2016 Stanley Cup Finals

This was Pittsburgh's fifth Finals appearance, and first since winning the Cup in 2009. The Penguins had made the playoffs every year since their win in 2009, but hadn't won a single game in the conference finals in that span.

After losing to the Rangers in the playoffs for the second consecutive year, the Penguins made waves during the 2015 offseason, trading for forwards Phil Kessel and Nick Bonino, re-signing defenceman Olli Maatta and forward Bryan Rust, and signing centres Matt Cullen and Eric Fehr in free agency. General manager Jim Rutherford fired head coach Mike Johnston on December 12, 2015, after the team limped to a 15–10–3 start. Johnston was replaced with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins coach Mike Sullivan, who went 33–16–5 over the remainder of the season. The Penguins made three major trades before the trade deadline, acquiring defencemen Trevor Daley and Justin Schultz and forward Carl Hagelin. After goalie Marc-Andre Fleury suffered a concussion on April 2, the team turned to rookie Matt Murray for the final week of the regular season and the majority of the playoffs.

Pittsburgh finished with 104 points (48–26–8) in the regular season to finish second in the Metropolitan Division. Centre and team captain Sidney Crosby led the club in scoring during the regular season and finished third in the league with 85 points.

In the playoffs, the Penguins eliminated the New York Rangers in five games after losing to them in 2014 and 2015, the Presidents' Trophy-winning Washington Capitals in six games, and the defending conference champion Tampa Bay Lightning in seven games.

This was San Jose's first Finals appearance in their 25-year history, becoming the first team to make their Finals debut since the 2006–07 Ottawa Senators.

During the offseason the Sharks hired former New Jersey Devils head coach Peter DeBoer to replace Todd McLellan and traded for former Kings backup goalie Martin Jones. San Jose also picked up defenceman Paul Martin and right wingers Joel Ward and Dainius Zubrus via free agency. Before the trade deadline, the Sharks acquired forward Nick Spaling, defenceman Roman Polak, and goalie James Reimer.

San Jose earned 98 points (46–30–6) to finish third in the Pacific Division. Centre Joe Thornton led the club in scoring with 82 points, and finished tied for fourth in the league, followed closely by centre and team captain Joe Pavelski with 78 points and defenceman Brent Burns with 75 points.

In the playoffs, San Jose avenged their 2014 loss to the Kings, a series in which they blew a 3–0 series lead, by defeating Los Angeles in five games. San Jose also eliminated the Nashville Predators in seven games, winning every home game in the series, and the St. Louis Blues in the Conference Final in six games.

Nick Bonino scored the game-winning goal in game one.

Game one remained scoreless until Bryan Rust and Conor Sheary scored a minute apart for the Penguins midway through the first period. San Jose came back in the second period with a power play goal by Tomas Hertl at 3:02 and the tying goal by Patrick Marleau at 18:12. Despite 18 third-period Pittsburgh shots directed towards Martin Jones, the score remained tied at two until very late in the game, when Kris Letang found Nick Bonino wide open in front of the net to give the Penguins the lead. The Penguins held off the Sharks in the final minutes to win 3–2.[5][6]

Conor Sheary scored the game-winning goal in overtime of game two.

Game two began with a scoreless first period which featured 11 Penguins shots and only six from the Sharks. Midway through the second period, a series of San Jose miscues led to a Pittsburgh goal. After Roman Polak nearly gave the puck away to Phil Kessel, Brenden Dillon was stripped by Carl Hagelin, who gave it to Nick Bonino for a tip-in by Kessel. The Sharks tied the game late in the third on a goal by Justin Braun, which sent the game into overtime. Early in overtime, a quick shot by Conor Sheary beat Martin Jones to give the Penguins a 2–1 win and 2–0 series lead.[7][8]

Joonas Donskoi scored the game-winning goal in overtime of game three.

Ben Lovejoy started off the scoring in game three at 5:29 of the first period, when his point shot deflected in off Roman Polak. The Sharks tied it at 9:34 on a Justin Braun goal. Midway through the second period, the Penguins took the lead back when Patric Hornqvist tipped in another Lovejoy point shot. In the third period, Nick Bonino high-sticked Joe Thornton, and in the dying seconds of the four-minute power play, Joel Ward fired a slap shot past Matt Murray to tie the game. In overtime, Joonas Donskoi roofed a tough-angle shot over Murray's shoulder for the game winner.[9]

Matt Murray saved 23 of 24 shots faced in game four.

At 7:36 of the first period, Phil Kessel took advantage of a poor Sharks line change and fired a shot that rebounded off Martin Jones and directly to Ian Cole, who scored his first playoff goal. This marked the seventh consecutive game in which the Penguins had scored first. In the second period, Sharks forward Melker Karlsson was called for interference against Eric Fehr, and on the ensuing power play, Evgeni Malkin tipped in a Kessel shot for the Penguins' second goal. During the third period, Karlsson scored to cut the deficit to one, but the Penguins regained a two-goal lead with 2:02 left when Eric Fehr beat Jones on a breakaway.[10]

Logan Couture scored three points in game five, adding to his playoff-leading 30-point campaign.

