2016 Stanley Cup Final
1 2 3 4 5 6 Total San Jose Sharks 2 1* 3* 1 4 1 2 Pittsburgh Penguins 3 2* 2* 3 2 3 4
* – Denotes overtime period(s)
Location(s)	San Jose:SAP Center (3, 4, 6) Pittsburgh:Consol Energy Center (1, 2, 5)
Coaches	San Jose:Peter DeBoer Pittsburgh:Mike Sullivan
Captains	San Jose:Joe Pavelski Pittsburgh:Sidney Crosby
National anthems	San Jose: Annemarie Martin (3) San Jose:Metallica (4)[1] San Jose:Pat Monahan (6)[2] Pittsburgh:Jeff Jimerson
Referees	Wes McCauley (2, 4, 6) Dan O'Halloran (1, 3, 5) Dan O'Rourke (1, 3, 5) Kelly Sutherland (2, 4, 6)
Dates	May 30 – June 12, 2016
MVP	Sidney Crosby (Penguins)
Series-winning goal	Kris Letang(7:46, second, G6)
Hall of Famers	Sharks: Joe Thornton (2025)
Networks	Canada: (English):CBC (French):TVA Sports United States: (English):NBC (1, 4–6),NBCSN (2–3)
Announcers	(CBC)Jim Hughson,Craig Simpson, andGlenn Healy (TVA) Felix Seguin andPatrick Lalime (NBC/NBCSN)Mike Emrick,Eddie Olczyk, andPierre McGuire (NHL International)Steve Mears andKevin Weekes (NBC Sports Radio)Kenny Albert,Joe Micheletti, andDarren Eliot
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The2016 Stanley Cup Final was thechampionship series of theNational Hockey League's (NHL)2015–16 season, and the culmination of the2016 Stanley Cup playoffs. TheEastern Conference championPittsburgh Penguins defeated theWestern Conference championSan Jose Sharks four games to two to win their fourth championship in franchise history. Penguins captainSidney Crosby was awarded theConn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the playoffs.

The Penguins finished with more points than the Sharks during the regular season, giving them home ice advantage in the series. The series began on May 30 and concluded on June 12.^[3] This was the first Finals since2007 to feature a team making their Finals debut. This was the first playoff meeting between teams fromPittsburgh and theBay Area since the Penguins swept theOakland Seals in the1970 Stanley Cup Quarterfinals.

The Eastern Conference had home-ice advantage in consecutive seasons for the first time since the2004 and2006 Finals (the 2004–05 season, and consequently the 2005 Finals, were not played due to alockout).

For the first time since 2006, a new scheduling format was instituted for the Finals. In previous years, the Finals were played on a Wednesday–Saturday-Monday scheme (with a few games being played on Friday). However, the league changed its scheduling to ensure an extra day off for both teams. The extra off day, along with the designated travel day, took place after games 2, 4, 5, and 6 in subsequent finals. This scheduling change was necessary as a result of theNational Basketball Association (NBA) instituting a new scheduling format for itschampionship series that went into effect beginning in2016.^[4]

This was Pittsburgh's fifth Finals appearance, and first since winning the Cup in2009. The Penguins had made the playoffs every year since their win in 2009, but hadn't won a single game in the conference finals in that span.

After losing to theRangers in the playoffs for the second consecutive year, the Penguins made waves during the 2015 offseason, trading for forwardsPhil Kessel andNick Bonino, re-signing defencemanOlli Maatta and forwardBryan Rust, and signing centresMatt Cullen andEric Fehr in free agency. General managerJim Rutherford fired head coachMike Johnston on December 12, 2015, after the team limped to a 15–10–3 start. Johnston was replaced withWilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins coachMike Sullivan, who went 33–16–5 over the remainder of the season. The Penguins made three major trades before the trade deadline, acquiring defencemenTrevor Daley andJustin Schultz and forwardCarl Hagelin. After goalieMarc-Andre Fleury suffered a concussion on April 2, the team turned to rookieMatt Murray for the final week of the regular season and the majority of the playoffs.

Pittsburgh finished with 104 points (48–26–8) in the regular season to finish second in the Metropolitan Division. Centre and team captainSidney Crosby led the club in scoring during the regular season and finished third in the league with 85 points.

In the playoffs, the Penguins eliminated theNew York Rangers in five games after losing to them in 2014 and 2015, thePresidents' Trophy-winningWashington Capitals in six games, and the defending conference championTampa Bay Lightning in seven games.

This was San Jose's first Finals appearance in their 25-year history, becoming the first team to make their Finals debut since the2006–07 Ottawa Senators.

