Craig Smith opened up the scoring for Nashville less than two minutes into the game. A nicely placed puck from Matt Irwin was quickly deflected by Smith for the goal. It’s always good to see the Predators get on the board early.
A weird miscue behind Pekka Rinne led to a chance from Sidney Crosby, but the Nashville netminder stood tall. Filip Forsberg was whistled for a penalty and Pittsburgh went on the first power play of the evening. The Predators successfully killed the penalty and continued to pressure the Penguins.