Penguins vs. Predators Game 6 Date, Live-Stream Schedule, Start Time and Pick

The city of Nashville will have one last turn to wow the hockey world with its rowdy environment, and it will need to provide a lift to its team or else the 2017 Stanley Cup playoffs will end on Sunday.

Game 6 provides the Nashville Predators with a chance to extend the series on their home ice, but that could be a challenge after the beatdown the Pittsburgh Penguins provided the previous night. If there was ever a home-ice advantage in these playoffs though, it would be at Bridgestone Arena.

Let us take a look at the start time, television and live-stream schedule for this potentially decisive Game 6. Continue for a preview and pick for the contest.  

Pittsburgh at Nashville: Game 6 Schedule

When: Sunday, June 11 at 8 p.m. ET

Network: NBC

Live Stream: NBC Sports Live

Game 6 Preview

If you are noticing a focus on home ice as a trend here, it is because the impact has been gigantic in this series.

Pittsburgh has won its three games at PPG Paints Arena while outscoring the Predators 15-4, including a 6-0 beatdown in Game 5. Conversely, Nashville won its two games at home while outscoring the Penguins 9-2 behind a raucous fanbase and city that have become a social phenomenon for its passion.

The location of the game has had no bigger effect on any single player than Pekka Rinne. The veteran goaltender looked like a serious Conn Smythe candidate entering this series, but he has been abysmal away from home against the Penguins. After being lit up for three goals on nine shots in Game 5, Rinne possesses a stunningly bad .755 save percentage in Pittsburgh this series, per Adam Vignan of The Tennessean.  

The city of Pittsburgh is simply unkind to Rinne throughout his career. Despite making just occasional visits due to playing in the Western Conference, Rinne entered Game 5 without any wins in Pittsburgh, per Sportsnet:

On the flip side, Rinne has been sensational at home, which was evidenced by his two goals allowed on 52 shots in Games 3 and 4. Nashville obviously struggles when Rinne does not play well, and the Predators will not survive much longer if they go down 3-0 again like they did in the first periods of Games 1 and 5.

The entire Nashville team just seems to receive a boost when playing in front of its fans. The Predators have won nine of their 10 games at Bridgestone Arena in these playoffs, and 13 of their last 14 postseason games overall.

There are two factors that could make Nashville's chances of forcing Game 7 a little tougher, even on home ice. Firstly, Ryan Ellis, who is part of the league's best top-four defensive group that also features Mattias Ekholm, Roman Josi and P.K. Subban, left Game 5 with injury. His status is uncertain moving forward, per TVA Sports' Renaud Lavoie:

If Ellis is unavailable, that forces major problems for Nashville's defensive depth, which is the team's biggest strength. Not only does he have 13 points this postseason while averaging over 24 minutes per night, but he keeps the top two pairs intact against Pittsburgh's top guys in Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.

Without Ellis, that dynamic is shattered while Matt Irwin and Yannick Weber take more ice time, as Yahoo Sports' Ryan Lambert explained:

"More concerning was that Weber/Irwin pairing getting broken up and exposed to more time. It’s telling that even despite all the ups and downs of this series, they still only averaged 10:20 and 11:23, respectively, in this Cup Final. Moreover, it’s telling that despite those modest workloads—the fewest minutes of anyone on the team who’d appeared in all four games—they’d been on the ice for three and two goals against [in Game 5], also respectively."

With Crosby currently dominating play whenever he steps on the ice, not having Ellis forces at least one of Nashville's bottom-pair defensemen to play against either No. 87 or Malkin, which is obviously not ideal. Malkin leads all players with 28 points this postseason while Crosby is second with 27. 

Crosby routinely performs in the Stanley Cup final, as he moved past a hockey legend in scoring after notching three assists in Game 5, per the Penguins:

Nashville should be favored, but the Ellis situation adds some uncertainty here. The Predators have looked unbeatable at home this entire postseason, so expect them to pull out a win in the biggest hockey game in the history of Bridgestone Arena.

Statistics are courtesy of NHL.com unless otherwise noted.