What to watch for: 2017 Stanley Cup Final (Game 1)

During the next two weeks AT&T SportsNet will be airing a series of "Pittsburgh Penguins Classic" content. That includes re-airing the Penguins' four victories against Nashville in the 2017 Stanley Cup Final (Games 1, 2, 5, 6).
To get you set for these games we've provided a quick preview/recap of the game. Obviously, the Penguins won each game and we've all seen them before. So, we tried to highlight some stuff that you may not remember, or other interesting aspects of the game that may have gone under the radar in the grand scheme of things. It's the type of thing that hindsight can really bring into focus.
Click here for 2017 Stanley Cup Final rewind content.
Enjoy!

PROGRAMMING: Here is AT&T SportsNet's schedule for tonight…
4:30PM: 2016 Stanley Cup Championship Film (an all-access look at the Penguins' magical championship season from the start of the regular season and through the lifting of the Stanley Cup).
6PM: In the Room (The Penguins get ready for 2016's training camp, Phil Kessel takes on media day and the team visits the White House).
6:30PM: In the Room (The Penguins get their names engraved on the Cup, Malkin is mic'd and Matt Cullen turns 40).
7PM: Game 1 of the 2017 Stanley Cup Final - Pittsburgh vs. Nashville
9:30PM: Inside Penguins Hockey: Sidney Crosby, The Early Years
10PM: Inside Penguins Hockey: Unique Moments
10:30PM: In the Room (Jim Rutherford at the trade deadline, rehabbing with John Marino, Nick Bjugstad)
SETUP: The Penguins' dream of becoming the first team to repeat as Stanley Cup champions in the salary cap era (and the first team to do so in nearly two decades) was four victories away, thanks to a Game 7 double overtime goal from Chris Kunitz against Ottawa in the Eastern Conference Final.
SUMMARY: The Penguins' offense was quiet for most of the night. However, it exploded when it did strike. The Penguins scored three goals in the final five minutes of the first period, including a goal with 16.1 seconds remaining, to take a 3-0 lead. Pittsburgh then went the next 37 minutes without a single shot (yes, you read that correctly). In that span, Nashville crawled back with three goals to tie the game late in the third period. But when the Penguins finally broke the shotless drought, it counted. Jake Guentzel snapped the odd streak with the game-winning goal with 3:17 remaining in regulation. The Penguins took Game 1 by a 5-3 count.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR:
FIRST PERIOD
20:00: It's crazy to see the Penguins' "50th Anniversary" logo at center ice for the opening faceoff. What a way to celebrate 50 years in the NHL, with back-to-back Stanley Cup championships.
18:40: The fans boo the Predators' P.K. Subban. They still hadn't forgotten when Subban stomped on Jordan Staal's foot in the 2010 playoffs. Penguins fans never forget.
15:49: Sidney Crosby cut into the slot and got off a shot. It was the Penguins' first of the game. They wouldn't get many. They wouldn't need many.
12:47: Speaking of Subban, he appeared to give Nashville a 1-0 lead with the first goal of the series. But wait...my God! That's Andy Saucier's music!!
The Penguins' video coach called in an offside challenge on Filip Forsberg (who entered the zone with the puck). Man, oh man, was it close. But by inches - it's a game of inches, right? - the play was indeed offside. Call reversed. Game remained scoreless.

