The Pittsburgh Penguins were eliminated in five games in first round of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs by the New York Rangers losing four games by a 2-1 scored including the final two games of the series in overtime. The Rangers' speed simply was too much for the Penguins and General Manager Jim Rutherford adjusted his roster accordingly in the offseason. He acquired Phil Kessel from the Toronto Maple Leafs via trade and sent Brandon Sutter to Vancouver in exchange for Nick Bonino.
After losing the first three games of the season, the Penguins won nine of their next 10 games and owned the third-best record in the Eastern conference at 9-4-0 (.692). Starting with a November 7th loss at Calgary, the Penguins went 6-6-3 over their next 15 games giving up 44 goals (2.93 goals-per-game). Captain Sidney Crosby went scoreless in the first five games of the 2015-16 season and eight of the team's first nine games. He scored just six goals and 13 assists in the season's first 28 games. The team's inconsistency over the first third of the season caused Rutherford to fire Head Coach Mike Johnston on December 12th. Rutherford hired Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Head Coach Mike Sullivan, who had played over 700 games in the NHL and coached the Boston Bruins in 2003-04 and 2005-06.
The Penguins acquired defenseman Trevor Daley from Chicago in exchange for Rob Scuderi on December 14th and lost their first four games under Sullivan by a combined 15-4 score including a 3-0 shutout loss to the Bruins in Boston on December 16th. Three nights later, rookie goaltender Matt Murray made his NHL debut against the Carolina Hurricanes. Murray made 24 saves in the 2-1 loss and was named the game's number three star. He made three more starts for the Penguins in late December and was sent back down to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton with a 2-1-1 record, 1.72 goals-against-average and .938 save percentage.
Beginning on December 31st, the Penguins went 8-2-3 (.731) 22/and acquired Carl Hagelin from the Anaheim Ducks on January 16th in exchange for David Perron and Adam Clendening. Hagelin had scored just four goals in 42 games with Anaheim, but his speed against the Penguins in the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs while playing for the Rangers had made an impression. Sidney Crosby scored an incredible 18 goals in 19 games from December 26th to February 8th and scored a goal in each of the final seven games of that stretch which included 10 goals and six assists. After Sullivan took over, the Penguins were 18-2-2 (.864) when Crosby scored a goal and the Captain racked up 66 points (30G, 36A) in 52 regular season games under the new coach.
Justin Schultz was acquired from Edmonton two days before the trade deadline on February 27th. Matt Murray was recalled on March 1st and appeared in nine of the final 21 games of the season while Marc-Andre Fleury battled injuries. Murray had a 7-2-0 record in those nine games with a .926 save percentage and 2.14 goals-against-average. On March 11th, Evgeni Malkin injured his elbow in a 3-2 win at Columbus, but in the third period, Nick Bonino replaced Malkin at center between Carl Hagelin and Phil Kessel. Two nights later in New York City, the line combination stuck and the members of the newly formed "HBK Line" scored 17 goals and 26 assists with a combined +29 rating over the season's final 15 games. The Penguins finished the final 16 games of the regular season going 14-2-0 (.875.) including win streaks of six and eight games. Under Sullivan, the Penguins went 31-11-4 (.717) and finished second in the Metropolitan Division.
The Penguins turned the tables on the Rangers from the previous year and ousted them in five games chasing New York goalie Henrik Lundqvist in Games 1, 4 and 5. Lundqvist finished the series with a 4.39 goals-against-average and .867 save percentage. Jeff Zatkoff won Game 1 and lost Game 2 in the series' first two games in net for Pittsburgh while Matt Murray recovered from a concussion suffered in the final game of the regular season at Philadelphia.
In the second round, the Washington Capitals won Game 1 in overtime before the Penguins rattled off three straight victories including a 3-2 overtime win in Game 4. Washington won Game 5 at home and moved the series back to Pittsburgh for Game 6. Despite blowing a 3-0 lead when John Carlson scored a power-play goal with 6:59 left in the game after the Penguins took three consecutive delay of game penalties in a 2:02 span mid-way through the third period. Nick Bonino sealed the Capitals' fate 6:32 into overtime when he slipped in a backhand shot at the top of the crease to the right of Washington goalie Braden Holtby.
