Patric Hornqvist broke a scoreless tie late in the game to lead the Penguins to its second straight Stanley Cup win.
Eight years ago today, the Pittsburgh Penguins won their second straight Stanley Cup championship with a 2-0 win against the Predators on the road in Nashville.
The Penguins opened the series with two straight wins at home before the Predators returned the favor with 4-1 and 5-1 wins in Nashville, sending the series back to Pittsburgh tied 2-2.
Game 5 went Pittsburgh’s way easily, with the Penguins blowing Nashville out 6-0 to put the Predators on the brink of elimination.
Things were headed back to Nashville and the Stanley Cup was going to be in the building.
It seemed as if a tall task was at hand as the Penguins were outscored 9-2 during the two road games earlier in the series and Game 6 was quite the tight contest.
What appeared to be a Predators goal by Colton Sissons was negated by a quick whistle and the game remained scoreless through two periods.
The third period was scoreless for the first 18 minutes and change….and then former Predators forward Patric Hornqvist struck.
The most Hornqvist goal ever. Not pretty at all, but got the job done. Scored from below the goal line and banked in off of Pekka Rinne.
Just like that, the Penguins were 90 seconds away from a second straight Stanley Cup win.
Carl Hagelin put the game, the series, and the championship on ice with an empty net goal and the Penguins went back-to-back, the first team to do so in nearly 20 years.