THIRD PERIOD

The BEST feeling in the world. pic.twitter.com/pbRjgMQ3LK

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) June 12, 2017

After more than 58 minutes of unsuccessfully trying to put shots by Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne while facing the net, the Penguins finally broke through when they adopted a less conventional approach to attacking the crease.

Patric Hornqvist whacked a puck that banked off the rear wall into the back of Rinne's left elbow and into the net to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead with 1:35 left in regulation.

Justin Schultz delivered the shot attempt that created the chance for Hornqvist.

Rinne turned away the previous 27 shots.

Carl Hagelin added an empty netter with 13 seconds remaining.

Hornqvist goal pic.twitter.com/wpyUCbfwVI

— steph (@myregularface) June 12, 2017

Olli Maatta became the third Penguin to head to the penalty box when he tripped Viktor Arvidsson behind the net in the defensive zone with less than 13 minutes left in regulation in Game 6 on Sunday night. Trevor Daley joined Maatta in the box shortly thereafter with a roughing minor, giving Nashville 32 seconds of a five-on-three advantage.

The Predators entered the power play still in search of their first shot on goal with the man advantage. They failed to generate one in their previous two opportunities.

No shots happened with Maatta and Daley unavailable, but Nashville got three pucks through to Matt Murray once play went back to five-on-four. None beat the Penguins netminder.

still 0-0 *biting nails* pic.twitter.com/km6PJMKSDs

— steph(@myregularface) June 12, 2017

SECOND PERIOD

Hockey fans discouraged by a lack of down-to-the-wire games in the Stanley Cup Final finally found the kind of action they desired in Game 6 on Sunday night, as the Penguins and Nashville went to their dressing rooms at the second intermission scoreless and pretty even in terms of controlling play.

The Penguins trailed, 34-30, in shot attempts but led, 22-19, in pucks on goal.

Location, location, location -- the Penguins should like their real estate situation after two periods. pic.twitter.com/CdbSUN7Vjt

— Bill West (@BWest_Trib) June 12, 2017

A quick whistle 67 seconds into the middle period cost Nashville a goal, as center Colton Sissons poked in a rebound that squirted out of Matt Murray's control, but an official blew the play dead before the puck entered the net with the assumption that the goalie had held onto the save.

No goal, the whistle had blown https://t.co/5RGksR8CbG pic.twitter.com/l5BZuMuayk

— SI NHL (@SI_NHL) June 12, 2017

Conor Sheary went to the penalty box for tripping a few minutes after the early whistle incident, inspiring some fans on Twitter to speculate about make-up calls. But again Nashville struggled to generate scoring chances with the man advantage — the Predators tallied just one shot attempt, while Brian Dumoulin delivered a long-range shot on goal for the Penguins.

Sissons received an opportunity for redemption (or revenge, depending on the point of view) when he raced in alone on Murray with 9:45 left in the second period, but the Penguins goalie sprawled to make a stop with his glove and left pad.

This is a clinical treatment. pic.twitter.com/hzmcZIP8QK

— InGoal Magazine (@InGoalMedia) June 12, 2017

Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne, confronted by fewer obvious Grade-A chances in the second period, got creative when he watched Carl Hagelin streak down the wing for a potential threat.

Rinne with an interesting take on 'aggressive positioning.' pic.twitter.com/sKMkNRJwPR

— Sean Tierney (@ChartingHockey) June 12, 2017

FIRST PERIOD

For the first time in the Stanley Cup Final, neither the Penguins nor Nashville scored in a game's opening period.

Through 20 minutes of Game 6 at Bridgestone Arena, the teams combined for 17 shots on goal and 24 attempts.

A power play for the Predators failed to generate much excitement. About five minutes after the man advantage ended, James Neal delivered the best scoring chance of the period, but Matt Murray got just enough of the shot with his glove cuff.

HOLY pic.twitter.com/bfrTDIYU8k

— NHL on NBC (@NHLonNBCSports) June 12, 2017

Most butt-end saves are pure blocks, but RInneactually moves his arm into this one. Call it a nice save, with a side of luck. pic.twitter.com/o9oRjCh1pu

— InGoalMagazine (@InGoalMedia) June 12, 2017

The Penguins held a 5-2 edge in high-danger scoring chances as defined by www.naturalstattrick.com. Other numbers for Game 6 resonated with even the anti-stat nerd segment of Penguins fans.

This is the 66th playoff series in Pens' history. And the 87th game of the 2017 playoffs. There is #numerology and then there is #NUMEROLOGY

— Bob Grove (@bobgrove91) June 11, 2017

Long stretch with very little for Pittsburgh in between a strong start and end of the period. pic.twitter.com/4WoqIavVeL

— Micah Blake McCurdy (@IneffectiveMath) June 12, 2017

Seven minutes of action in Game 6 on Sunday at Bridgestone Arena produced seven shots on goal and two stoppages for catfish on the ice.

