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For the second year in a row, the Pittsburgh Penguins are Stanley Cup champions. They defeated the Nashville Predators 2-0 in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final on Sunday night in Bridgestone Arena.

It's the fifth Stanley Cup overall for the Penguins, tying them with the Edmonton Oilers for the sixth-most in NHL history. TSN's Pierre LeBrun noted why this year's triumph is so impressive:

Patric Hornqvist delivered the decisive blow with 1:35 left in the third period. A shot from Justin Schultz bounced off the boards behind the goal, and Hornqvist pounced on the rebound, knocking the puck in off Nashville goaltender Pekka Rinne.

NHL on NBC provided a replay of the goal:

The fact Hornqvist, who played for the Predators during his first six years in the NHL, scored the go-ahead goal was a cruel twist of fate for Nashville.

The biggest talking point—at least among Predators fans—will be a decision by the officiating crew earlier in the game.

Controversy reigned with a little over a minute gone in the second period. Referees waved off a goal by Colton Sissons after losing sight of the puck and blowing the whistle to stop play. NHL on NBC shared a replay of the sequence in which a whistle is audible before Sissons' shot goes in:

The social media reaction to the call was overwhelmingly negative:

The performances of the respective goaltenders increased the magnitude of the officiating mistake. Rinne and Matt Murray ensured goals would come at a premium. Both goalies have experienced low moments throughout the postseason, but they more than lived up to the occasion Sunday night.

As the end of regulation loomed, USA Today's Dan Wolken couldn't help but think back to Sissons' disallowed goal:

Shortly thereafter, Hornqvist sealed the win for Pittsburgh, and Carl Hagelin scored an empty-netter for good measure

Nashville fans will feel justifiably disappointed the referee error played such an outsized role in Game 6, but it's far from the sole reason the Predators lost the game and the series.

Ultimately, the Preds weren't good enough away from home, losing all three games in Pittsburgh by a combined score of 15-4. That gave them little margin for error inside Bridgestone Arena, and one bad break, which occurred Sunday, had the potential to be catastrophic.

The Penguins, meanwhile, accomplished something fans likely never thought they'd see again—at least under the league's salary-cap rules. And Pittsburgh won a title despite missing its best defenseman, Kris Letang, for the duration of the postseason.

Sidney Crosby added to his already impressive legacy as well, capturing his second straight Conn Smythe Trophy. Still only 29, Crosby is undoubtedly the best player in the world, and the question is how much more he can achieve over the rest of his career.</s>NASHVILLE, TN.– The Pittsburgh Penguins were able to hold on through a knock-em-down, drag-it-out series with the Nashville Predators to clinch their second consecutive Stanley Cup title.

The team clinched the title with a 2-0 victory in Nashville Sunday evening, with C Sidney Crosby taking home playoff MVP honors in the form of the Conn Smythe Trophy. It is Crosby’s third Stanley Cup title.

Goalie Matt Murray made 27 saves and posted his second consecutive shutout to help lead his team to victory. Murray is the first goaltender in NHL history to win the clinching game for the Stanley Cup in each of his first two seasons.

The Penguins became the first team in nearly two decades to repeat as champions, and claimed the team’s fifth overall title.</s>This was no easy Stanley Cup championship for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Weighted down during the grueling two-month tournament by injuries, fatigue and quality opposition, the Penguins staggered at times, but never succumbed. And Sunday night they became the first team in two decades to repeat as Stanley Cup champions, a just reward for a team that now can lay claim to the term "dynasty," with three Cups in the Sidney Crosby era.

Here's a look at three takeaways as the party rages on in the self-proclaimed City of Champions.

Make no mistake, the Pittsburgh Penguins are deserving champions. Yet their latest title has a bit of controversy attached to it.

Nashville appeared to grab a 1-0 lead in Game 6 when Colton Sissons banged home a rebound early in the second period. However, referee Kevin Pollock clearly whistled the play dead before the puck went in because he lost sight of it after Matt Murray made an initial save. What Pollock did not see is that Murray, with his back turned towards the official, never had control of the puck, and it had bounced into the blue paint where Sissons was waiting.

