The Nashville Predators went into Dallas and took a crucial win against the Dallas Stars despite facing 42 shots.
Pekka Rinne was absolutely outstanding, coming through at the game’s biggest moments and adding a whopping 40 saves in his stellar performance.
The Nashville Predators penalty kill was spotless as well, not allowing a goal on all four of Dallas’ power plays, including a five-on-three where Pekka Rinne made some huge saves.
Rocco Grimaldi started off the scoring in the second period, scoring on an absolutely beautiful wrist shot to put the Preds up early in the frame.
Filip Forsberg then made it 2-0 with an absolutely beautiful breakaway goal with just over five minutes to go in the second frame.
The Stars then struck back, with Mats Zuccarello scoring with three minutes to go in the second period, then Tyler Seguin striking nearly half-way through the third period.
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Jamie Benn nearly potted a goal shortly after that, but Pekka Rinne did what he does best and absolutely robbed him with what was likely the save of the playoffs so far.
The Nashville Predators then used this momentum to swing the game into their favor, as Mikael Granlund ended his cold streak with the game-winning goal that put the Preds up 3-2, Dante Fabbro also got his first career playoff point, as he had the primary assist on the goal.
Speaking of Fabbro, he looked very solid tonight, as he was holding his own defensively and helping the Preds make things happen offensively, as he recorded the aforementioned assist.
This is huge for the Nashville Predators, as having a rookie be able to look like a veteran in the playoffs is definitely not a bad thing whatsoever.
Rocco Grimaldi also looked fantastic yet again, not only because he scored the game’s first goal, but also for his speed and tenacity throughout tonight’s game.
Although the Preds were outshot 42-28, this game was still huge for their offense, as three of their four lines got on the scoresheet tonight, and it’s especially good because they finally got production out of their top six that went completely missing during the first three games.
This is a huge confidence booster for them and it will be huge if they take that confidence into game four.
The Nashville Predators will be taking a 2-1 series lead into Game 4 in Dallas, as the two teams face off again on Wednesday at 8:00 PM.