WINNIPEG – P.K. Subban called it.
And Filip Forsberg made his teammate look like a savant with a pair of moves seemingly pulled from the future.
In the heated aftermath of getting tripled-up 6-2 by the Winnipeg Jets on home ice Saturday in Game 5 to slip behind the less-experienced team for a third occasion in this humdinger of a series, Subban greeted the media and said, “We’re going to go there, we’re going to win a game, we’re going to come back here. It’s that simple.”
Three times the defenceman made that bold proclamation, once for every gotta-see-it goal the Nashville Predators provided in a 4-0 road clinic on enemy ice (they’d add an empty-netter).
“It’s about responding,” Subban reasserted on Monday morning, stripping off his usual quips and charms. The entertainer was all business.
“I’m not speaking for myself; I’m speaking for our group. That’s the confidence we have as a group. We’re confident we’re going to come out and play a full 60 minutes. Like I said, we do that, we’re going to like the result at the end of the night.”
Nailed it.
[snippet id=3918715]
Fact is, one team wanted to win, the other needed to, and you can’t fake desperation.
On the night we learned we’ll have a brand new Stanley Cup champion for the first time in three years, the defending Western Conference champions and reigning Presidents’ Trophy champ strolled into the toughest, loudest building in the NHL and quieted the white noise for a second straight time.
Even surprise guest Teemu Selanne, with his gleaming thumbs-up and his crisp white button-up and his standing ovation, couldn’t stop the best “full 60” of the series.
After the buzzer sounded and 40,000 bummed Winnipeggers scattered, Ryan Johansen approached Hockey Night in Canada‘s Scott Oake for a towel and a post-game interview.
All smiles, Johansen spotted a bit of fluff on Oake’s jacket and plucked it off the host’s shoulder before the cameras went live. The Preds had already dusted off theirs.
Bounce-back artist Pekka Rinne considered the Subban guarantee.
“I feel like it’s nice that somebody says it out loud,” the goalie said. “It’s probably not the easiest thing to say from everybody’s mouth. That’s great that somebody says it, because that’s how we feel.”
Rebounding from his second yank of the most unpredictable series going — actually, the only one going — Rinne was as solid as Subban’s word, stopping every one of the 34 pucks launched his way. Paul Stastny and Bryan Little were denied at the doorstep, a slide kick foiled Adam Lowry in the slot, and Patrik Laine’s one-timer was read so well, it hit Rinne square.
“I’m not happy to watch it,” said Laine, who’s scored but once in the past nine games. “He’s a good goalie, and I think everybody knows that, but we just have to find a way to put a couple of pucks behind him.”
More aggressive and anticipatory than usual, the Predators’ penalty kill was outstanding, snuffing all four of the Jets’ power plays, including three over an eight-and-a-half-minute span in the first period that also cost Nashville an undisclosed injury to fourth-line centre Mike Fisher. (Winnipeg never committed a penalty of its own.)
“Yeah, we wanted to shut them down, and we thought they had too much space in the last game,” said Nashville blue-liner Mattias Ekholm. “We managed our gap better. As a D corps, I thought we did an unbelievable job tonight.”
Good defence, they say, begets offence — and the Preds’ top line, as has been the case all series, carried the load.
Half buzz saw, half pinball, 5-foot-9 Viktor Arvidsson contorted his body to tip an impossibly tight Roman Josi shot just 62 seconds into the game. It would hold up under a high-stick review as the eventual game-winner. (Arvidsson would later chip in the empty-netter.)
“You see the way he gets banged around out there, and he just keeps going. He goes to the hard areas and makes the tough plays, but that’s not new. That’s not just because it’s a big game,” coach Peter Laviolette said.
“It’s the makeup of who he is. He plays the game hard and he plays it fearless.”
Ditto wing mate Forsberg, who doubled-down on the spectacular.
For his first magic trick, Forsberg busted a stick blocking a shot, raced to the bench, where equipment manager Pete Rogers passed him a fresh blade swift as a baton, and immediately took a pass on fresh tape from Craig Smith.
Forsberg then piggybacked Jets defenceman Ben Chiarot to the crease, sniping while smashing his way into the net. Yard sale.
“I’m just a fan when I watch him play,” Rinne marveled.
“It happened pretty quick tonight. You just go like, ‘What’s happening?’ Takes a little bit to realize, but it’s awesome to see the guys do that stuff and be successful with it.
“It just goes to show how creative and how skilled these guys are.”
For his second act, Forsberg accepted a net-front feed from behind the goal line from Arvidsson and, in one fluid motion, tucked it between his legs and flipped it high through Connor Hellebuyck.
“None of us in this room can make that play,” Laviolette stated.
Lights out, Whiteout.
“Natural is definitely not the word for it, but it just takes a lot of practise,” said Forsberg, who now has nine points in the past five games. “Once in a while you get time and space for it in a game, you try to pull it off.”
“What’s given each team success this year is being able to bounce back, fight for 60 minutes,” Jets captain Blake Wheeler said. “There’s not going to be any quitting on either side. That’s what makes it a great series. That’s what makes the [Predators] a good team and a really tough opponent.”
Unwavering confidence, both sides have it. Two of hockey’s best home teams have lost twice each at home. The throne is vacant.
Thursday in Nashville, all bets are off. Short of what Paul Maurice predicts — “It’s going to be a hell of a game” — nothing will be guaranteed.
Subban stood proud and firm, vindicated on a Monday Winnipeggers hated.
“We’re built for this,” he said.
“That’s a championship effort tonight. I can’t say enough about this group. It’s the best group of guys I’ve ever played with. They’re good people. I guess the difference in these situations, good people understand what’s at stake.
“You look at our lineup from our goaltender out, everybody sacrificed their bodies and did what they had to do. Now we’re going back in front of our fans and we have a couple of days to rest up.”
Forty-eight hours. Ample time for the rest of us to load up on snacks.
[relatedlinks]
