PITTSBURGH (AP) – The night started with a catfish throw.
It ended with haymaker after haymaker – both literal and proverbial – from the ever resilient Pittsburgh Penguins.
The defending champions provided an emphatic and repeated reminder of what makes them such a difficult out in a 6-0 demolition of the Nashville Predators in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final to take a 3-2 lead.
Pittsburgh will have a chance to become the first franchise in 19 years to win back to back Cups when the series shifts back to Nashville for Game 6 on Sunday night.
“Understand that we’re going to play a desperate team,” said Penguins captain Sidney Crosby after collecting three assists. “Nothing’s done yet and we’ve got a lot of work ahead of ourselves.”