That particular play is not reviewable, an unfortunate bad break for the Predators and another sign in the eyes of conspiracy theorists--and Crosby haters--that the league wanted Crosby and the Penguins to win the Cup.

It was the second important game-opening goal by the Predators disallowed in the series, of course, adding fuel to the conspiracy fire.

P.K. Subban seemingly provided Nashville a 1-0 lead midway through the first period of Game 1 following a blast past Murray, but the call was overturned on the league's convoluted offsides rule, which--by the letter of the law, and a lengthy video review--flagged Filip Forsberg as the guilty party by the tiniest of margins. The deflated Predators then gave up a three spot before the period ended, on their way to a 5-3 series-opening loss.

No doubt, the Penguins benefited greatly by both calls, and you can argue the offsides rules and the quality of Pollock's officiating. But in the end, both calls were by the book and should not taint the Penguins' latest championship.

Penguins fans took to calling their team's goaltending tandem "Murray Fleury;" and both Matt Murray and Marc-Andre Fleury contributed significantly to Pittsburgh's 2017 title.

For the second straight spring, Murray was on the ice when the final buzzer sounded, mobbed by his teammates after the Stanley Cup finally was secured. While he won 15 of the 16 post-season games a year ago, Murray backstopped the final seven victories this spring. He did so after Fleury stepped in for the injured No. 1 netminder and masterfully guided the club to series wins over the Columbus Blue Jackets and Washington Capitals, the President's Trophy winners, in the first two rounds, as well as the first victory over the Ottawa Senators in the Eastern Conference Final.

Murray led the league with a 1.70 goals against average, .937 save percentage and three shutouts this post-season. He blanked Nashville in the final two games of the Cup Final, and was brilliant in the 3-2 double overtime victory against Ottawa in that epic Game 7.

In what may very well be his final go-round with the Penguins, the 32 year-old Fleury helped secure the third Cup of his career--with a 2.56 GAA, .927 save percentage and two shutouts--before giving way to the 23 year-old Murray, who is only the second goaltender in NHL history to win back-to-back Cups in his first two playoffs.

It speaks to the respect Fleury endears that he was presented the Stanley Cup before Murray during the on-ice celebration Sunday night. And it speaks to Fleury's class and professionalism that he, in turn, handed the Cup to Murray.

It was symbolic passing of the torch, which, in a way, realistically passed last year when Murray supplanted Fleury after the guy affectionately called "Flower" by his teammates suffered a concussion prior to the playoffs.

While Murray's future in Pittsburgh is without limit, Fleury likely will find a new destination this summer, whether it comes via an expansion-draft selection by the Vegas Golden Knights or a trade to a needy club like the Calgary Flames.

There are so many intangibles to consider when any team wins a championship.

In the case of the 2017 Penguins, their resiliency and will to win stands out considering their lengthy list of injuries and obstacles on the way to securing Lord Stanley's chalice.

It cannot be overlooked, however, that the Penguins backbone starts at the top of the organization and roster. From Mario Lemieux to Jim Rutherford to Mike Sullivan to Sidney Crosby, the Penguins leadership set the tone for the back-to-back titles.

The legendary Lemieux captained the first two of Pittsburgh's five Stanley Cups before rescuing the franchise from relocation as owner and hosting Crosby for years as a billet and mentor. He is hockey royalty and a smart businessman. Not a bad person sitting atop one's organization.

Rutherford, another hockey lifer, arrived in 2014, took a very good team and turned it into repeat champions as its general manager. His shrewd acquisitions of Phil Kessel, Patric Hornqvist, Carl Hagelin, Nick Bonino, Trevor Daley, Justin Schultz, Ian Cole and Ron Hainsey provide nearly half of Pittsburgh's 2017 Cup-winning roster.

