The Nashville Predators kept alive their hopes of winning a first Stanley Cup with a 5-1 rout of the Pittsburgh Penguins in game three of the final series to decide the NHL champions.
Pittsburgh lead the best-of-seven 2-1 but missed a chance to take a stranglehold on the series at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.
The defending Stanley Cup champions went 1-0 up early in the first period when Jake Guentzel pounced on a rebound from an Ian Cole shot and squeezed the puck past Nashville goaltender Pekka Rinne from close range, silencing the raucous crowd.
But the Predators hit back with five unanswered goals, including two within a minute in the second period through Roman Josi, on a power play, and then centre Frederick Gaudreau.
James Neal scored from close range with 22 seconds left in the second period to give Nashville a two-goal cushion.
Craig Smith scored on a breakaway early in the third period, before a power play goal by Mattias Ekholm made it 5-1.
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