Predators reach 1st Stanley Cup Final, oust Ducks in 6 games
NASHVILLE — Different players just keep stepping up for the Nashville Predators, and now their magical post-season run has an even bigger destination: the franchise’s first trip to the Stanley Cup Final.
Colton Sissons scored his third goal with 6:00 left, and the Predators eliminated the Anaheim Ducks with a 6-3 win in Game 6 on Monday night in the Western Conference finals.
“In the back of your head, you’ve been thinking about the Finals and then when the buzzer goes off, it’s an amazing feeling,” Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne said.
The Predators, who’ve never won even a division title in their 19-year history, came in with the fewest points of any team in these playoffs. They lost their top centre, Ryan Johansen, for the playoffs after Game 4 because of emergency surgery on his left thigh. Captain Mike Fisher has missed two games with an upper-body injury.