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For the second year in a row, the Pittsburgh Penguins are Stanley Cup champions. They defeated the Nashville Predators 2-0 in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final on Sunday night in Bridgestone Arena.

It's the fifth Stanley Cup overall for the Penguins, tying them with the Edmonton Oilers for the sixth-most in NHL history. TSN's Pierre LeBrun noted why this year's triumph is so impressive:

Patric Hornqvist delivered the decisive blow with 1:35 left in the third period. A shot from Justin Schultz bounced off the boards behind the goal, and Hornqvist pounced on the rebound, knocking the puck in off Nashville goaltender Pekka Rinne.

NHL on NBC provided a replay of the goal:

The fact Hornqvist, who played for the Predators during his first six years in the NHL, scored the go-ahead goal was a cruel twist of fate for Nashville.

The biggest talking point—at least among Predators fans—will be a decision by the officiating crew earlier in the game.

Controversy reigned with a little over a minute gone in the second period. Referees waved off a goal by Colton Sissons after losing sight of the puck and blowing the whistle to stop play. NHL on NBC shared a replay of the sequence in which a whistle is audible before Sissons' shot goes in:

The social media reaction to the call was overwhelmingly negative:

The performances of the respective goaltenders increased the magnitude of the officiating mistake. Rinne and Matt Murray ensured goals would come at a premium. Both goalies have experienced low moments throughout the postseason, but they more than lived up to the occasion Sunday night.

As the end of regulation loomed, USA Today's Dan Wolken couldn't help but think back to Sissons' disallowed goal:

Shortly thereafter, Hornqvist sealed the win for Pittsburgh, and Carl Hagelin scored an empty-netter for good measure

Nashville fans will feel justifiably disappointed the referee error played such an outsized role in Game 6, but it's far from the sole reason the Predators lost the game and the series.

Ultimately, the Preds weren't good enough away from home, losing all three games in Pittsburgh by a combined score of 15-4. That gave them little margin for error inside Bridgestone Arena, and one bad break, which occurred Sunday, had the potential to be catastrophic.

The Penguins, meanwhile, accomplished something fans likely never thought they'd see again—at least under the league's salary-cap rules. And Pittsburgh won a title despite missing its best defenseman, Kris Letang, for the duration of the postseason.

Sidney Crosby added to his already impressive legacy as well, capturing his second straight Conn Smythe Trophy. Still only 29, Crosby is undoubtedly the best player in the world, and the question is how much more he can achieve over the rest of his career.