The Pittsburgh Penguins Have Won The Stanley Cup For The 2nd Year In A Row

Weird that a series that otherwise relied heavily on high-scoring, high-powered offence would finish with a defensive arm-wrestle, but here we are.
The godforsaken Pittsburgh Penguins have won their second consecutive Stanley Cup, becoming the first team to win back-to-back NHL titles in nearly 20 years.
Captain/hockey brain genius Sidney Crosby also captured his second successive Conn Smythe Trophy as Stanley Cup Playoffs MVP, the first person to go back-to-back on the individual level since Mario Lemieux did it, somewhat ironically, for the Penguins in 1991 and 1992.
The Penguins overhauled the Nashville Predators in today’s game 6 of the cup playoffs in a defensive slugfest that at one point saw the Pens stave off a 32-second 5-on-3 power play.
With a little over 90 seconds remaining, Pens winger Patric Hornqvist broke the scoreless deadlock by banking a loose puck off the elbow of Predators goalie Pekka Rinne, before Carl Hegelin sealed the series for Pittsburgh with a last minute empty net goal. The Penguins took the series 4-2, mirroring last year’s 6-game series win over the San Jose Sharks.
But the real story of the series is Phil Kessel.
Look at the great man, hoisting Lord Stanley like it’s Simba and he’s in ‘The Lion King.’
Sweet, loveable, hot dog chewin’ Phil. The player’s player. A blue collar, get-it-done lad who has a 100% success rate of winning Stanley Cups ever since leaving Toronto two years ago.
Not even a punch in the face from a teammate could slow him down.

That’s two-time Stanley Cup Champion, Phil By-God Kessel. Drink it in, fans.

One more time: Phil Kessel. Two-time Stanley Cup champion.

The world is a beautiful place sometimes.


Photos: Patrick Smith, David Sandford/Getty.

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