6:10: The Penguins ended up getting a 5-on-3 for a full two minutes. A delayed interference penalty was coming on Calle Jarnkrok when James Neal gave his former employer a gift by taking an unnecessary cross check on Trevor Daley.
4:28: The Penguins pretty much wasted most of the 5-on-3. But what made them so frustrating to play against is that it only took one tiny creak for them to kick the door down. The Predators killed off 1:42 minutes of the 5-on-3. Then…
GOAL!! Malkin!! A slapshot that found its way into the net gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead.
Video: NSH@PIT, Gm1: Malkin nets PPG on blistering slapper
3:23: GOAL!! Sheary!! Just 65 seconds later the Penguins took a 2-0 lead. This was a beautiful no-look pass from Kunitz, who sold shot all the way. Kunitz made a smart play to reload on Brian Dumoulin's pinch and found himself high in the zone for the setup. Sheary with the finish.
:16.1: It's never a bad play to put the puck on net. Nick Bonino tossed a harmless "shot" toward the net. Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne poked at the puck. But it sailed off of his stick and then off of the knee of defenseman Mattias Ekholm and into the net for some friendly fire. And it's 3-0 Pens.
0:00: The Penguins had four shots through 15 minutes of the first period. In typical Penguins fashion, they scored three goals on their next four shots. However, Bonino's shot would be their last for nearly 40 minutes of play.
SECOND PERIOD
20:00: For the first time in the history of the Stanley Cup Final (expansion era), a team went without a single shot for an entire period. That team would be the Penguins, who also set a franchise record for least amount of shots in a single playoff period (hard to top that).
Nashville really put on a clinic defensively in this period. The Penguins had zero sustained zone time. The Penguins would gain the zone and turn the puck over on a pass attempt OR gain the zone and get a shot blocked OR dump the puck and watch the Predators retrieve and make a swift exit. The Penguins didn't get a shot, but it's not like they didn't try.
17:15: Matt Cullen missed the net glove side.
16:52: Crosby's backhander went wide of the post.
16:40: There's a catfish on the ice. The smuggled contraband is quickly disposed of.

11:39: Ryan Ellis got the Predators on the board, 3-1, with a slap shot through a Viktor Arvidsson screen. The puck went five-hole on Arvidsson and six-hole on goalie Matt Murray.
9:44: Olli Matta shot: blocked.
8:20: Bonino shot: blocked.
8:15: Ian Cole shot: blocked.
7:26: Scott Wilson shot: blocked (noticing a pattern?)
7:04 and 6:36: The best player in this game for Nashville was Colton Sissons. He got two great chances in a span of 30 seconds. Murray had to come up big on those stops.
3:02: Crosby shot: blocked.
:00: Zero shots in 20 minutes. The Penguins make history. Just doing what they do, baby.
THIRD PERIOD
17:58: Phil Kessel shot: blocked.
14:03: Bryan Rust shot: blocked.
12:52: Kunitz shot: missed (at least it wasn't blocked).
12:24: Kuntiz shot: blocked (spoke 28 seconds too soon).

9:54: And there's Sissons. He connected for a power-play goal to cut the deficit to 3-2. Well, not so much connected as kneed the puck into the net. The Predators' man-advantage went 2-for-3 in the game.
6:31: Frederick Gaudreau tied the game as a Pittsburgh power play expired. A double dagger for Pittsburgh. Incredible work by Austin Watson, who beat a defensive double team behind the net, swooped around and found Gaudreau. Watson garnered the attention of three Penguins on the play.
Pittsburgh not only failed to score on its power-play opportunity, but didn't register a shot. The drought continued. In the meantime, Nashville staged a hard-fought comeback.
5:29: Justin Schultz shot: blocked.
4:22: Perhaps the turning point in the game right here. Neal clanked a shot off of the post. If he scored on that attempt and gave Nashville a late 4-3 lead, the outcome may have been drastically different. And who knows how the Penguins would have handled a complete collapse in Game 1 mentally.
Instead…
3:17: GOAL!! GUENTZEL!! The Penguins rookie broke the team's shot-less drought by tallying his 10th goal of the postseason and staking a 4-3 lead for Pittsburgh. The Penguins went exactly 37 minutes exactly between shots, and exactly 37 minutes between goals.
Video: NSH@PIT, Gm1: Guentzel snipes late go-ahead goal
It was a nice chip by Cullen at the blue line wall to Guentzel entering the zone with speed. He went high glove for the go-ahead goal.
1:02: Signed. Sealed. Delivered. Bonino lobbed a long-range punt into an empty net that gave the Penguins a 5-3 lead and a 1-0 series lead. The Penguins' 12 total shots in the game - yes, 12, total - are the fewest in Stanley Cup Final history (expansion era). And the Penguins still got the W.
:30: "We want the Cup! We want the Cup! We want the Cup!"
:00: Cue the horn. "Ladies and gentlemen, Elvis has just left the building." Game 1 goes to Pittsburgh.