PITTSBURGH -- There were calls -- all from outside the Pittsburgh Penguins organization -- to switch starting goaltenders for Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final on Thursday night at PPG Paints Arena.

The Penguins would have none of it. Matt Murray was back in net.

He not only avoided losing three straight games for the first time in his career, he also stopped 24 shots for his second shutout of these playoffs, third in the postseason in his career. And he got plenty of goal support in Pittsburgh's 6-0 win over the Nashville Predators.

"Of course I want to win every game," said Murray, who gave up eight goals in two losses in Nashville. "Sure you want a good bounce-back game after a bad one."

Pittsburgh scored early, often and seemingly at will to take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series, leaving it a win away from raising the Cup for the second year in a row and fifth time in team history.

Game 6 is Sunday night in Nashville. The home team has won each game in the series.

The Penguins, who set a club record with their 10th home win of the playoffs, scored three times in the first and again in the second.

They got goals from Justin Schultz, Bryan Rust, Evgeni Malkin, Conor Sheary, Phil Kessel and Ron Hainsey. Kessel added two assists, Malkin and Hainsey one each. Sidney Crosby, who was particularly strong early in the game, had three assists.

That was on the heels of getting just one goal in each of the two previous games, in Nashville.

"We know how to hit the reset button. We know how to move on," Rust said. "Not being able to get those goals in Nashville in the last couple of games, I don't think it fazed us. We made a few adjustments, but we had confidence."

For the second time in the series, Pittsburgh chased Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne, after he gave up three first-period goals on nine shots. Rinne has allowed 11 goals on 45 shots this series at PPG Paints Arena and is 0-3 in those games.

"Feeling good," Rinne said. "Obviously disappointed with the game. That was a huge game. I came here well-prepared, and we didn't have it tonight.

"But I think as a team we have to feel confident playing at home, having that opportunity to play Game 6 at home."

The extra day between games will give the Predators a chance to move on from the lopsided loss before going home and facing an elimination game.

"I don't know if anybody shakes off a game like that that quickly," Nashville coach Peter Laviolette said. "Nobody feels good leaving the building playing the way we did."

The opening faceoff was delayed a few seconds after someone threw a catfish onto the ice -- a Predators thing. If that was meant to bait the Penguins, it backfired.

On the game's first shift, Crosby wove down the slot, putting a shot off the left post and drawing a holding penalty on Nashville defenseman Ryan Ellis.

On the ensuing power play, Crosby set up Schultz for a slap shot that went under Rinne's pads for a 1-0 Pittsburgh lead 1:31 into the first.

The Penguins' power play had been 1-for-16 in the series and 0-for-13 over the previous three games.

"That power play got us going," Sheary said.

Pittsburgh kept up the pressure and Chris Kunitz set up Rust for a backhander that sailed past Rinne's glove to make it 2-0 at 6:43.

Crosby and Nashville's P.K. Subban got in a tangle on the ice behind the Penguins' net late in the first, with Crosby bouncing Subban's helmeted head off the ice as he tried to free his stick. Both got holding penalties.

"I'm not an official so I'm not going to judge what's over the line and what's not," Subban said.

Crosby had this account: "He lost his stick, and he was doing some UFC move on my foot. I don't know what he was trying to do. I was trying to get out of there. He had lost his stick. He was trying to hold me down. I don't know what he was trying to do to my ankle. I was in some kind of lock he had going on there. I don't know what it was."

Laviolette wanted something stiffer against Crosby.

"I don't understand the call," he said. "I really don't understand the call. I saw my guy get his head cross-checked 10 times."

On the ensuing four-on-four play, Malkin took a feed from Kessel and, from above the left dot, put a shot in over Rinne's glove to make it 3-0 with 10.2 seconds left in the first.

It was Malkin's 10th goal of the playoffs and his postseason-leading 27th point.

"It wasn't good," Laviolette said of his team's start. "It's not the first period that we're looking for, and it really didn't get much better after that. Definitely things we could have done better defensively."

Juuse Saros replaced Rinne for the start of the second and promptly got scored upon. Crosby set up Sheary -- playing on his 25th birthday -- in the low slot for a 4-0 Pittsburgh lead at 1:19 on the first shot by either team in the period.

Kessel broke a six-game goal drought -- and made Malkin's prediction Wednesday come true -- when he scored from the high slot to make it 5-0 at 8:02 of the second.

Hainsey turned Nashville's James Neal inside-out in Pittsburgh's end after the former Penguin whiffed on a big-hit attempt, then headed up ice and eventually finished off a feed from Malkin for a 6-0 lead at 16:40 of the second.

"That was awesome," Schultz said of Hainsey's second career playoff goal. "He's got some skill and he showed it off there."

NOTES: Nashville D Ryan Ellis left in the second period with an undisclosed injury and did not return. ... Pittsburgh C Sidney Crosby reached 20 career points in Stanley Cup Final games, moving one ahead of Mario Lemieux for the club record. ... Pittsburgh LW Jake Guentzel's second-period secondary assist gave him 21 points, setting an NHL record for rookies. ... Pittsburgh C Nick Bonino missed his third straight game. He took a P.K. Subban shot off his left foot/ankle in Game 2. ... Penguins RW Josh Archibald, who made his Final debut in Game 4, was scratched in favor of LW Scott Wilson. ... Nashville LW Colin Wilson returned from an undisclosed injury and made his Final debut. He replaced RW P.A. Parenteau in the lineup.