(AP) The Stanley Cup is staying in the Steel City.
The Pittsburgh Penguins are the first team in 19 years to win a second straight Stanley Cup as they completed the feat with a 2-0 shutout of the Predators in Nashville. Neither team scored until former Predator Patric Hornqvist beat Pekka Rinne (PEH’-kuh REE’-nay) from a bad angle with 1:35 remaining. Carl Hagelin (HAG’-lihn) sealed the win by scoring into an empty net with 14 seconds left.
Matt Murray stopped 27 shots in recording his second consecutive shutout. Murray also blanked Nashville in the Penguins’ 6-0 rout in Game 5.
Penguins captain Sidney Crosby was awarded the Conn Smythe (smyth) Trophy for a second consecutive year after finishing second to teammate Evgeni Malkin with 27 points.
It’s the fifth Stanley Cup for the Penguins, who have won all of their clinchers on the road. The 1998 Red Wings were the last team to win a second consecutive Cup.
Penguins forward Chris Kunitz (KOO’-nihts) now leads all active players with four career championships.
It ends the deepest playoff run in Predators history. Nashville made the playoffs as the 16th-best team in the regular season before knocking off Chicago, St. Louis and Anaheim.
