Prior to Game 5, you could’ve made the argument that the Predators outplayed the Penguins in every game of the Stanley Cup Final.
Not anymore.
The Penguins brought a whoopin’ in Thursday’s pivotal Game 5 in Pittsburgh, beating the Preds 6-0 to take a 3-2 series lead. The victory puts them just one win away from becoming the first NHL team to repeat as Stanley Cup champions in nearly 20 years.
Pittsburgh would have taken a W any way they could get it on Thursday, especially after squandering a 2-0 series lead in Nashville. They got worked by the Predators in consecutive games and needed to stop the bleeding to regain control of the series however they could.