On the Fly: Can the Preds pull off hockey’s Music City Miracle?

In this week's edition of "On the Fly," we're talking Music City Miracle Part II. The Nashville Predators must win two in a row against the Penguins, one of those in Pittsburgh, to win the Stanley Cup. Can it be done?

Absolutely not

Josh Wegman: Given how desperate the Predators will be in Game 6, and the fact they'll have their amazing crowd behind them, I think they can force a Game 7. But can they win Game 7? Absolutely not.

Pekka Rinne's numbers have been subpar away from Bridgestone Arena this postseason, and his career numbers in Pittsburgh are horrendous.

If Nashville is going to win the remaining two games, Rinne will have to be at his best, and I'm not quite sure he's capable of that on the road, especially given Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are playing some of their best hockey.

Believe!

Esten McLaren: Yes.

The Penguins aren't winning a do-or-die Game 6 in Music City during CMA weekend. Pittsburgh fell flat in a 2-1 loss following its 7-0 victory over the Ottawa Senators in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Final, so its 6-0 win in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final means little.

Game 7 will return to Pittsburgh, forcing Nashville to be the first team to win a road game in this series. The Predators own a Corsi For rating of 59.26 percent through the first three games in Pittsburgh. It will come down to goaltending, and while Matt Murray has had a significant advantage over Pekka Rinne at PPG Paints Arena, the Preds only need Rinne to be average while continuing to drive play in Pittsburgh's end to make this happen.

Rinne can't possibly be worse, right?

Nope

Josh Gold-Smith: In a word, no.

Sure, the Predators have history on their side with respect to Game 6, and it wouldn't be shocking to see Nashville bounce back with a victory Sunday night, but winning the series is another story.

Given how abysmal Pekka Rinne has been in Pittsburgh, and how his relatively inexperienced backup, Juuse Saros, hasn't been much better, it's hard to see the Predators prevailing in a winner-take-all game on the road if they do force the deciding contest.

Matt Murray has been nearly unbeatable on home ice in this series, so even if the Predators take the next one, they'll be hard-pressed to buck these ominous trends.

(Photos courtesy: Action Images)

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