predators actually had a lead in this game, if you can believe it. Pontus Aberg opened the scoring midway through the first, but Rinne gave it back moments later on a rebound that should have been sealed off.

Rinne also gave up a gigantic rebound to Guentzel on the Penguins’ game winner 10 seconds into the third period. The last two goals weren’t much better either, and he ended the night with an .840 save percentage.

As expected, his save percentage in this series is, uh, something else.

Penalties did the Predators no favors either

Nashville gave the Penguins seven chances on the man advantage. The Penguins were held scoreless on all of those chances, but that’s too many penalties for the Predators to take. A bunch were very unintelligent stick penalties or offensive zone calls that could have been avoided.

The penalties didn’t cost the Predators anything on the scoresheet, but they certainly did not help their cause.

Evgeni Malkin’s 4-1 goal really put the nail in the coffin for the Predators. Rinne was chased and Nashville was left reeling from the offensive onslaught by the Penguins.

Is it possible for the Penguins to split a trophy down the middle? While Guentzel is deserving of praise, the tandem of Marc-Andre Fleury and Matt Murray have gotten the Penguins to where they are. Murray, in particular, should be leading the conversation now as he stopped all but one of 38 shots on Wednesday.