Pens were happy to touch Prince of Wales trophy
PITTSBURGH — Chris Kunitz, Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby took a moment to arrange themselves in the correct order before they picked up the Prince of Wales Trophy together.
They wanted to recapture the moment from last year’s Eastern Conference final where they broke from tradition and touched the trophy, a move that some superstitious hockey players believe will jinx them from winning the Stanley Cup.
It didn’t stop the Pittsburgh Penguins from winning the Stanley Cup last year and they’ll now have another chance. Kunitz scored in double overtime to lift Pittsburgh over the Ottawa Senators 3-2 in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference final on Thursday night.
It was Kunitz’s second goal of the night. He put away his first goal near the midway point of the second period.
Ottawa’s Ryan Dzingel tied the game 2-2 with 5:19 left to play in the third period. The Penguins beat the San Jose Sharks in six games last year to win the franchise’s fourth Stanley Cup.
Pittsburgh will host the Nashville Predators in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final on Monday. Nashville advanced to the league championship with a six-game win over the Anaheim Ducks in the Western Conference final. It is the Predators’ first-ever appearance in the Stanley Cup final.
Predator star Pernell (P.K.) Subban was traded to Nashville in the off-season in a blockbuster trade with the Canadiens that included veteran defenceman Shea Weber going to Montreal. A Canadian team hasn’t made the Stanley Cup final since the Vancouver Canucks in 2011.