Pittsburgh Penguins win Stanley Cup with late goal in controversial Game 6

With the victory, the Penguins clinched the best-of-seven championship 4-2 to win the franchise's fifth Stanley Cup. By the time the Penguins reached the final, the team seemed to be exhausted, with the Nashville Predators carrying much of the play for the first four games. Carl Hagelin added an empty-net goal. "It's a pretty good chance this will be my last one", said Cullen after the Penguins captured the Stanley Cup for a second straight year. The 1998 Red Wings were the last team to win a second consecutive Cup.

"The biggest thing we got to take from this is to remember the feeling".

This year's win might have been harder than a year ago.

With that in mind, it's still a bit surprising how much the Preds' offensive unit struggled in the Final, especially against Pittsburgh's blue line.

The Penguins won the final series, four games to two.

Everything would be different if the franchise from Pittsburgh didn't have Matt Murray in front of the goal. Nashville went through St. Louis and then Anaheim to the Final, where only captain Mike Fisher on the roster had ever played before.

Faith Hill became the latest to sing the national anthem with husband, star Tim McGraw, giving her a hug once finished before waving a towel in each hand.

"There's been a lot of guys telling us we can't do it, and now we're standing here", Hornqvist said. It appeared as though the referee blew his whistle because he lost sight of the puck, even though it was sitting in the crease, and eventually moved into the back of the net. Goalie Bernie Parent (1974-75) is the only other player to win back-to-back playoff MVPs.

It should also be noted that the Pens' Matt Murray became the first goalie to roll off consecutive shut-outs in the Finals since 2008.

Meanwhile, NBC Sports once again set a record in Nashville, which delivered a 28.3 rating - the highest-rated Predators game in that market on the NBC networks.