During the offseason the Sharks hired formerNew Jersey Devils head coachPeter DeBoer to replaceTodd McLellan and traded for formerKings backup goalieMartin Jones. San Jose also picked up defencemanPaul Martin and right wingersJoel Ward andDainius Zubrus via free agency. Before the trade deadline, the Sharks acquired forwardNick Spaling, defencemanRoman Polak, and goalieJames Reimer.

San Jose earned 98 points (46–30–6) to finish third in the Pacific Division. CentreJoe Thornton led the club in scoring with 82 points, and finished tied for fourth in the league, followed closely by centre and team captainJoe Pavelski with 78 points and defencemanBrent Burns with 75 points.

In the playoffs, San Jose avenged their2014 loss to the Kings, a series in which they blew a 3–0 series lead, by defeating Los Angeles in five games. San Jose also eliminated theNashville Predators in seven games, winning every home game in the series, and theSt. Louis Blues in the Conference Final in six games.

Number in parentheses represents the player's total goals or assists to that point of the entire four rounds of the playoffs

Game one remained scoreless untilBryan Rust andConor Sheary scored a minute apart for the Penguins midway through the first period. San Jose came back in the second period with a power play goal byTomas Hertl at 3:02 and the tying goal byPatrick Marleau at 18:12. Despite 18 third-period Pittsburgh shots directed towards Martin Jones, the score remained tied at two until very late in the game, whenKris Letang foundNick Bonino wide open in front of the net to give the Penguins the lead. The Penguins held off the Sharks in the final minutes to win 3–2.^[5][6]

Game two began with a scoreless first period which featured 11 Penguins shots and only six from the Sharks. Midway through the second period, a series of San Jose miscues led to a Pittsburgh goal. AfterRoman Polak nearly gave the puck away toPhil Kessel,Brenden Dillon was stripped byCarl Hagelin, who gave it toNick Bonino for a tip-in by Kessel. The Sharks tied the game late in the third on a goal byJustin Braun, which sent the game into overtime. Early in overtime, a quick shot byConor Sheary beatMartin Jones to give the Penguins a 2–1 win and 2–0 series lead.^[7][8]

Ben Lovejoy started off the scoring in game three at 5:29 of the first period, when his point shot deflected in off Roman Polak. The Sharks tied it at 9:34 on aJustin Braun goal. Midway through the second period, the Penguins took the lead back whenPatric Hornqvist tipped in another Lovejoy point shot. In the third period, Nick Bonino high-sticked Joe Thornton, and in the dying seconds of the four-minute power play,Joel Ward fired a slap shot pastMatt Murray to tie the game. In overtime,Joonas Donskoi roofed a tough-angle shot over Murray's shoulder for the game winner.^[9]

At 7:36 of the first period, Phil Kessel took advantage of a poor Sharks line change and fired a shot that rebounded off Martin Jones and directly toIan Cole, who scored his first playoff goal. This marked the seventh consecutive game in which the Penguins had scored first. In the second period, Sharks forwardMelker Karlsson was called for interference againstEric Fehr, and on the ensuing power play,Evgeni Malkin tipped in a Kessel shot for the Penguins' second goal. During the third period, Karlsson scored to cut the deficit to one, but the Penguins regained a two-goal lead with 2:02 left whenEric Fehr beat Jones on a breakaway.^[10]

Game five started with four goals scored in the first 5:06 of the game.Brent Burns gave the Sharks their first lead of the Finals at 1:04, slipping it past Murray on the right post. San Jose scored again at 2:53, whenLogan Couture deflected in a shot fromJustin Braun. Less than two minutes later, Sharks forwardDainius Zubrus got called for delay of game after shooting the puck over the glass. On the ensuing power play, a Malkin shot deflected off Braun's skate and past Jones, cutting the deficit to 2–1. Less than a minute later,Brenden Dillon gave away the puck toNick Bonino, who took a shot that was deflected in byCarl Hagelin. Later in the first period, during a Pittsburgh power play, aPhil Kessel wrist shot bounced off both posts but stayed out. Later in the period, Dillon passed down low for Couture who sauced a backhand pass to Karlsson, who scored to regain the lead for the Sharks. San Jose took just 15 shots in the second and third period combined, but Jones withstood a massive 46 shots from the Penguins to stave off elimination.Joe Pavelski provided an empty-net goal to force a sixth game.^[11]

External videos
Game 6 Full replay (NHL International's feed) on the NHL's official YouTube channel

