User:Sherwood5030/sandbox/1935 Herder Memorial Trophy Finals

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The 1935 Finals was the inaugural championship series of the Newfoundland, and the culmination of the 1935 Herder Memorial Trophy playoffs. Western champion Corner Brook defeated the eastern champion St. John's, four goals to two in the two-games total-goals series.

Corner Brook
This was the first Herder final appearance for Corner Brook. , after defeating the San Jose Sharks in six games the previous season, and sixth appearance overall. The Penguins did not make any major transactions during the off-season nor regular season, instead signing head coach Mike Sullivan to a three-year extension.

Pittsburgh earned 111 points (50 wins, 21 losses, and 11 overtime losses) during the regular season to finish second in the Metropolitan Division and second overall among playoff teams. Center and team captain Sidney Crosby led the club in points with 89, finishing second in the League, and led the club and League in goal scoring with 44 goals during the regular season. Teammate Phil Kessel led the team in assists with 47.

In the playoffs, the Penguins defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets in five games, eliminated the Presidents' Trophy-winning Washington Capitals for a second consecutive year, this time in seven games, and edged the Ottawa Senators in seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals.

St. John's Guards
This was St. John's first Finals appearance.

During the off-season, Nashville traded defenceman and long-time team captain Shea Weber for defenceman P. K. Subban, and during the regular season, traded for forwards Cody McLeod and Vernon Fiddler. The Predators also re-signed forward Filip Forsberg during the off-season.

Nashville finished with 94 points (41 wins, 29 losses, and 12 overtime losses) during the regular season to finish as the second wild-card in the Western Conference, and the 16th overall and last seeded playoff team. Forsberg and Viktor Arvidsson tied for the team lead in regular-season goal-scoring with 31 each. Ryan Johansen led the team in assists with 47. Arvidsson and Johansen tied for the team lead in points with 61.

The Predators started the playoffs by upsetting the top-seeded Chicago Blackhawks in four games, becoming the first wild-card and eighth-seeded team in NHL history to sweep the top-seeded team in their conference. They also eliminated both the St. Louis Blues and the Anaheim Ducks in six games respectively. In the second round of the playoffs, Kevin Fiala sustained an injury, and in the Conference Finals, Johansen would also receive an injury as well; both forwards would sustain serious leg injuries and neither would be able to return. For Predators head coach Peter Laviolette, this marks his third time being in the Stanley Cup Finals with a third different team. He previously coached the Carolina Hurricanes to the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals, in which he won the Cup, and the Philadelphia Flyers to the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals.

Game one
The first period remained scoreless until the final five minutes; Nashville forwards Calle Jarnkrok and James Neal were both called on penalties for the same time period and on the 5-on-3 power play Evgeni Malkin took a pass from captain Sidney Crosby to put the Penguins up 1–0. 1:15 later, Conor Sheary scored after another pass from Crosby; in the final 17 seconds of the period, Nick Bonino gave Pittsburgh its third goal. The Penguins had no shots on goal in the second period while the Predators put off nine shots, with Ryan Ellis scoring a power-play goal. Nashville then tied the game in the third period. However, the Predators' comeback would be foiled as Penguins rookie Jake Guentzel gave Pittsburgh the lead back on the team's first shot since the first period. Bonino's second goal of the game as an empty-netter gave the Penguins a 5–3 triumph.

Game two
During the first period, the Predators received their first lead in a Finals game when Pontus Aberg went around Olli Maatta on a single effort to score his second of the playoffs. The Penguins tied it with 3:24 left in the first period when Jake Guentzel's shot sneaked in for his eleventh of the playoffs. After a scoreless second period in which the Predators took twice as many shots as the Penguins, Pittsburgh ignited in the third period, scoring three goals in 3:18. The first goal was by Guentzel who became the first rookie since Dino Ciccarelli to score twelve goals in a single playoff season (Ciccarelli scored 14 during his rookie season). The next two goals were scored 15 seconds apart and also prompted Predators head coach Peter Laviolette to replace goaltender Pekka Rinne with Juuse Saros. The Penguins stopped the Predators' six shots in the final period to win Game 2 4–1.

Game three
Jake Guentzel came within one goal of Ciccarelli's rookie record when a shot 2:46 into the game got past the Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne. In the second period, the Predators scored 42 seconds apart to not only tie the game, but take the lead. The first goal for the Predators came when defenceman Roman Josi fired a slap shot past Matt Murray. The second goal was on a wrist shot blasted by Frederick Gaudreau. James Neal then gave the Predators a two-goal lead with 23 seconds left in the period. In the third period, a breakaway by Craig Smith gave the Predators a three-goal lead and a goal by Mattias Ekholm would be the insurance goal in a 5–1 victory for Nashville. Near the end of the game, several misconducts were assessed after a cross checking by Phil Kessel gathered a crowd and fights broke out.

Game four
The Predators' Calle Jarnkrok scored the first goal, but a breakaway set up by Brian Dumoulin for Sidney Crosby tied the score heading into the second period. In the second period, after a Penguins breakaway was stopped by Pekka Rinne, Predators forward Frederick Gaudreau's wrap-around shot appeared to be stopped by Matt Murray, however, upon a video review, the puck snuck in under Murray's paddle before being swatted out. A breakaway goal by Viktor Arvidsson would give the Predators their third goal of the game. Rinne would stop all nine shots faced in the third period and an empty-net goal by Filip Forsberg would tie the series 2–2 in a 4–1 victory for Nashville.

Game five
Justin Schultz scored for Pittsburgh early in the first period on the power play. The following two goals by the Penguins would then put goaltender Juuse Saros into the net. Pittsburgh continued their goal-scoring into the second period starting first with Conor Sheary. Jake Guentzel tied the rookie record for points in a single playoff season (21) assisting on the first goal of the period. The second goal came from Phil Kessel which gave Sidney Crosby his third point of the night. The third goal by Ron Hainsey gave Kessel his third point of the night along with Crosby. This was the first period in which the Penguins out shot the Predators. No goals were scored in the third period, giving Matt Murray the shutout — in doing so, he became the first rookie since Cam Ward to record a shutout in the Finals. During the third period, 20 penalties were assessed, the most in one period since game three of the 2011 Finals.

Game six
The game remained scoreless until the final two minutes of the third period when former-Predator Patric Hornqvist scored the game winning goal with 1:35 left in the game. A challenge was made against the goal as the Predators thought goaltender interference was involved, but it was ruled a good goal. Carl Hagelin added an empty net goal to end the game 2–0.

There was some controversy during the game. A Predators goal was called back when the referee blew a quick whistle. Referee Kevin Pollock lost sight of the puck when it was actually loose in the goal crease.

Pittsburgh Penguins – 2017 Stanley Cup champions
The Stanley Cup was presented to Penguins captain Sidney Crosby by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman. The following players and staff qualified to have their names engraved on the Stanley Cup:

TV and radio
In Canada, the series was broadcast by Sportsnet and simulcast by CBC Television in English, and TVA Sports in French. In the U.S., NBC broadcast most of the games; games two and three were aired by NBCSN. In the U.S., the games were seen by an average of 4.762 million viewers, an increase of 19% over the 2016 finals, and the highest-rated finals without an Original Six team. Despite competition from the 2017 Tony Awards broadcast and the return of ABC's Sunday-night game show block, game six achieved a total viewership of 7.086 million.

The NHL on Westwood One/NBC Sports Radio carried the games throughout the United States on radio and through online streaming, while the home calls of Nashville (WPRT-FM/Predators Radio Network) and Pittsburgh (WXDX-FM/Penguins Radio Network) was available both over the air in their home markets and through online streaming.