Stanley Cup Game 5 Preview

We are all tied up going into Game 5 of the Stanley Cup series between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Nashville Predators. The Pens won the first two games of the series but the Preds have stayed poised and got right back into the running by convincingly taking games 3 and 4 at home in the Music City.

Sidney Crosby finally ended his scoreless streak by notching a goal in Game 4 but they ultimately lost the game 4 to 1. Nashville has outscored Pittsburgh 9 to 2 in the last two games and the Penguins have seemed to be completely outmatched as far as physicality is concerned.

Penguins coach Mike Sullivan admitted to the team playing poorly as of late but also said "We're confident our team will respond the right way, as they always have all season long," Sullivan doesn’t seem too worried about the fact that his star players like Phil Kessel, Patric Hornqvist, and Bryan Rust have gone the entire series without scoring a goal as he was also quoting saying. "I believe we have great leadership in our room. We've got good players. They understand the circumstances and we've felt as though, with each game that we've played here, our team game is getting stronger."

Nashville, however, is riding high at the moment and they have been led by the fantastic play of Frederick Gaudreau. Predators captain Mike Fisher expressed how he feels the 24-year-old Gadreau has been playing saying that he’s “been unbelievable for us, just the way he's come in and he's been so good with the timely goals and so composed,"

Stanley Cup Game 5 Betting Odds

Legal betting sites all over the web have posted their Stanley Cup Game 5 betting odds and they all seem to believe the Penguins will regain their momentum and lead on the series. Bovada Sportsbook lists the moneyline for Game 5 of the Stanley Cup at -155 for the Pens and +135 for the Preds. The total is way up at 5.5 goals and the spread is 1.5 goals in favor of Pittsburgh.

As far as the overall series is concerned, the Penguins are favored to take the Cup with a moneyline at -130 to Nashville’s +110. Before the series started, the Penguins were listed at -148 so the Predators have done well to swing the oddsmakers slightly more in their favor.

Stanley Cup Game 5 Key Matchup

The goalie matchup for Game 5 is expected to be Pekke Rinne for the Predators as usual and the Penguins will likely stick with Matt Murray, though he has had trouble in these last two games. Rinne has been incredible in the last two games as he has turned away 50 of 52 shots on goal. That being said, he tends to allow more goals when they are playing on the road and they will be in Pittsburgh for Game 5 so the goalie matchup is definitely something to keep an eye on.

Key Stats Going Into Game 5

The Predators are winless in their last four meetings in Pittsburgh.

The home team has won each of the last seven meetings between these two.

Betting the under is 4-1-2 in the Penguins previous seven games

Betting the under is 5-1-3 in the Predators previous nine games.

Game 5 will begin at 8 pm eastern time on NBC.