As the final horn sounded Thursday night, Matthew Murray, the Penguins’ rookie goaltender, looked to the rafters, pumped his fists and roared. His teammates spilled over the boardsu200b and onto the ice to celebrate their first trip to the Stanley Cup Final since 2009.
Murray made 14 saves and winger Bryan Rust scored twiceu200b in the second periodu200b to lift the Penguins past the Tampa Bay Lightning, 2-1, in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference final at Consol Energy Center.
The Penguins advance to face the San Jose Sharks, the franchise that first-year Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan broke into the NHL with as a rookie in 1991.