Another shrewd move turned out to be bringing Sullivan into the organization as minor league head coach, and then elevating him to be the Penguins bench boss on Dec. 12, 2015. That was a major turning point as the demanding Sullivan guided his talented roster in the right direction, establishing high expectations, and utilizing strong communication skills along the way.

Sullivan impressively evolved from his first head coaching opportunity with the Boston Bruins a decade prior, and shed the angry intense image he had as a long-time assistant under John Tortorella, to flourish as the confident, intelligent, successful and likable head coach of the Penguins.

As for Crosby, what more can be said of the greatest player in the game? In the past calendar year alone Crosby has won two Stanley Cups, two Conn Smythe Trophies, the 2017 World Cup of Hockey championship and the MVP trophy at the World Cup.

He is the most polarizing player in the sport, hated by many as intensely as he is loved in Pittsburgh, but Crosby has grown into one of the game's great leaders, both in action and spoken word. The confidence and swagger the Penguins play with? It all starts with Crosby.</s>NASHVILLE — Patric Hornqvist banked a shot off goalie Pekka Rinne's elbow with 1:35 left in regulation for the game-winner in the Pittsburgh Penguins' Stanley Cup-clinching 2-0 win against the Nashville Predators.

The Penguins, who won in six games, are the first NHL team to win Stanley Cup back-to-back titles since the 1996-97 and 1997-98 Detroit Red Wings.

Pittsburgh goalie Matt Murray made 27 saves to give him back-to-back shutouts in Games 5 and 6.

Here's what was important in the game:

Quick whistle: The Predators believed Colton Sissons gave them a 1-0 lead early in the second period.

However, the referee had blown the play dead because he believed Filip Forsberg’s shot had been snared and covered by Pittsburgh goalie Matt Murray. He didn't see the puck roll out of his equipment and come to stop in the goal crease. Sissons had poked it across the goal line only to have his apparent goal immediately waved off.

More bad luck for Sissons: Late in the third period, Sisson pinged a shot off the right goal post. He also was stopped on a breakaway.

Superior penalty killing: The Penguins killed off four Nashville power play opportunities, including a 5-on-3 for 32 seconds. The Penguins didn't have a power play opportunity.

Ellis all in: Nashville defenseman Ryan Ellis, who left Game 5 early, was able to play Game 6 and played effectively. He played 24:05.

Crosby, a Conn Smythe winner again: Crosby became the first player since Penguins owner Mario Lemieux in 1991-92 to win consecutive Conn Smythe trophies. Crosby had eight goals and 19 assists in the 24 games of the playoffs.

Empty netter: Carl Hagelin outraced the Predators to a loose puck to score the insurance goal.

Five Cups all on the road: The Penguins have never won a Stanley Cup at home. The 1960 Pittsburgh Penguins were the last Pittsburgh team to win a championship in Pittsburgh.

GALLERY: BEST OF THE 2017 STANLEY CUP FINAL</s>A shot by Pittsburgh Penguins' Evgeni Malkin gets past Nashville Predators goalie Pekka Rinne (35) for a goal during the first period of Game 5 Stanley Cup Final, Thursday in Pittsburgh. The Penguins won 6-0. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)</s>PITTSBURGH, PA - MAY 29: Nick Bonino #13 of the Pittsburgh Penguins celebrates with Trevor Daley #6 after scoring an empty net goal during the third period in Game One of the 2017 NHL Stanley Cup Final against the Nashville Predators at PPG Paints Arena on May 29, 2017 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

Last year he became a Stanley Cup champion after 12 years in the NHL as a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins. However, he didn't get to play in the Final at all due to a broken ankle in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals.

Trevor Daley has been a Pittsburgh Penguin for two season. He's won a Stanley Cup in both of them.

This year he played in 21 postseason games tallying five points.



From the Associated Press:

Sidney Crosby is bringing the Stanley Cup back home to Pittsburgh for a second consecutive year.

