NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Too many times movie sequels fail to live up to the original.
Perhaps if he ever tires of hockey, Pittsburgh Penguins coach Mike Sullivan can try Hollywood.
Sullivan and his Penguins put the finishing touches on a cinematic masterpiece Sunday in Nashville, the final scene a 2-0 win over the Predators at Bridgestone Arena in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup final.
It meant the greatest trophy in sports will spend another summer in the Penguins’ possession, a back-to-back run of excellence that had not been seen since the 1997-98 Detroit Red Wings.
“We knew it was going to be tough all year,” Sidney Crosby said. “We just tried to keep with it. We had a lot of injuries. We kept finding ways. It’s great to be able to do it.”
Repeating as champions was one of the ingredients that made this championship such a special one, but it had several supporting parts, too.
Like the idea of winning a Stanley Cup without a top-flight defenseman, something the Penguins had to do when Kris Letang was lost for the season in early April when he had surgery to repair a herniated disc in his neck.
Or with a starting goaltender in Matt Murray who re-aggravated a groin injury with about eight minutes to go in warmups before the start of the postseason, only to see Marc-Andre Fleury re-assume his spot between the pipes and shine.
Sullivan became the second coach in in NHL history to win back-to-back Stanley Cups in his first two seasons with a team. Toe Blake was the only other coach to do it, in 1957.
More history was made with Sidney Crosby winning the Conn Smythe Trophy. He became the first back-to-back winner of the award since Penguins co-owner Mario Lemieux in 1991 and 1992.
Postgame, Crosby’s handoff of the Cup was to Ron Hainsey, who had never before played a playoff game. Next came Matt Cullen, who may have played his last game in the NHL.
Game 6 came down to the wire. Patric Hornqvist smacked the rebound of a Justin Schultz shot off Nashville goaltender Pekka Rinne’s elbow at 18:25 of the third period.
The goal withstood a challenge from Nashville coach Peter Laviolette for goaltender interference before another of the Penguins’ Swedes, Carl Hagelin, added an empty-net goal with 13.6 seconds left.
Sullivan liked to say that the Penguins are comfortable adapting and playing any kind of game. That was on display Monday, as Murray and Rinne were both terrific.
Murray entered the third period of a scoreless game having made 56 consecutive saves and wound up stretching that number to 63 before the night was out, a 27-save shutout.
And that’s fitting in a way, too, because you can’t have a full appreciation of Sullivan without linking him to Murray. Their personalities are similar, and the coach appreciates the next-save mentality that his goaltender possesses.
That trait was on full display in the third period, especially when Olli Maatta was called for tripping at 7:19 and Trevor Daley went off for roughing at 8:47.
The Penguins penalty kill, so solid all night, snuffed out both of these Predators chances, but their best penalty killer was easily Murray.
The group finished 4 for 4 on the evening.
“Our kill did a great job,” Crosby said. “Murray made some big saves. I think we got a boost from that.”
During the 32 seconds of five-on-three time Nashville enjoyed, Murray denied Viktor Arvidsson on a long rebound that came out hot off Murray’s skate.
Colton Sissons had a frustrating night — he had a should-be goal disallowed in the second period —and Murray used his arm to stop a Sissons redirect early in the third period to keep the game scoreless.
Neither team could break through in the first period, the first time in the series nobody scored in the opening 20 minutes.
Ian Cole was called for interference at 13:14, but the Penguins had a clean penalty kill; Nashville managed only two shot attempts, and the Penguins blocked both.
The Penguins’ best chance came a little bit after, when Rinne stopped Conor Sheary from point-blank range.
James Neal enjoyed a grade-A chance off a Mike Fisher rebound in front with about two minutes to go.
It appeared as though the Predators would take a 1-0 lead early in the second period.
After Murray stopped Pontus Aberg from point-blank range at 58 seconds, Sissons appeared to poke the rebound of a Mike Fisher shot over the goal line.
Small problem: referee Kevin Pollock lost sight of the puck and blew the whistle. After a quick conference, the no-goal call stood, and the building erupted in boos.
It haunted the game the rest of the night, forcing referees to call a few questionable penalties in an effort to even the score.
The Penguins were successful killing another penalty, this one on Sheary at 4:38, while Cullen made the biggest play of the two minutes: diving in a shooting lane to again hold the Predators without a shot on goal.
Murray appeared to find a groove in the middle period, his biggest save coming on a breakaway for Sissons, which he used his pad to stop. He also denied Viktor Arvidsson in the slot, among other stops.
Hagelin’s jump was noticeable throughout the evening, and Sullivan started dropping Crosby down to Carter Rowney’s spot between Hagelin and Rowney.
Hagelin left a drop pass for Crosby on one sequence. Hainsey, who scored a goal on an end-to-end rush in Game 5, enjoyed another glorious chance, but Rinne proved to be Murray’s equal.
The stingy second period ran counter to what was seen in Games 3 and 4 here, when the Predators outscored the Penguins, 5-0.
