Column: Predators even Stanley Cup Final series with 4-1 win over Penguins

Predators center Frederick Gaudreau might get the keys to the city of Nashville before he gets a stall in the team’s crowded locker room.

Spare players have filled the spots along the walls of the tiny room at Bridgestone Arena, forcing Gaudreau to dress at a chair and table at one end of the room. He deserves a luxurious spot after scoring his second straight game-winning goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday, blending his timely scoring with goaltender Pekka Rinne’s often-spectacular 23-save performance to produce a 4-1 victory that evened the Stanley Cup Final at two games each.

“I could be sitting on the floor and I’d take it,” said Gaudreau, who went back and forth between Nashville and minor league Milwaukee during the regular season. “I’m just happy to be here.”

Center figured to be a vulnerable area for the Predators after thigh surgery ended Ryan Johansen’s season during the Western Conference finals. Instead, Gaudreau, Mike Fisher, Calle Jarnkrok and Colton Sissons have combined for 13 points in the Final, outplaying their Pittsburgh counterparts even though Sidney Crosby — who had been held without a shot on goal in Game 3 — scored on a breakaway in the first period Monday.

Game 5 will be played Thursday in Pittsburgh and the Cup will be on the line in Game 6 on Sunday in catfish-tossing, hockey-mad Nashville. Among the towel-wavers there Monday was Charles Barkley, the Hall of Fame basketball player and TV commentator who has lamented the lopsidedness of the NBA playoffs and likes to sneak away to watch the NHL’s ferocious postseason competition. “It has not been a lot of fun broadcasting games,” he said of the NBA, but he enjoyed himself Monday, standing and waving a gold rally towel amid the craziness that has overtaken the city.

The least emotional person after the game was the person you’d least expect to be matter-of-fact in an intoxicating situation.

Nashville defenseman P.K. Subban didn’t offer any hyperbole or concoct tales of opponents criticizing his bad breath, as he said Crosby had done late in Game 3. He was matter-of-fact and to the point, another unexpected turn in these playoffs.

“Now, it’s almost like the first four games are a wash. They don’t even matter now,” he said after the Predators improved to 9-1 at home in the playoffs. “The next couple games here, we’ve got to look at it as best of three and we’re going to have to elevate our game even more.”

Jarnkrok opened the scoring by converting the rebound of a shot by Craig Smith at 14:51 of the first period, but a breakaway backhander by Crosby brought the Penguins even at 15:57. Rinne stopped Chris Kunitz on a breakaway at 3:29 of the second period, just before Gaudreau tucked a wraparound inside the post and past goalie Matt Murray. The play was reviewed and the replay confirmed that the puck had entirely crossed the line.

Rinne pulled out some acrobatics to protect that lead. He foiled Crosby on another breakaway and flung himself across the crease to repel Jake Guentzel’s rebound attempt, a breathtaking sequence. “He held me out, then I finally made kind of a soccer goalie save,” Rinne said. “I was able to keep the puck out of the net. At the moment, obviously that was a big play.”

No kidding. A few minutes later Viktor Arvidsson finished off Fisher’s lunging, one-handed pass for a 3-1 lead. Filip Forsberg’s empty-net goal capped it, triggering roars that nearly lifted the roof off the building. “I feel like these two Final games, everybody has seen what kind of crowd we have, what kind of fans we have in the city of Nashville,” Rinne said.

Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said his team had generated the most and highest-quality chances it had produced in the Final. “It didn’t go in the net for us,” he said. “I think we’ve just got to stay with it, in that vein, and just continue to try to focus on the process. We believe we’ve got guys that can score goals and can finish.”

Sure, but so do the Predators. Gaudreau doesn’t have a spot in the locker room but he has earned a place in their growing playoff lore by becoming only the second player in NHL history to score his first three career goals in the Cup Final. Afterward, Fisher said the team would try to squeeze Gaudreau into a space, but defenseman Ryan Ellis jokingly said Gaudreau is a couple of goals away from being relocated to a locker. “Then he can have mine if he wants,” Ellis said.

He could probably have the keys to the city then, too. And, maybe, his name on the Stanley Cup.

helene.elliott@latimes.com

Follow Helene Elliott on Twitter @helenenothelen