Penguins vs. Sharks: Game 6 Score and Reaction from 2016 Stanley Cup Final

The Pittsburgh Penguins stared down a raucous SAP Center crowd and red-hot goaltender in Martin Jones on Sunday during Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final and emerged on the other side as champions.  

Pittsburgh clinched its first Stanley Cup title since the 2008-09 season with its 3-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks in Sunday's showdown. The Penguins won the series 4-2 and ensured there would be no must-win Game 7 back in Pittsburgh after seizing an early 3-1 lead through the first four games.

Winning the championship on the road was business as usual for the franchise, as ESPN Stats & Info illustrated:

Rookie goaltender Matt Murray was brilliant in the net for the visitors and saved all but one of San Jose's 19 shots. The Pittsburgh defense also limited the Sharks' opportunities throughout the game, and goals from Brian Dumoulin and Kris Letang in the first two periods proved to be enough.

Jones registered 24 saves on 26 Pittsburgh shots, many of which came in impressive fashion. The home team couldn't add on to Logan Couture's second-period goal, and Patric Hornqvist's empty-netter in the third period iced the championship for the Pittsburgh.

Sidney Crosby won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Most Valuable Player in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Crosby didn't score on Sunday, but he assisted on two of his team's goals and finished the postseason with 19 points on six goals and 13 assists, as the Penguins shared:

Chris Johnston of Sportsnet said Crosby joined some impressive company with the achievement:

There was no scoring in the initial seven minutes, but Dan Rosen of NHL.com said the Penguins were "controlling possession," while Pens Inside Scoop noted the visitors were "getting some great zone time and using their speed." It paid off when Pittsburgh drew a penalty on Dainius Zubrus and then scored the game's first goal on a power play with 11:44 remaining in the opening period. 

Dumoulin buried a slap shot from the outside for his first goal of the series. Here's the video via NBC Sports:

Things got worse for the Sharks when Melker Karlsson was "helped off the ice after being driven into boards by [Olli] Maatta" per Al Muir of Sports Illustrated. Muir stressed there was "nothing cheap" about the play, and Karlsson eventually returned to the ice.

Both teams had golden opportunities in the first period after the first goal, but Pittsburgh's Chris Kunitz broke up a wide-open breakaway for Joel Ward with "the backcheck of his life," per Rosen, while Jones settled in and stifled multiple attempts from the Penguins. Pierre LeBrun of ESPN.com described a particular sequence on Crosby, who was proving difficult to stop for the San Jose defense:

With Crosby applying pressure, Pittsburgh took a 1-0 lead into intermission and outshot San Jose 9-4.

San Jose established some momentum early in the second with offensive pressure and another brilliant save from Jones. Nick Bonino had a clear-cut look at the net, but Jones turned him away. The Sharks shared the highlight:

San Jose capitalized on that surge when Couture sneaked one past Murray with 13:33 left in the second to tie the game at one. Jamie Hersch of NHL Network described the action: "Couture continues his beast-mode ways. ... Felt like just a matter of time with the way Sharks have played this period."

However, the tie was short-lived, as Letang answered with a goal less than two minutes later to give the Penguins the 2-1 advantage with 12:14 remaining until the third after some individual stick-handling through traffic. Josh Yohe of DKonPittsburghSports.com called the stretch for Letang "the shift of his life," while the Penguins shared the goal that broke the tie:

Pittsburgh took that 2-1 lead into the second intermission, but it could have easily been 3-1 if Kunitz looked to shoot instead of passing to Evgeni Malkin on a breakaway. Mike Zeisberger of the Toronto Sun said, "Kunitz will have nightmares for not shooting if Penguins lose this game," and NHL on NBC captured just how open a look left winger had in the second:

Still down by a single goal, San Jose earned its first power play of the game less than six minutes into the third on a Conor Sheary hook. However, the Sharks didn't even get a shot off, and Rosen called it a "perfect" penalty kill for the visitors with a narrow one-goal lead.

Pittsburgh then parlayed that momentum into a power play of its own with less than nine minutes remaining on a Brent Burns slash. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle was impressed with the Penguins' effort in a number of areas with the Stanley Cup hanging in the balance:

San Jose remained within striking distance with a penalty kill and a remarkable pad save from Jones on Phil Kessel, but the Sharks only had one shot in the first 19 minutes of the third period.

The lack of offense from the home team was a credit to Pittsburgh's decision to continue attacking with the one-goal lead instead of playing passively and sitting back in front of the net. The Penguins continued to possess the puck and move it into an attacking position, which left the Sharks without much opportunity to build steam.

San Jose couldn't even generate anything meaningful with an extra attacker after pulling Jones, and Hornqvist scored on the empty net with 1:02 remaining to clinch the Penguins' first Stanley Cup in seven years. Pens Inside Scoop pointed out it was Crosby who started the sequence:

From there, the Sharks could not answer, and the Penguins celebrated their triumph on visiting ice. 

Postgame Reaction

NHL on NBC shared the Pittsburgh captain receiving the Stanley Cup:

The NHL captured Crosby with the Conn Smythe Trophy as well:

The NHL also passed along the entire team celebrating with the Cup:

Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said, “I don’t know how to explain it. I can't put it into words. I can't be more proud of the way we've come together as a team,” via the Penguins.

Johnston noted Kessel was in tears after the win and simply said, “It’s been a journey.”

On the other side, Sharks coach Pete DeBoer said, “The end is like hitting a wall. We've been going since September, 106 games. ... But only one team can win. Not many had us making the playoffs. Not many had us beating L.A. And on and on,” per Curtis Pashelka of the Mercury News.

San Jose center Patrick Marleau said, “It’s like being hit by a truck,” per Kevin Kurz of CSNBayArea.com.

While the Sharks were still dealing with their loss, Crosby summarized the battle he and his teammates went through during the 2015-16 campaign, per Josh Dubow of the Associated Press: “It wasn't easy getting here, especially the way things started out. The first half wasn't easy and I think everyone just stuck together, kept going and found some momentum there in March and continued to keep it going.”