June 13, 2017

On Sunday night, June 11, the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League (NHL) defeated the Nashville Predators 2-0 to win the best-of-seven Stanley Cup Final four games to two, capturing their second straight title. After scoring two late goals to win the deciding game six at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, the Pens rushed the ice to collectively and jubilantly hoist the Stanley Cup trophy. Pittsburgh, which defeated the San Jose Sharks in the 2016 final, became the first team since the Detroit Red Wings of the late 1990’s to repeat as NHL champions. This year’s championship is the team’s fifth since the Penguins joined the NHL in 1967.

Players, coaches, and staff of the Pittsburgh Penguins pose happily with the Stanley Cup trophy after winning their second-straight National Hockey League championship on June 11, 2017, in Nashville, Tennessee. Credit: © Bruce Bennett, Getty Images

Pittsburgh forward Patric Hornqvist banked in the game-winning shot off the back of Nashville goaltender Pekka Rinne with about a minute and a half to go in the third period. Pens winger Carl Hagelin then added an empty-net goal with 14 seconds remaining. The Pens’ 23-year-old goalie, Matt Murray, saved 27 shots en route to recording his second consecutive shutout to clinch the final’s tightest game. The series began on a fluky note as the Pens scored 5 goals on only 12 shots to win game one, 5-3. The ensuing games were never terribly close as the Pens dominated games two and five and the Predators easily won games three and four.

The Penguins’ captain, star center Sidney Crosby, won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the playoffs. Crosby rang up 8 goals and 19 assists during the Pens’ postseason march, his 27 points trailing only teammate Evgeni Malkin’s playoff tally of 28 points. The Crosby-Malkin duo secured their third Stanley Cup together, their first coming in 2009. To reach the 2017 Stanley Cup Final, the Penguins finished second in the Eastern Conference’s Metropolitan Division before brushing away the Columbus Blue Jackets in the first round of the playoffs and winning tough victories over the Washington Capitals and the Ottawa Senators.

The Predators made their first Stanley Cup Final unexpectedly, having barely qualified for the playoffs with a fourth-place finish in the Western Conference’s Central Division. The Preds showed their mettle in the playoffs, however, knocking off the powerhouse Chicago Blackhawks before taking down the St. Louis Blues and Anaheim Ducks to reach the final. The team’s unlikely playoff run—behind Rinne, star defenseman P. K. Subban, and a host of talented young forwards—generated unprecedented hockey excitement in “Music City” (Nashville’s nickname), as fans roared their team to a deafening home-ice advantage while sporting gold shirts bearing the image of the team’s namesake fanged predator, a saber-toothed cat.

June 14, 2016

Pittsburgh Penguins players, coaches, and staff pose with the Stanley Cup trophy after defeating the San Jose Sharks in game six of the National Hockey League’s Stanley Cup Final on June 12, 2016.
Credit: © Marcio Jose Sanchez, AP Photo

On Sunday night, June 12, the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League (NHL) defeated the San Jose Sharks 3-1 to win the best-of-7 Stanley Cup Final 4 games to 2, capturing their first title in 7 years. The quick, confident Penguins made themselves at home on the ice at the SAP Center in San Jose, California, thoroughly outskating the Sharks to nab the championship series-clinching win. It was the fourth NHL title for the Penguins—often simply called the Pens.

Pittsburgh star forward Sidney Crosby, who won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoffs’ most valuable player, scored 19 points—6 goals and 13 assists—through the Pens’ 24-game playoff run. He had 2 assists in Sunday’s championship clincher. “It’s special,” Crosby said about the MVP trophy. “It’s the one you play for.” The Penguins also received valuable ice time from forwards Phil Kessel and Evgeni Malkin, defenseman Kris Letang, and rookie goaltender Matthew Murray.

Penguins owner and Hockey Hall of Fame inductee Mario Lemieux (himself a two-time Conn Smythe winner while leading the Pens to back-to-back titles in 1991 and 1992) lifted the Stanley Cup during the postgame celebration. “It’s so hard to win it year after year,” Lemieux said, referencing the team’s playoff failures since their most recent title in 2009. “Hopefully there’s a few more for them.”

It was quite a turnaround for the Steel City’s flightless birds, which languished near the bottom of the NHL’s Eastern Conference before firing coach Mike Johnston and hiring Mike Sullivan in December 2015. Sullivan’s changes improved the Penguins’ pace of play and empowered Crosby as a leader. Crosby finished the 2015-2016 regular season ranked third in points behind Chicago’s Patrick Kane and Dallas’s Jamie Benn.

Pittsburgh reached the Stanley Cup Final by defeating the New York Rangers and Washington Capitals in the playoffs’ first two rounds, then dispatching the Tampa Bay Lightning in a hard-fought 7-game series for the Eastern Conference title. The nimble Pens then overwhelmed the Western Conference champion Sharks, taking leads in 5 of the 6 games.

The Sharks, who were playing in their first Stanley Cup Final, looked tired at times against the faster Penguins. Centers Joe Thornton and Logan Couture and goalie Martin Jones were standouts on the losing side. The Sharks reached the Final by defeating the talented St. Louis Blues 4 games to 2 for the Western Conference title. The Sharks had earlier outlasted the burly Los Angeles Kings and the Nashville Predators.