The outstanding overseas hockey battles in June came to an end. The drawing of the next Lord Stanley Cup is over. On the night of June 13, 2016, Russian time, hockey fans learned the names of the new owners of the most prestigious hockey club trophy in the world.
The Pittsburgh Penguins have won the Stanley Cup four times. The playoff series of the main club hockey tournament in 2016 ended with the triumph of the Penguins in the sixth match of the final series against the San Jose Sharks.
Hockey players of Pittsburgh started the 2015-2016 season in disaster, which influenced the change of coach in the midst of the regular season. After the appointment of Mike Sullivan as the new head coach of the Penguins team, they have significantly improved. If in the middle of the 2015-2016 NHL regular season, Pittsburgh did not even make the playoffs, then in the second half of the draw, the "Penguins" achieved leadership in their conference, losing the final first line only to Washington.
Pittsburgh beat the New York Rangers 4-1, Washington 4-2 and Tampa 4-3 en route to the 2016 Stanley Cup Final. The series against “Capital” and “Lightning” from Tampa turned out to be especially striking. In the Stanley Cup final, Pittsburgh was opposed by hockey players from San Jose, who for the first time in their twenty-five-year history reached the final of the most prestigious hockey tournament.
The final streak began in Pittsburgh. The hosts won both matches (3: 2 and 2: 1). In match number three, "Sharks" reduced the score in the series, having managed to beat Pittsburgh at home with a score of 3: 2. One of the decisive matches of the series was the fourth game in San Jose. Hockey players of Pittsburgh were able to win an important victory 3: 1, thanks to which the score in the confrontation increased to two victories for Mike Sullivan's team.
All of Pittsburgh expected to win the Stanley Cup in their fifth home game. However, San Jose beat the Penguins 4: 2, which predetermined the sixth game on the site of the Sharks.
The sixth meeting of the series ended with the triumph of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and other masters from Pittsburgh. The final score of the match is 3: 1 in favor of the “Penguins”, and the final score of the series is 4: 2.
One of the best central strikers in the world, Russian Yevgeny Malkin, won the Stanley Cup for the second time in his career. Evgeny was important to his team in all the playoffs. In twenty-three elimination games, the Magnitogorsk hockey player scored six times and assisted partners twelve times. In the final series with San Jose, Malkin was able to score twice and gave one assist.
It is gratifying for Russian hockey fans that the renowned domestic defender Sergei Gonchar won the trophy not only as a hockey player (Gonchar won the Stanley Cup in 2009), but also as a coach. Sergey is currently part of the Pittsburgh coaching staff.
The most valuable player in the 2016 Stanley Cup playoffs was Yevgeny Malkin's teammate - Penguin captain Sidney Crosby. The Canadian scored 19 points in twenty-four matches (6 + 13). Sid's performance surpassed the personal achievement of Evgeny Malkin by only one assist, who spent one match less in the elimination games.