A power play drive fromBrian Dumoulin started the scoring early in game six. During the first intermission, a tribute toGordie Howe was played, as he died on June 10. San Jose tied it up in the second period when Logan Couture took a pass from Melker Karlsson and fired a shot past Murray. Just over a minute later, Pittsburgh regained the lead when a shot byKris Letang ricocheted off Martin Jones and in. Despite facing elimination on home ice, the Sharks managed only two shots on goal in the third period, and an empty-net goal from Patric Hornqvist sealed the win for Pittsburgh. The Penguins won the fourth Stanley Cup in franchise history, clinching all four on the road.^[12]

#	Nat	Player	Position	Hand	Age	Acquired	Place of birth	Finals appearance
19		Beau Bennett	RW	R	24	2010	Gardena, California	first
13		Nick Bonino	C	L	28	2015	Hartford, Connecticut	first
28		Ian Cole	D	L	27	2015	Ann Arbor, Michigan	first
87		Sidney Crosby –C	C	L	28	2005	Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia	third(2008,2009)
7		Matt Cullen	C	L	39	2015	Virginia, Minnesota	second(2006)
6		Trevor Daley	D	L	32	2015	Toronto, Ontario	first
8		Brian Dumoulin	D	L	24	2012	Biddeford, Maine	first
16		Eric Fehr	C/RW	R	30	2015	Winkler, Manitoba	first
29		Marc-Andre Fleury	G	L	31	2003	Sorel-Tracy, Quebec	third(2008,2009)
62		Carl Hagelin	LW	L	27	2016	Södertälje, Sweden	second(2014)
72		Patric Hornqvist	RW	R	27	2014	Sollentuna, Sweden	first
81		Phil Kessel	RW	R	28	2015	Madison, Wisconsin	first
34		Tom Kuhnhackl	LW	L	24	2010	Landshut, Germany	first
14		Chris Kunitz –A	LW	L	36	2009	Regina, Saskatchewan	third(2007,2009)
58		Kris Letang	D	R	29	2005	Montreal, Quebec	third(2008,2009)
12		Ben Lovejoy	D	R	32	2015	Concord, New Hampshire	first
3		Olli Maatta	D	L	21	2012	Jyväskylä, Finland	first
71		Evgeni Malkin –A	C	L	29	2004	Magnitogorsk, Soviet Union	third(2008,2009)
30		Matt Murray	G	L	22	2012	Thunder Bay, Ontario	first
51		Derrick Pouliot	D	L	22	2012	Estevan, Saskatchewan	first
17		Bryan Rust	RW	R	24	2010	Pontiac, Michigan	first
4		Justin Schultz	D	R	25	2016	Kelowna, British Columbia	first
43		Conor Sheary	LW	L	23	2015	Melrose, Massachusetts	first
40		Oskar Sundqvist	C/RW	R	22	2012	Boden, Sweden	first
37		Jeff Zatkoff	G	L	28	2012	Detroit, Michigan	first

#	Nat	Player	Position	Hand	Age	Acquired	Place of birth	Finals appearance
61		Justin Braun	D	R	29	2007	St. Paul, Minnesota	first
88		Brent Burns	D	R	31	2011	Barrie, Ontario	first
39		Logan Couture –A	C	L	27	2007	Guelph, Ontario	first
4		Brenden Dillon	D	L	25	2014	New Westminster, British Columbia	first
27		Joonas Donskoi	RW	R	24	2015	Raahe, Finland	first
89		Barclay Goodrow	RW	L	23	2014	Toronto, Ontario	first
48		Tomas Hertl	LW	L	22	2012	Prague, Czech Republic	first
31		Martin Jones	G	L	26	2015	North Vancouver, British Columbia	second(2014)
68		Melker Karlsson	C/RW	R	25	2014	Lycksele, Sweden	first
12		Patrick Marleau	LW	L	36	1997	Swift Current, Saskatchewan	first
7		Paul Martin	D	L	35	2015	Elk River, Minnesota	first
83		Matt Nieto	LW	L	23	2011	Long Beach, California	first
8		Joe Pavelski –C	C/RW	R	31	2003	Plover, Wisconsin	first
46		Roman Polak	D	R	30	2016	Ostrava, Czechoslovakia	first
34		James Reimer	G	L	28	2016	Morweena, Manitoba	first
16		Nick Spaling	C	L	27	2016	Palmerston, Ontario	first
19		Joe Thornton –A	C	L	36	2005	London, Ontario	first
50		Chris Tierney	C	L	21	2012	Keswick, Ontario	first
44		Marc-Edouard Vlasic	D	L	29	2005	Montreal, Quebec	first
42		Joel Ward	RW	R	35	2015	North York, Ontario	first
57		Tommy Wingels	RW/C	R	28	2008	Evanston, Illinois	first
9		Dainius Zubrus	C/RW	L	37	2015	Elektrėnai, Soviet Union	third(1997,2012)

The 2016 Stanley Cup was presented to Penguins captain Sidney Crosby byNHL CommissionerGary Bettman following the Penguins' 3–1 win over the Sharks in Game 6.