Patric Hornqvist scored with 1:35 left and Matt Murray made 27 saves for his second straight shutout as the Penguins became the NHL's first team in nearly two decades to repeat as champions following a 2-0 win over the Nashville Predators in Game 6 on Sunday night.

The Penguins won their fifth title -- all of which have been clinched on the road -- to tie the Wayne Gretzky-Mark Messier-era Edmonton Oilers for sixth on the all-time list. The Detroit Red Wings in 1997 and '98 were the last champion to defend their title, but the Penguins are the first to do it in the salary cap era.

"We knew it was going to be tough all year, but we just tried to keep with it," said Crosby, who won his second Conn Smythe Trophy as postseason MVP. "We had a lot of injuries and things like that. We just kept finding ways. That was really what we did all season, all playoffs. It's great to be able to do it."

Hornqvist scored off Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne's left elbow to end the scoreless game. Nashville challenged for goalie interference, but the goal was upheld. With Rinne pulled for an extra attacker, Carl Hagelin set off a bench celebration with an empty netter with 13.6 seconds left.

Nashville lost for just the first time in regulation on home ice this postseason.

Colton Sissons had a goal erased by a whistle 67 seconds into the second period. The Predators went 0 of 4 with the man advantage, including 32 seconds of a 5-on-3 in the third.

Forget a golden anniversary: The Penguins will cap their 50th season with their names on the most famous silver cup in sports -- again. It is also the third championship for Crosby and a handful of teammates from the 2009 title team, surpassing the two won by the Penguins teams led by current owner Mario Lemieux in the 1990s.

And it's the second championship in 18 months for coach Mike Sullivan, who has yet to lose a playoff series since taking over after Mike Johnston was fired. Sullivan is the first American-born coach to win the Cup not once, but twice.

Matt Murray became the first goalie to win not one, but two Stanley Cups as a rookie after being a late-season call up a year ago and didn't play enough games to get that tag removed. That's something neither Patrick Roy, Ken Dryden or Cam Ward ever managed, but the 23-year-old Murray finished this Cup Final shutting out Nashville for the final 126:52.

The loss ended the upstart Predators' deepest playoff run in the franchise's 19-year history and one that became the talk of the town far beyond Music City, catfish and all.

Having won just three of 12 playoff series before this year, Nashville opened this postseason by eliminating the top-seeded Chicago Blackhawks in four games. In doing so, the Predators became the first eighth-seeded team to sweep a first-round series since the current playoff format was introduced in 1994. Nashville went through St. Louis and then Anaheim, with only captain Mike Fisher carrying any Cup Final experience on the roster.

The stingy Predators found Pittsburgh was up to the task, with the Penguins taking the first two games on home ice. Nashville roared back at home to even things up, but the Penguins routed Nashville to set up Game 6.

The Penguins ruined Nashville's big party where the game coincided with the final night of CMA Music Festival, bringing more than 100,000 to downtown Nashville. Country star Luke Bryan serenaded fans from the rooftop of a honky-tonk in a performance that kicked off the television broadcast, and he also sang a four-song set for fans inside and outside the arena an hour before face-off.

Faith Hill became the latest to sing the national anthem with husband, star Tim McGraw, giving her a hug once finished before waving a towel in each hand. At least five catfish hit the ice before the face-off.

Then in a series that hadn't featured even a single one-goal game was scoreless through the first 40 minutes. The Predators thought they had the first goal of the game, just like they did in Game 1 in Pittsburgh for being offsides, only to have referee Kevin Pollock wave it off immediately. He had whistled the play dead when he lost sight of the puck with Murray on the ice between him and the puck.

Sissons tapped the puck into the net 67 seconds into the second period behind Murray's back. Officials huddled, but the goal was not allowed.

Murray also stopped Sissons on a breakaway midway through the second and also gloved a shot from Viktor Arvidsson later in the period.