In the Eastern Conference Final, the Tampa Bay Lightning stole home ice winning Game 1 in Pittsburgh, 3-1. The Penguins won the next two games on back-to-back game-winning goals by Sidney Crosby including his overtime winner in Game 2. The Lightning evened the series at 2-2 in Tampa before heading back to Pittsburgh for Game 5 where Sullivan started Marc-Andre Fleury, who hadn't started a game since March 31st. Tyler Johnson scored 53 seconds into overtime of Game 5 to put the Penguins on the brink of elimination. Crosby again netted the game-winning goal in Game 6 and the Penguins won 5-2 to bring the series back to Pittsburgh for the deciding Game 7. Unlikely hero Bryan Rust scored twice in the second period of Game 7 and the Penguins held on to eliminate the Lightning and advance to the fifth Stanley Cup Final in franchise history and third in nine years.
The Penguins met the San Jose Sharks in the Stanley Cup Final. Nick Bonino scored late in the third period of Game 1 and Conor Sheary beat Sharks goalie Martin Jones 2:35 into overtime of Game 2 to put the Penguins up 2-0 with the series shifting to San Jose. Joonas Donskoi's wraparound goal 12:18 into overtime gave the Sharks a victory in Game 3. Pittsburgh won Game 4, 3-1, and sent the series back to Pittsburgh with an opportunity to win the Stanley Cup on home ice for the first time ever. In a wild opening five minutes, the Sharks scored twice in the first 2:53 to go up 2-0 before Evgeni Malkin and Carl Hagelin scored 22 seconds apart just 1:51 later. Melker Karlsson scored for San Jose late in the first period and the Sharks added an empty-net goal with 1:20 left in the game to pull the series to 3-2. In Game 6, Kris Letang scored just 1:19 after San Jose had tied to the game, 1-1, 6:27 into the second period. Patric Hornqvist scored an empty net goal with 1:02 left and the Penguins won their fourth Stanley Cup in franchise history.
Sidney Crosby won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the player most valuable to his team during the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs as he scored six goals and 13 assists for 19 points. Crosby scored three game-winning goals, won 52.4% of his face-offs, and recorded multiple point games in two of four series clinching games - Game 5 vs. New York (2A) and Game 6 at San Jose (2A).
This ring is a replica of the actual ring awarded to Sidney Crosby. This size 11 ring features a raised skating penguin logo decorated with glittering cubic zirconia inside the penguins' chest and gold triangle of the logo surrounded by a circular band of beautiful stones. Dozens of additional stones outline the shoulders of the ring containing "Stanley Cup Champions" raised in gold above and below the skating penguin logo. The right shank features Crosby's name above the Penguins' script logo and his number "87" clad with shining stones. The right shank features four stone-clad Stanley Cup trophies with "2016" proudly displayed at the top. On the inner band, the words "JUST PLAY" - the team's simple mantra after Sullivan took over - along with the logos and scores from each Playoff series are engraved meticulously.
After losing the first three games of the season, the Penguins won nine of their next 10 games and owned the third-best record in the Eastern conference at 9-4-0 (.692). Starting with a November 7th loss at Calgary, the Penguins went 6-6-3 over their next 15 games giving up 44 goals (2.93 goals-per-game). Captain Sidney Crosby went scoreless in the first five games of the 2015-16 season and eight of the team's first nine games. He scored just six goals and 13 assists in the season's first 28 games. The team's inconsistency over the first third of the season caused Rutherford to fire Head Coach Mike Johnston on December 12th. Rutherford hired Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Head Coach Mike Sullivan, who had played over 700 games in the NHL and coached the Boston Bruins in 2003-04 and 2005-06.
The Penguins acquired defenseman Trevor Daley from Chicago in exchange for Rob Scuderi on December 14th and lost their first four games under Sullivan by a combined 15-4 score including a 3-0 shutout loss to the Bruins in Boston on December 16th. Three nights later, rookie goaltender Matt Murray made his NHL debut against the Carolina Hurricanes. Murray made 24 saves in the 2-1 loss and was named the game's number three star. He made three more starts for the Penguins in late December and was sent back down to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton with a 2-1-1 record, 1.72 goals-against-average and .938 save percentage.
Beginning on December 31st, the Penguins went 8-2-3 (.731) 22/and acquired Carl Hagelin from the Anaheim Ducks on January 16th in exchange for David Perron and Adam Clendening. Hagelin had scored just four goals in 42 games with Anaheim, but his speed against the Penguins in the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs while playing for the Rangers had made an impression. Sidney Crosby scored an incredible 18 goals in 19 games from December 26th to February 8th and scored a goal in each of the final seven games of that stretch which included 10 goals and six assists. After Sullivan took over, the Penguins were 18-2-2 (.864) when Crosby scored a goal and the Captain racked up 66 points (30G, 36A) in 52 regular season games under the new coach.
