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NASHVILLE 3 ANAHEIM 1 (Predators lead 3-2)
Pontus Aberg (yes, that's a real name) was the hero as Nashville came back to win 3-1 and now stand one win away from their first trip to the Stanley Cup Finals. Injuries have taken their toll on both teams, Nashville's hit was down the middle with Ryan Johansen (who had surgery for Acute Compartment Syndrome, and in the name of all that's holy please, do not google this. I know people tell you this when they want you, but I swear to god just take my advice that it's horrifying and that is all you need to know) and Mike Fisher. That meant some line shuffling and the insertion of Aberg into the lineup. The Ducks also had some injury issues as John Gibson left at the start of the 2nd period with a lower body injury, and was replaced by Jonathan Bernier.
Meanwhile, another Duck did something stupid that crossed a line last night...
"It's going to be harder to call penalties on me with only one arm" - Corey Perry pic.twitter.com/RaHOqSHCHX
— Cole Padawer (@HKY_Tweets) May 21, 2017
Yeah, between this blatant abuse of officials and Ryan Getzlaf's "here's my apology except the only thing I am sorry about is that I became the victim of all this" apology, it will be a beautiful thing for the game of hockey if the Preds can send these sorry sacks of shit packing on Monday night.
The Ottawa Senators are going to need to make some changes if they want to regain control of this series, and it all starts with their power play. The Sens haven't scored a PPG since Game 1 of the series against the Rangers, and as we can tell you, if you don't have a working PP you will not win the Stanley Cup. Alexandre Burrows is out again for the Sens, while the Penguins could get a number of players back off their lengthy injury list. The Sens need to approach this game like they did Game 3. Come out hard and pop one early, to start getting the Penguins fans out of it. They also need to make life a lot more miserable for Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessell.
2017 World Championships Gold Medal Game: Canada vs Sweden
Hot on the heels of a comeback that is going to be remembered in the storied history of legendary Canada/Russia battles (yes, it was that good) Canada earned their way into a chance to win a 3rd straight gold for the first time in 65 years. Sweden punched their ticket with a 4-1 over Finland. The Swedes have a balanced attack with lots of speed and skill, and let's face it, a huge advantage in goal. It's Henrik Lundqvist over either Calvin Pickard or Chad Johnson any day of the week. Canada's being led by Ryan O'Reilly, Nathan MacKinnon, Mitch Marner and late addition Colton Parayko, who's been a force offensively and defensively for Canada after joining to replace Tyson Barrie.
The game goes at 11 on TSN, so I imagine some of you will be channel flipping once the Sens game gets underway. Go Canada Go!
GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN
I have told y'all in the past that there's something in the water in Greece that's creating some amazing thrash metal bands and here's another one for ya: Never-Trust with Thrashcore Demonstration.