Predators' Peter Laviolette Says Disallowed Goal 'Changed the Course' of Game 1

The Pittsburgh Penguins' 5-3 victory over the Nashville Predators in Monday's Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final featured plenty of goals, but one goal that didn't count stood out.

Nashville's P.K. Subban appeared to open the scoring in the first period, but the goal was disallowed after replay review showed Filip Forsberg offside. "The impact of that moment, and the chain of events that happened after that—the penalty kills, I think, changed the course of the game," Predators head coach Peter Laviolette said, per Mike Halford of NBC Sports.

The disallowed goal started a nightmare first period for the Predators that proved costly in the close affair.

They allowed a five-on-three power play after James Neal committed an inexplicable cross-check during a delayed penalty period, and Evgeni Malkin scored during the sequence. Conor Sheary scored less than two minutes later, and Nick Bonino was credited with a goal after the puck bounced off Mattias Ekholm's stick for an own goal.

In the blink of an eye, it went from 1-0 Nashville to 3-0 Pittsburgh.

To the Predators' credit, they demonstrated plenty of resilience and dictated play throughout the final two periods. Ryan Ellis, Colton Sissons and Frederick Gaudreau scored three straight goals to tie the game before Jake Guentzel and Bonino scored to win it for Pittsburgh, and the Predators enjoyed a 26-12 advantage in shots.

"It never deflated us," captain Mike Fisher said of the offside call, per Halford. "It doesn't change our mindset, but it's unfortunate—we thought it was a goal. What do you do? From there, we played solid. We just didn't find that way to win."

The Predators will need a better start in Wednesday's Game 2 if they plan on finding a way to win and even the series.