Pittsburgh pulls out heavy artillery in 6-0 romp over punchless Preds

PITTSBURGH - The Pittsburgh Penguins didn't waste any time pulling the trigger on Thursday night.

After shooting blanks for most of the previous two games, the defending Stanley Cup champions provided an emphatic - and repeated - reminder of what makes them great in a 6-0 demolition of the Nashville Predators in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup final to take a 3-2 series lead.

Pittsburgh will have a chance to become the first franchise in 19 years to win back-to-back titles when the series returns to Nashville for Game 6 on Sunday night.

"Understand that we're going to play a desperate team," Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said after collecting three assists. "Nothing's done yet and we've got a lot of work to do."

So do the Predators, who couldn't get on the plane back to Nashville fast enough.

Justin Schultz opened the scoring after just 91 seconds and Bryan Rust and Evgeni Malkin also tallied during a first-period barrage against Pekka Rinne that sent the Nashville goaltender to the bench for the rest of the night.

Conor Sheary, Phil Kessel and 35-year-old playoff newbie Ron Hainsey also scored for the Penguins.

Crosby's eventful night included becoming the franchise's all-time leading scorer in the Stanley Cup final, a two-minute roughing penalty for trying to dribble Nashville defenseman PK Subban's head on the ice near the end of the first period and flipping a water bottle onto the ice during play.

"It was just one of those things ... it slipped out of my hand," Crosby said. "I thought I had a grip on it, but before I knew it the thing was flying across the ice. I know you're not allowed to do that."

Matt Murray bounced back from so-so performances during Pittsburgh's lost weekend in Nashville to make 24 stops while also benefiting from a dominant performance by the guys in front of him.

Penguins coach Mike Sullivan, as he has for each of the past two springs when his team finds itself in a tight spot, pushed all the right buttons again.

He stuck with Murray, reunited Sheary with Crosby and Jake Guentzel, and stressed his team needed to play with urgency but not desperation after Nashville rallied to tie the series by outscoring the Penguins 9-2 during two wins at home.

Just 91 seconds after a Nashville fan flipped a catfish onto the PPG Paints Arena ice - a move that came shortly before a three-goal outburst by Nashville in Game 1 - Schultz took a pass from Crosby and ripped home a slap shot to end Pittsburgh's 0-for-15 powerplay skid.

"We were on our toes tonight," Schultz said. "We were really jumping and playing our game, playing fast. The quick start got us going for the rest of the game."

Rust made it 2-0 at 6:43 with a nasty backhand flip over Rinne's glove.

Then things got chippy for the world's best player. Crosby and Subban became tangled up behind the Nashville net late in the first period, with Crosby ending up on top of the pesky Predator.

Crosby then started bopping Subban in the head, eventually drawing a roughing penalty while Subban went off for holding.

Malkin ripped a wrist shot over Rinne's glove on the ensuing 4-on-4 to make it 3-0 with just 10 seconds left in the first.

Rinne gave way to Juuse Saros at the start of the second period after stopping just six of nine shots, continuing his wildly uneven play. The Finn stopped 50 of 52 shots he faced at home in Games 3 and 4, but he's stopped just 34 of 45 in Pittsburgh.

Saros hardly fared any better. Sheary took a pretty feed from Crosby and fired a shot past Saros 1:19 into the second to push Pittsburgh's lead to four.

Kessel then ended a six-game goal drought 8:02 into the second - just seconds after Crosby threw a water bottle onto the ice as the play went past Pittsburgh's bench, a move he told the referees was unintentional.

When Hainsey, who waited 907 regular-season games before reaching the playoffs for the first time this season, tapped in a pass from Malkin to make it 6-0, the stage was set for the Penguins to return to familiar territory.

Associated Press