Colton Sissons hat trick sends Predators to Stanley Cup Final (video)
The Predators are going to the Stanley Cup Final thanks to this late winner.
The Nashville Predators are the NHL’s Western Conference champions, thanks to Colton Sissons. The sophomore right winger scored at 14:00 of the third period in Game 6 to give his team a 4-3 lead over the Anaheim Ducks. The Predators hung on, adding two empty-netters to make it a 6-3 final.
Sissons one-timed Calle Jarnkrok’s cross-crease pass into the back of the net past Jonathan Bernier to give Nashville a permanent lead. He eased Preds’ fans worries just five minutes after Anaheim’s Cam Fowler tied it at three, topping off a crazy third period.
Sissons, hatty 🎩🎩🎩
— SI NHL (@SI_NHL) May 23, 2017
NSH 4, ANA 3 https://t.co/NAUhU8UD60 pic.twitter.com/9EudDDfMm3
The goal’s circumstances will be a little bit controversial, with a play just minutes before where the Preds appeared to flip the puck over the glass. If that had been called a penalty, Anaheim would’ve had a 30-second two-man advantage.
The Preds jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the first period, scoring twice on just four shots (including their first of the game). Facing elimination, Anaheim fought back, with Ondrej Kase, Chris Wagner, and Fowler all scoring to make it a close game.
Sissons scored the second goal of the first period and the first of the third frame, which was attributed to him after the fact (it was initially given to Pontus Aberg). That brings his playoff total up to five goals and 10 points. The 23-year-old scored his first career hat-trick back in January, but this is his first in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
https://twitter.com/SI_NHL/status/866813191602528257
Sissons gets his second of the game and the Predators lead 3-1 pic.twitter.com/hmjuMqHSTz
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) May 23, 2017
The third period featured six goals in all, four from Nashville and two from the Ducks as they took it right down to the wire in this one. The final three-goal deficit has no bearing on the game’s competitive play, as Anaheim very nearly held on in this one.
The Preds received the Clarence Campbell Bowl at center-ice after the game, with injured captain Mike Fisher coming out in his suit to accept it (but not touch it).
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This will be Nashville’s first Stanley Cup Final appearance in franchise history, after winning their first-ever conference final. They’ll play the winner of the Ottawa Senators-Pittsburgh Penguins series, which could be resolved as soon as Tuesday night.