Penguins repeat
Hornqvist goal ends deadlock as Penguins finish off Preds
Sidney Crosby celebrates with the Stanley Cup after Pittsburgh beat Nashville 2-0 in Game 6.
NASHVILLE — Sidney Crosby is bringing the Stanley Cup back home to Pittsburgh.
Patric Hornqvist scored with 1 minute, 35 seconds left to break a scoreless deadlock and Matt Murray made 27 saves for his second straight shutout as the Penguins became the first team in nearly two decades to repeat as NHL champions with a 2-0 win over the Nashville Predators in Game 6 on Sunday.
The Detroit Red Wings, champions in 1997 and ’98, were the last team to successfully defend their title.
“We knew it was going to be tough all year, but we just tried to keep with it,” said Crosby, the Penguins’ captain. “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.”
Crosby won his second consecutive Conn Smythe Trophy as Stanley Cup MVP to go with his third championship. He finished second on the team with 27 points (eight goals and 19 assists) in the postseason.
“It goes by pretty quick, I’ll tell you that,” Crosby said. “It’s pretty special . ... We found out just how tough it is, but it’s a great feeling.”
Hornqvist captured a rebound off the boards behind the net and banked in a shot off goalie Pekka Rinne’s left elbow for the winner. With Rinne pulled for an extra attacker, Carl Hagelin set off a bench celebration with an empty-net goal with 13.6 seconds left.
“Obviously, it’s going to be the biggest goal I’m ever going to score,” Hornqvist said. “That’s always going to stand really close to my heart.”
All that was left was the celebrating. Crosby took the Cup from NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman before handing the trophy to defenseman Ron Hainsey who passed it to veteran Matt Cullen.
Nashville’s first home loss in regulation in these playoffs came with some hard luck, as Colton Sissons’ apparent goal 67 seconds into the second period was erased because of a quick whistle.
Sissons later was stopped on a breakaway, and in the third, both Sissons and Filip Forsberg had shots ring off the post. Nashville also had a 32-second, 5-on-3 opportunity in the third but could not beat Murray,
“It stings,” Nashville defenseman P.K. Subban said of the loss. “I think the biggest thing we’ve got to take from this is, remember the feeling. That’s what’s going to drive us . .... We’re going to be back here again next year.”
Murray became the first goalie to win two Stanley Cups as a rookie after being a lateseason call up a year ago, when he didn’t play enough games to get the rookie tag removed. Murray, 23, shut out Nashville for the last 126:52 of play this year as he set a rookie record with two shutouts in the Finals.
“I just wanted to get it done, to be honest,” Murray said. “Didn’t want to get ahead of myself, just one shot at a time. The team played great in front of me, and we got it done in the last minute.”
The loss ended the Predators’ deepest playoff run in the franchise’s 19 years and one that became the talk of Music City.
Having won just three of 12 playoff series before this year, Nashville opened this postseason by eliminating the topseeded Blackhawks in four games. The Predators then got past the Blues and the Ducks, with only captain Mike Fisher carrying any Cup Finals experience on the roster.
“Things didn’t go our way, but that happens,” Fisher said. “We believed all the way. Just a great group of guys. Our goal coming into the playoffs was just to unite and inspire a city and obviously win a Cup. We didn’t do that but I think we did the first one. That’s a pretty cool feeling.”
This championship season for the Penguins lacked some of the drama from a year ago, but it was far from a slam dunk. The Capitals won the Presidents’ Trophy for a second straight season and pushed Pittsburgh to seven games in the second round. The Senators did the same, forcing the Penguins to double overtime to clinch the Eastern Conference title.
“We’ve got a collection of guys who understand what it takes to win,” Crosby said.