NASHVILLE — Frederick Gaudreau is doing his best to earn his own locker with the Nashville Predators with a Stanley Cup Finals debut for the ages.
An undrafted free agent playing just his sixth postseason game, Gaudreau scored the go-ahead goal 3:45 into the second period and Pekka Rinne made 23 often-spectacular saves as the Predators beat the Penguins 4-1 on Monday night to even the best-of-seven series at 2-2.
Gaudreau, a 24-year-old rookie, has only a chair in the Predators’ locker room. But he now is the second player in NHL history to score his first three career goals in a Stanley Cup Finals, joining Johnny Harms with the 1944 Blackhawks.