May 26, 2017
Kunitz: Predators 'have four Karlssons'
Not long after scoring the double-overtime winner on Thursday night, Chris Kunitz was already sizing up the Pittsburgh Penguins next opponent - the Nashville Predators. Kunitz, who scored two goals in Thursday's Game 7 win over the Ottawa Senators, said the Penguins must prepare for the Predators' team speed, especailly on defence.
TSN.ca Staff
Not long after scoring the double-overtime winner on Thursday night, Chris Kunitz was already sizing up the Pittsburgh Penguins next opponent - the Nashville Predators.
Kunitz, who scored two goals in Thursday's Game 7 win over the Ottawa Senators, said the Penguins must prepare for the Predators' team speed, especailly on defence.
"We gotta make sure we're prepared for another different type of team," Kunitz told NBCSN minutes after the win. "They have a speed team that's gonna come at you with some active D - they've got four (Erik) Karlssons on their team with a great goaltender. We're going to have to come out and figure a game plan to play with speed, play with pace and try to dictate a Penguins' game."
The Penguins held Karlsson, the Senators' leading scoring the regular season, to five assists in the seven game series. As Kunitz pointed out, they will now face four defenders on the Predators with a similiar skill set to that of the Senators captain in Roman Josi, P.K. Subban, Mattias Ekholm and Ryan Ellis. All four of those defencemen own at least eight points through 16 playoff games and are averaging 24 minutes of ice time or more per game.
In his post-game media conference, Kunitz said the Penguins still have places to improve their game in order to repeat as Stanley Cup Champions.
“It doesn’t matter who you’re playing, it’s tough to overcome them or sustain that pressure that maybe we had last year – (when) it felt like we were in more of a flow," Kunitz said. "This year, it’s been back and forth and it’s been tough. We’ve had great individual performances, we have great goaltending, it’s something every night.
"We haven’t dominated the play that maybe we wanted to, maybe we’ve done a better job these last couple of games, but it’s still something we have to get better at, playing a 60 minute game if we’re going to have a chance to beat Nashville."
The Stanley Cup Final opens Monday night in Pittsburgh. The two teams split their season series, with both winning on home ice.