Justin Schultz was acquired from Edmonton two days before the trade deadline on February 27th. Matt Murray was recalled on March 1st and appeared in nine of the final 21 games of the season while Marc-Andre Fleury battled injuries. Murray had a 7-2-0 record in those nine games with a .926 save percentage and 2.14 goals-against-average. On March 11th, Evgeni Malkin injured his elbow in a 3-2 win at Columbus, but in the third period, Nick Bonino replaced Malkin at center between Carl Hagelin and Phil Kessel. Two nights later in New York City, the line combination stuck and the members of the newly formed "HBK Line" scored 17 goals and 26 assists with a combined +29 rating over the season's final 15 games. The Penguins finished the final 16 games of the regular season going 14-2-0 (.875.) including win streaks of six and eight games. Under Sullivan, the Penguins went 31-11-4 (.717) and finished second in the Metropolitan Division.
The Penguins turned the tables on the Rangers from the previous year and ousted them in five games chasing New York goalie Henrik Lundqvist in Games 1, 4 and 5. Lundqvist finished the series with a 4.39 goals-against-average and .867 save percentage. Jeff Zatkoff won Game 1 and lost Game 2 in the series' first two games in net for Pittsburgh while Matt Murray recovered from a concussion suffered in the final game of the regular season at Philadelphia.
In the second round, the Washington Capitals won Game 1 in overtime before the Penguins rattled off three straight victories including a 3-2 overtime win in Game 4. Washington won Game 5 at home and moved the series back to Pittsburgh for Game 6. Despite blowing a 3-0 lead when John Carlson scored a power-play goal with 6:59 left in the game after the Penguins took three consecutive delay of game penalties in a 2:02 span mid-way through the third period. Nick Bonino sealed the Capitals' fate 6:32 into overtime when he slipped in a backhand shot at the top of the crease to the right of Washington goalie Braden Holtby.
In the Eastern Conference Final, the Tampa Bay Lightning stole home ice winning Game 1 in Pittsburgh, 3-1. The Penguins won the next two games on back-to-back game-winning goals by Sidney Crosby including his overtime winner in Game 2. The Lightning evened the series at 2-2 in Tampa before heading back to Pittsburgh for Game 5 where Sullivan started Marc-Andre Fleury, who hadn't started a game since March 31st. Tyler Johnson scored 53 seconds into overtime of Game 5 to put the Penguins on the brink of elimination. Crosby again netted the game-winning goal in Game 6 and the Penguins won 5-2 to bring the series back to Pittsburgh for the deciding Game 7. Unlikely hero Bryan Rust scored twice in the second period of Game 7 and the Penguins held on to eliminate the Lightning and advance to the fifth Stanley Cup Final in franchise history and third in nine years.
The Penguins met the San Jose Sharks in the Stanley Cup Final. Nick Bonino scored late in the third period of Game 1 and Conor Sheary beat Sharks goalie Martin Jones 2:35 into overtime of Game 2 to put the Penguins up 2-0 with the series shifting to San Jose. Joonas Donskoi's wraparound goal 12:18 into overtime gave the Sharks a victory in Game 3. Pittsburgh won Game 4, 3-1, and sent the series back to Pittsburgh with an opportunity to win the Stanley Cup on home ice for the first time ever. In a wild opening five minutes, the Sharks scored twice in the first 2:53 to go up 2-0 before Evgeni Malkin and Carl Hagelin scored 22 seconds apart just 1:51 later. Melker Karlsson scored for San Jose late in the first period and the Sharks added an empty-net goal with 1:20 left in the game to pull the series to 3-2. In Game 6, Kris Letang scored just 1:19 after San Jose had tied to the game, 1-1, 6:27 into the second period. Patric Hornqvist scored an empty net goal with 1:02 left and the Penguins won their fourth Stanley Cup in franchise history.
Sidney Crosby won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the player most valuable to his team during the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs as he scored six goals and 13 assists for 19 points. Crosby scored three game-winning goals, won 52.4% of his face-offs, and recorded multiple point games in two of four series clinching games - Game 5 vs. New York (2A) and Game 6 at San Jose (2A).
This ring is a replica of the actual ring awarded to Sidney Crosby. This size 11 ring features a raised skating penguin logo decorated with glittering cubic zirconia inside the penguins' chest and gold triangle of the logo surrounded by a circular band of beautiful stones. Dozens of additional stones outline the shoulders of the ring containing "Stanley Cup Champions" raised in gold above and below the skating penguin logo. The right shank features Crosby's name above the Penguins' script logo and his number "87" clad with shining stones. The right shank features four stone-clad Stanley Cup trophies with "2016" proudly displayed at the top. On the inner band, the words "JUST PLAY" - the team's simple mantra after Sullivan took over - along with the logos and scores from each Playoff series are engraved meticulously.
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