The following Penguins players and staff had their names engraved on the Stanley Cup

2015–16 Pittsburgh Penguins

• * Played both centre and wing.
• † Did not play in the Final.
• ‡ Exemption granted to engrave the name of a player who did not automatically qualify.^[a][A]

• ^{^[A]} #9Pascal Dupuis (RW) – only played 18 games and forced to retire on Dec. 8 because of several blood clots – given an injury exemption and included on the Stanley Cup.
• Mario Lemieux is the only one to have his name engraved on the Stanley Cup for their titles in1991,1992,2009 and 2016.
• Pittsburgh broke the1938 Chicago Black Hawks' record of eight with ten U.S.-born players on a Stanley Cup winning team: Nick Bonino, Ian Cole, Matt Cullen, Brian Dumoulin, Phil Kessel, Ben Lovejoy, Kevin Porter, Bryan Rust, Conor Sheary, and Jeff Zatkoff. An 11th American, Beau Bennett was not included on the cup.
• Pittsburgh included the head team physician for the first time on the Stanley Cup. In 1991, 1992, and 2009 Dr. Charles Burke was not engraved on the Stanley Cup.

• Twelve players on the roster did not have their names engraved on the Stanley Cup due to not qualifying.^[13] All players listed below received Stanley Cup rings.

Included in the team picture, but left off the Stanley Cup

• #19Beau Bennett (RW) – played 33 regular-season games and one playoff game. Bennett missed 48 regular-season games and 15 playoff games due to injury, including the entire Cup Finals, but did play one game in the Conference Finals. No injury exemption was requested.
• #51Derrick Pouliot (D) – played 22 regular season and two playoff games – did not qualify
• #40Oskar Sundqvist (C) – played 18 regular season and two playoff games – did not qualify
• #23Scott Wilson (LW) – played 24 regular season games – did not qualify
• #35Tristan Jarry (G) – dressed for the first two playoff games, due to Matt Murray, and Marc-Andre Fleury being injured – did not qualify

Not on Stanley Cup or team picture

• #41Daniel Sprong (RW) – 18 regular season games and none in the playoffs
• #49Dominik Simon (C) – 3 regular season games and none in the playoffs
• #22Kael Mouillierat (LW) – 2 regular season games and none in the playoffs
• #45Josh Archibald (RW) – 1 regular season game and none in the playoffs
• #39Jean-Sébastien Dea (C) – did not play in the regular season or playoffs
• #44Tim Erixon (D) – did not play in the regular season or playoffs
• #65Steve Oleksy (D) – did not play in the regular season or playoffs
• Sergei Gonchar (Defense Coach), Danny Kroll (Asst. Equipment Manager)
• Gilles Meloche was the goaltending coach for Pittsburgh's Cup wins in 1991, 1992, and 2009. His role was changed to Special Assignment Scout, so his name was left off the Stanley Cup in 2016. However, he was awarded his fourth Stanley Cup ring. Other scouts left off the Cup but got rings were pro scouts Al Santili and Ryan Bowness, amateur scouts Colin Alexander, Scott Bell, Brain Fitzgerald, Luc Gauthier, Frank Golden, Jay Heinbuck, Wayne Meier, Ron Pyette, Casey Torres, and Warren Young, and European scouts Patrick Alivin, Petri Pakaslahi, and Tommy Westlund. Many other members of Pittsburgh's staff were also left off the Cup but still received championship rings.

In the U.S., the Final was split betweenNBC andNBCSN. NBCSN aired two games of the series while NBC aired the other five (if necessary).^[14] On May 27, NBC Sports announced that if the series was tied at 1–1 entering game three, then it would have aired on NBC and game four televised on NBCSN. However, if one team led 2–0 (as this eventually happened; Pittsburgh led 2-0), game three moved to NBCSN and then game four on NBC.^[15] The games were broadcast nationally on radio via theNBC Sports Radio network.^[16]

In Canada, the series aired onCBC Television (throughHockey Night in Canada, as produced bySportsnet through a brokerage agreement) inEnglish,^[17] andTVA Sports inFrench.^[3]

Beginning with this series, the NHL revised the schedule of the Stanley Cup Final. From 2006 to 2015, the Finals typically followed a Monday–Wednesday–Saturday format. However, the NHL decided to alter the format so as to give teams an extra day off upon traveling from one city to another. These two-day layovers took place after Games 2, 4, 5, and 6. TheNational Basketball Association'schampionship series followed a similar format beginning that year as well to avoid head-to-head competition against the NHL's Cup Finals.

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