Game five started with four goals scored in the first 5:06 of the game. Brent Burns gave the Sharks their first lead of the Finals at 1:04, slipping it past Murray on the right post. San Jose scored again at 2:53, when Logan Couture deflected in a shot from Justin Braun. Less than two minutes later, Sharks forward Dainius Zubrus got called for delay of game after shooting the puck over the glass. On the ensuing power play, a Malkin shot deflected off Braun's skate and past Jones, cutting the deficit to 2–1. Less than a minute later, Brenden Dillon gave away the puck to Nick Bonino, who took a shot that was deflected in by Carl Hagelin. Later in the first period, during a Pittsburgh power play, a Phil Kessel wrist shot bounced off both posts but stayed out. Later in the period, Dillon passed down low for Couture who sauced a backhand pass to Karlsson, who scored to regain the lead for the Sharks. San Jose took just 15 shots in the second and third period combined, but Jones withstood a massive 46 shots from the Penguins to stave off elimination. Joe Pavelski provided an empty-net goal to force a sixth game.[11]

External video
Game 6 Full replay (NHL International's feed) on the NHL's official YouTube channel

Kris Letang scored the Stanley Cup-clinching goal in game six.

A power play drive from Brian Dumoulin started the scoring early in game six. During the first intermission, a tribute to Gordie Howe was played, as he died on June 10. San Jose tied it up in the second period when Logan Couture took a pass from Melker Karlsson and fired a shot past Murray. Just over a minute later, Pittsburgh regained the lead when a shot by Kris Letang ricocheted off Martin Jones and in. Despite facing elimination on home ice, the Sharks managed only two shots on goal in the third period, and an empty-net goal from Patric Hornqvist sealed the win for Pittsburgh. The Penguins won the fourth Stanley Cup in franchise history, clinching all four on the road.[12]

• ¹ Played both centre and wing.

Pittsburgh broke the 1938 Chicago Black Hawks' record of eight with ten U.S.-born players on a Stanley Cup winning team: Nick Bonino, Ian Cole, Matt Cullen, Brian Dumoulin, Phil Kessel, Ben Lovejoy, Kevin Porter, Bryan Rust, Conor Sheary, and Jeff Zatkoff. An 11th American, Beau Bennett was not included on the cup.

Player Notes

• #30 Matt Murray (G) – played in 13 and dressed for 32 regular-season games, and started 22 playoff games. He won a rookie-tying 15 playoff games – automatically included on the cup for playing in the Finals
• #4 Justin Schultz (D) – played 45 games for Edmonton and 18 regular-season games and 15 playoff games for Pittsburgh – automatically included on the Cup for playing in the Finals
• #9 Pascal Dupuis (RW) – only played 18 games and forced to retire on Dec. 8 because of several blood clots – given an injury exemption and included on the Cup
• #11 Kevin Porter (C) – played 41 regular-season games, but missed the last 19 and all of the playoffs due to an ankle surgery – automatically included on the Cup for playing at least 41 regular-season games
• #37 Jeff Zatkoff (G) – played in 14 games and dressed for 59 regular-season games, and dressed for the first seven playoff games. With Murray and Fleury both injured, Zatkoff started the first two games of the playoffs, winning one and losing one – qualified for dressing for at least 41 regular-season games
• Pittsburgh included the head team physician for the first time on the Stanley Cup. In 1991, 1992, and 2009 Dr. Charles Burke was not engraved on the Stanley Cup.

Included in the team picture, but left off the Stanley Cup

• #19 Beau Bennett (RW) – played 33 regular-season games and one playoff game. Bennett missed 48 regular-season games and 15 playoff games due to injury, including the entire Cup Finals, but did play one game in the Conference Finals. No injury exemption was requested.
• #51 Derrick Pouliot (D) – played 22 regular season and two playoff games – did not qualify
• #40 Oskar Sundqvist (C) – played 18 regular season and two playoff games – did not qualify
• #23 Scott Wilson (LW) – played 24 regular season games – did not qualify
• #40 Tristan Jarry (G) – dressed for the first two playoff games, due to Matt Murray, and Marc-Andre Fleury being injured – did not qualify

All players listed above received Stanley Cup rings.

• Sergei Gonchar (Defense Coach), Danny Kroll (Asst. Equipment Manager)

Scouts

Gilles Meloche was the goaltending coach for Pittsburgh's Cup wins in 1991, 1992, and 2009. His role was changed to Special Assignment Scout, so his name was left off the Stanley Cup in 2016. However, he was awarded his fourth Stanley Cup ring. Other scouts left off the Cup but got rings were pro scouts Al Santili and Ryan Bowness, amateur scouts Colin Alexander, Scott Bell, Brain Fitzgerald, Luc Gauthier, Frank Golden, Jay Heinbuck, Wayne Meier, Ron Pyette, Casey Torres, and Warren Young, and European scouts Patrick Alivin, Petri Pakaslahi, and Tommy Westlund. Many other members of Pittsburgh's staff were also left off the Cup but still received championship rings.

Players who were part of the 2009 and 2016 Stanley Cup wins:

• Engraved as players twice: Sidney Crosby, Marc-Andre Fleury, Chris Kunitz, Kris Letang, Evgeni Malkin, and Pascal Dupuis (retired on Dec. 8, 2015)
• Engraved as player once: Ben Lovejoy (included on 2009 team picture but did not qualify to be on Cup that year)
• Engraved twice (including once as a player — in 2009): Bill Guerin (assistant general manager in 2016)