The Penguins and Nashville traded early chances. Both Matt Murray and Pekka Rinne faced a shot in the first minute of action. The Predators, apparently on a mission to establish a physical tone, took an absurd 13-3 lead in hits through 10 minutes. Attempts to shoot the puck proved less abundant — Nashville led that statistic, 6-5, at the halfway point of the first period.

hits hits hits pic.twitter.com/USM1eg0ANK

— steph (@myregularface) June 12, 2017

Ian Cole took an interference penalty with six minutes and 36 seconds left, but the Penguins did not allow a shot on goal during the kill. Nashville attempted four shots, three of which were blocked.

PREGAME

Nothing says Stanley Cup clincher quite like an outdoor Luke Bryan concert during warm-ups — that's the impression the casual fan might get from the NHL and NBC, anyway. Here's a taste of Bryan's press conference with hockey media that took place hours before Sunday's Game 6:

Q. How does a Georgia boy fall in love with hockey?

LUKE BRYAN: "South Georgia boy falling in love with hockey, yeah, that's quite a stretch when you'd never seen snow on the ground and maybe a puddle in your yard would freeze once a year. But yeah, I think it's been a slow learning process to go from certainly South Georgia, to move to Nashville. It's amazing how many years it takes you to get all your Georgia loyalties to sports, which I'm still a big Bulldogs and Falcons fan, but certainly a huge Titans fan, and always — I never will forget the first time I saw my first Predators game, and you can never anticipate the speed of the game and the noises and the hitting of the sticks. It just totally hooked me right off the bat.

"From there, going to your first live game, to actually learning the game and learning how they set up plays and learning icing and offsides and your penalties, it takes quite a few years. And I think that's what's exciting about what's going on here in Nashville is it gravitates fans to, A, you have people all across everywhere -- I mean, pulling for the Predators, and they're learning the game even better in the process."

Q. When was that first game you saw, and how has it grown for you over the years?

LUKE BRYAN: "Well, for me, it was — I guess it was probably — I moved to Nashville in the fall of 2001, and I would say it was 2002, that hockey season. And like I said, what's interesting, the best way to learn hockey if you're a Southerner is go get the NHL Live video game. The best way to learn a sport that you're not familiar with is certainly go get the video game, and it kind of self — so we started having — out on the road started having huge battles, NHL Live battles. So that kind of taught us the game."

Sunday morning taught us almost nothing about the Penguins' mind state entering Game 6. They gathered at Bridgestone Arena about eight hours before they could claim the franchise's fifth championship and held the least eventful morning skate in recent team history.

Only three regulars – center Matt Cullen and Swedish wingers Patric Hornqvist and Carl Hagelin – took to the ice.

There were no pressing lineup questions — for good reason, as the Penguins used the same combinations as in Game 5.

Game Six lineup. Let's do this. pic.twitter.com/Djh3sY5jMQ

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) June 11, 2017

Center Nick Bonino did not participate in the morning skate or pregame warm-ups.

Given the nature of the skate, Cullen joked that it was too early to tell whether the Penguins looked prime and ready to close out the series Sunday night.

"Not when there's only three of us," he said with a laugh. "The Swedes are ready, though. Haggy and Horny are ready. I can tell that."

Cullen said the team's experience in big spots – they won the franchise's fourth championship one year ago Monday – allowed them to keep things cool Sunday morning, even if high temperatures in Nashville were expected to reach the 90s later in the day. None are oblivious to the objet that will sit somewhere in the arena tonight, though.

Had to clear TSA and security before boarding our flight for Game 6. All good to go. #stanleycup @HockeyHallFame @NHL pic.twitter.com/7P06RzZFao

— Philip Pritchard (@keeperofthecup) June 11, 2017

"As you get closer to the game and you're in the room, you can get a feel for things," Cullen said. "I do think, with a group that's been through it, I think guys have a bit of an understanding of maybe what to expect. You feel a different level of excitement when you're at this point. It's managing that. It's about controlling your emotion, but you also get that extra adrenaline and extra excitement and you have to use that."

About the only new wrinkle to come out of the Penguins' morning skate was the presence of Kris Letang, who took a few post-practice laps around the ice in a track suit.

. @penguins @Letang_58 skate after morning practice before game 6 against the @PredsNHL #StanleyCup #StanleyCupFinal pic.twitter.com/oSB7sVJoNs

— Charles Palla (@ChazPalla) June 11, 2017

All the drama at morning skate was contained in Nashville's side of the building.

Will Ryan Ellis play? Warm-ups revealed that yes, Ellis is in.

One of Nashville's celebrated top four defensemen, Ellis left Game 5 Thursday night with an apparent upper-body injury. He skated on his own before his teammates Sunday morning.

Has a gag order been placed on P.K. Subban?

The normally affable Predators defensemen did not talk with reporters after morning skate, prompting questions about whether he was told to pipe down after his comments about Sidney Crosby and bad breath became a media focal point in the middle of the series.

Add in the fact that Nashville's margin for error is now zero, and there were plenty of issues for the Predators to discuss.

"We do talk about us winning the Cup," coach Peter Laviolette said. "We do talk about us winning Game 6. We do talk about us playing again tomorrow, moving on and playing and waking up and being alive tomorrow. So those are the things we talk about."

Cup chances after game 5: pic.twitter.com/XNtvZndCN8

— Micah Blake McCurdy (@IneffectiveMath) June 10, 2017

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