Nonetheless, when the Penguins face Nashville in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup final today at PPG Paints Arena, they will have an opportunity to accomplish a feat none of the franchise's most esteemed clubs - including the four that have captured Stanley Cups - managed.
Here is everything you need to know about Thursday's game. Pittsburgh's two goals came 5:12 apart early in Game 5, on the power play from Justin Schultz and at even strength from Bryan Rust. The Penguins are just one win away from becoming the first team in the salary cap era to hoist the Stanley Cup in back-to-back years.
So here they are, each team having defended home ice twice, the Predators trying to be the first to sustain momentum and the Penguins trying to take control before the caravan heads back to Nashville, where the Predators are 9-1 in the playoffs.
The defending champion Penguins are slumping after spurts of big-time offense lifted them to a 2-0 lead. Lemieux, Steve Yzerman and Wayne Gretzky are the only players to captain back-to-back Cup winners in the last three decades - an esteemed group Crosby would join with one more win in Nashville on Sunday night.
The script has flipped when it comes to goaltenders Pekka Rinne of the Nashville Predators and Matt Murray of the Pittsburgh Penguins. However, with offensive linchpins such as Crosby and C Evgeni Malkin and their supporting cast that includes LW Conor Sheary, RW Jake Guentzel and RW Phil Kessel, the Penguins are very efficient offensively. Each has played 40 playoff games for Nashville, far fewer than David Legwand (47 games) and Shea Weber (59 games), who shared the team record of 13 playoff goals at the start of this year.
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With time winding down in the first period, P.K. Subban wrestled Crosby to the ground and grabbed hold of his leg, preventing Crosby from getting up. "I work on my entire game", he said. Crosby drew a penalty and Pittsburgh scored on the ensuing power play to take a 1-0 lead just 1:31 into the game.
Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan isn't talking about any lineup changes. The team directed fans to watch the pivotal game in the 2-2 series on screens outside.
The debate about who would start the game was simply a manufactured narrative to fill the two-day gap between games in this Stanley Cup Final. Winger Filip Forsberg comes into this series on a seven-game point streak. Goaltender Matt Murray, who had suffered the first back-to-back losses in his postseason career, made sure that number didn't reach three with a 24-save shutout. It is business. I don't think you get to this point if you aren't (about the) business. "They still have home ice".
"They are always loud and they are always pushing us to be the best we can be", forward Carl Hagelin said.
Pittsburgh could still be without center Nick Bonino (left foot/ankle) for the third straight game. "Going with our game plan, we'd like to get down there, disrupt their defense, play with the puck and possession - he's great at that". The three-time Vezina Trophy finalist has yielded at least four goals in each contest en route to losing all five of his career decisions in the Steel City, including eight tallies on 36 shots collectively in Games 1 and 2.
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