The Pittsburgh Penguins are one win away from hoisting back-to-back Stanley Cups after a 6-0 blowout win over the Nashville Predators in Game 5 on Thursday night.
Here are three things we learned from the victory.
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Dominant Sid
Sidney Crosby often earns the “best player in the world” honours and he proved why in Game 5.
Crosby was flying right from the opening faceoff and drew a penalty on his first shift that led to Justin Schultz opening the scoring.
The Penguins captain wasn’t done there as he continued to create scoring chances. He even renewed rivalries with Nashville defenceman P.K. Subban late in the first period when the two got tangled up, leading to coincidental minor penalties.
Crosby had three assists in 17:44 and three shots on goal while also entering into some record books.
The struggle is real
Pekka Rinne entered Game 5 with all the momentum.
He left it after just 20 minutes.
The Predators goaltender allowed three goals on nine shots before being lifted by coach Peter Laviolette for Juuse Saros. Saros didn’t fare much better, giving up two goals on eight shots in the first 10 minutes of the second period.
Rinne struggled in the first two games of the series and was pulled in Game 2. But he bounced back with first star performances in Games 3 and 4 in Nashville to restore faith in his No. 1 status.
Do the Preds go back to him for the do-or-die Game 6?
The breakout
I wrote before Game 5 about how Pittsburgh winger Phil Kessel was due for a breakout. He was getting plenty of scoring attempts and opportunities, but couldn’t find the back of the net.
That changed on Thursday night when Kessel fired a wrist shot past Saros that gave the Penguins a 5-0 advantage. It was Kessel’s eighth goal of the post-season and broke a goal drought that lasted six games.
Evgeni Malkin, Kessel’s teammate, said on Wednesday: “It’s his time to score.”
She was chippy
The scores haven’t been close in this Stanley Cup Final and tensions finally blew over in Game 5.
The Preds and Pens combined for 98 penalty minutes — the majority coming in the third period — that included two major brawls.
A look at the scoresheet tells the entire tale.
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