The Penguins also killed off 32 seconds of a 5-on-3 at 8:47 of the third after Trevor Daley punched Ryan Ellis with Olli Maatta already in the box for tripping. Murray made a big stop on a shot by Mattias Ekholm followed by a save on Arvidsson.

This championship season for the Penguins lacked some of the drama from a year ago, but it was far from a slam dunk. Washington won the President's Trophy for a second straight season and pushed Pittsburgh to seven games in the second round. Ottawa did the same thing, forcing the Penguins to double overtime to clinch the Eastern Conference title.

Crosby, Malkin and others also played in the World Cup of Hockey before the season, making this an even longer year than usual. In the end, the Penguins had more than enough in the tank to bring home another title.

Notes: Nashville finished the series going 0 of 8 on the power play over the final two games. ... Grammy winners Cage the Elephant performed during the second intermission after playing at Bonnaroo on Friday night.</s>Bryan Rust #17 of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Frederick Gaudreau #32 of the Nashville Predators fight for possesion of the puck during the first period in Game Six of the 2017 NHL Stanley Cup Final at the Bridgestone Arena on June 11, 2017 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)</s>Jake Guentzel & Josh Archibald became the first former UNO Mavericks to win a Stanley Cup as the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Nashville Predators 2-0 on Sunday night. The Pens took the series 4-2 & repeated as the Stanley Cup Champions.

After the game six win, both former Mavs were able to skate around the ice with the Stanley Cup.

Guentzel tied the rookie scoring record in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The Penguins scored the game-winner with less than two minutes remaining in the 3rd period on a Patric Hornqvist goal in which he flicked the puck off the pad of the Nashville goalie.</s>NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP)/(WJBF) – The Stanley Cup is staying in the Steel City.

The Pittsburgh Penguins are the first team in 19 years to win a second straight Stanley Cup as they completed the feat with a 2-0 shutout of the Predators in Nashville. Neither team scored until former Predator Patric Hornqvist beat Pekka Rinne (PEH’-kuh REE’-nay) from a bad angle with 1:35 remaining. Carl Hagelin (HAG’-lihn) sealed the win by scoring into an empty net with 14 seconds left.

Matt Murray stopped 27 shots in recording his second consecutive shutout. Murray also blanked Nashville in the Penguins’ 6-0 rout in Game 5.

Penguins captain Sidney Crosby was awarded the Conn Smythe (smyth) Trophy for a second consecutive year after finishing second to teammate Evgeni Malkin with 27 points.

It’s the fifth Stanley Cup for the Penguins, who have won all of their clinchers on the road. The 1998 Red Wings were the last team to win a second consecutive Cup.

Penguins forward Chris Kunitz (KOO’-nihts) now leads all active players with four career championships.

It ends the deepest playoff run in Predators history. Nashville made the playoffs as the 16th-best team in the regular season before knocking off Chicago, St. Louis and Anaheim.</s>Penguins Beat Predators, Become First Repeat Stanley Cup Champion In 19 Years

The Pittsburgh Penguins and Chicago Blackhawks each have won three Stanley Cup championships since the salary cap was created for the 2005-06 NHL season, but only the Pens have accomplished the feat of winning back-to-back titles.

Pittsburgh defeated the Nashville Predators 2-0 in Game 6 of the 2017 Stanley Cup Final at Bridgestone Arena on Sunday night. The victory makes the Pens the first back-to-back champions since the 1998 Detroit Red Wings.

Patric Hornqvist scored a rebound goal with less than two minutes remaining in regulation to break a scoreless tie. Carl Hagelin sealed the victory with an empty-net goal shortly after.

The Predators were robbed of the opening goal by a horrendously premature whistle in the second period. That said, the Penguins were the better team overall throughout the series.

Penguins captain and center Sidney Crosby won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. He also won it last season.
In ice hockey, the Pittsburgh Penguins win the 2017 Stanley Cup Finals defeating the Nashville Predators in six games. It is the Penguins' fifth overall and second successive Stanley Cup title.