Written by the Associated Press at New York Times
Pekka Rinne and the Nashville Predators clung to a small lead for two full periods, scrambling and dodging and stopping everything the Anaheim Ducks could throw at them.
They hung on until the final horn, emerging triumphant from their first Game 7 and opening a new chapter in Smashville hockey.
The Ducks were left with the same strange story to tell for another long summer.
Colin Wilson and Paul Gaustad scored in the first period, and the Predators hung on to advance to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs with a 2-1 victory over the Ducks on Wednesday night.
Rinne made 36 saves for the wild-card Predators, who rallied from a three-games-to-two series deficit and ousted the Pacific Division champion Ducks with a workmanlike road victory. With a few big saves by Rinne and just enough fortunate bounces, Nashville earned just the third playoff series win in team history — the first since 2012, and the second over Anaheim.
“It means a lot, and it shows a lot of character,” Rinne said. “We can learn from this series. It’s a really good team we played against, and there’s a lot of good things we can take. Moving forward, I think we’re a better team already.”
Nashville will travel up the California coast to face the San Jose Sharks on Friday night.
“It’s a big step,” said coach Peter Laviolette, who improved to 5-1 in Game 7s. “If you can’t take this one step, you can’t take any more steps.”
The Predators handled the pressure splendidly despite the franchise’s total inexperience with the winner-take-all game. Only six Predators had even appeared in a seventh game with other teams, but they all ended up celebrating a breakthrough for Music City hockey at Honda Center.
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