LAS VEGAS (AP) Vegas Golden Knights owner Bill Foley has repeatedly said he wants to win the Stanley Cup within the first six years of his new team's existence.

After Vegas came away with a jackpot from the expansion draft, Foley's franchise goalie is even bolder.

''Let's do it earlier,'' Marc-Andre Fleury said Thursday. ''Why wait six years? I don't know where I'll be in six years. Right away our goal has to be to get good, to improve and to go out there.''

Vegas shouldn't start blocking off the Strip for the parade just yet, but Sin City's new team is holding a remarkable hand after general manager George McPhee's 37-player haul from the expansion draft and several subsequent trades.

Nashville general manager David Poile is among many hockey observers who think the Golden Knights have the ingredients for the most competitive expansion team in league history. From Fleury on out, Vegas already has a solid NHL roster with a sturdy blue line and four lines of capable forwards.

What they don't have is the game-changing playmakers and goal-scorers that separate decent teams from great ones, but they've got a plan for that, too: Vegas will add even more top-shelf talent Friday in the draft in Chicago, where McPhee holds three first-round picks, including the sixth overall.

The players who have already arrived in Vegas realize that although they're starting over, they aren't starting from scratch.

''They put a great group together,'' said forward Reid Duke, who became the Golden Knights' first player when he signed as a free agent in March. ''You never really know what to expect, but they made some big splashes. Got a lot of good players, a lot of good picks. It's nice to see that they are not only building for right now, but the future, too. They've got some smart guys up there, and they know exactly what they are doing.''

McPhee continued his moves Thursday, swinging two trades to add draft picks in place of claimed players who might not have made the Golden Knights' roster. Vegas shipped defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk and a seventh-round pick next year to Carolina for Pittsburgh's second-round pick this year, and then traded David Schlemko to Montreal for a fifth-round pick in 2019.

After Foley paid $500 million to the league as an expansion fee, the Golden Knights were given favorable franchise-building terms explicitly designed to give them a better chance to be competitive more quickly than the new teams of the previous 25 years.

Instead of forcing Vegas fans to watch several years of plodding franchise-building, the NHL wants the Golden Knights to be decent from the start.

Can they be the best expansion team ever? It's quite possible.

The NHL added nine franchises between 1991 and 2001, and no team did better than the Florida Panthers, who went 33-34-17 and racked up an expansion team-record 83 points in the 1993-94 season. The NHL still had ties in 1994, so teams didn't pick up extra points through shootout wins.

All but four teams in the Western Conference recorded more than 83 points last season. An 84-point season would have put the Golden Knights in sixth place in an eight-team Pacific Division last season, ahead of Arizona and Vancouver.

The Golden Knights aren't ready to make any predictions yet, but once they get together in Vegas for the first time under coach Gerard Gallant, they'll start to figure out just how good they can be.

That transition to the desert will be easier for some Golden Knights: Deryk Engelland has lived in Las Vegas in the offseason for a decade.

''We'll get our numbers out there for guys to reach out if they need anything, if it's a place to crash, to see outside the Strip and come look for places (to live) or whatnot,'' Engelland said. ''Definitely ready for that part of it.''

The milestones will keep coming for the Golden Knights throughout the summer while they build toward the first game in franchise history in Dallas on Oct. 6, followed by their home debut Oct. 10 against the Coyotes.

Vegas' first player development camp starts Tuesday.

''It's a different situation for everybody in here to come into a team where there is no team,'' said defenseman Jason Garrison, claimed from Tampa Bay. ''It's the first team. You just want to establish a friendship and a culture right away, and it starts right now and leads into training camp and continues forward to the first game.''

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Follow AP Hockey Writer Greg Beacham on Twitter: www.twitter.com/gregbeacham

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BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) The Buffalo Sabres' coaching search has resumed, with general manager Jason Botterill telling The Associated Press he hopes to make a decision by early next week.

Botterill declined to reveal what candidates from the two Stanley Cup finalists he intends to interview after Pittsburgh beat Nashville to win the championship in Game 6 on Sunday. When asked specifically about his interest in Pittsburgh's Rick Tocchet and Nashville's Phil Housley, Botterill would only say he respects both assistant coaches.

The newly hired GM has already interviewed numerous candidates, including Washington assistant Todd Reirden. Botterill, however, was forced to place the search on hold because NHL rules prevented him from interviewing assistant coaches on teams still competing in the playoffs.

Botterill was hired last month after the Sabres fired both GM Tim Murray and coach Dan Bylsma in April.

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AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno in Washington contributed to this report.

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PITTSBURGH (AP) Pekka Rinne's struggles in Pittsburgh have his Nashville Predators on the brink of elimination.

The Penguins overwhelmed Rinne and the Predators again, sending Nashville's star goaltender to the bench in Pittsburgh for a second straight game in the Stanley Cup Final. He was pulled after the first period by coach Peter Laviolette after surrendering half the goals in a 6-0 rout by the Penguins in Game 5 on Thursday night.

The Predators are in a 3-2 hole with Game 6 coming up Sunday night in Nashville.

''It wasn't good,'' Laviolette said. ''It's not the first period that we were looking for and it didn't really get much better after that. Definitely things we could've done better defensively.''

Nashville rallied from a 2-0 deficit to tie the best-of-seven series and the home team has won all five games. Nashville is also a comfortable 9-1 in the playoffs at home, and teams that lost Game 5 of a tied Final have won the Stanley Cup four of the last eight times, including Pittsburgh in 2009.

But the Predators had little to enjoy from this one.

Phil Kessel scored his eighth of the playoffs and added two assists, while Sidney Crosby tallied three assists. Evgeni Malkin scored his 10th and had an assist, while Ron Hainsey also had a goal and an assist. Justin Schultz, Bryan Rust and Conor Sheary also scored for the Penguins, who have outscored Nashville 15-4 in Pittsburgh.

Rinne made six saves on nine shots, while Juuse Saros, making his second career playoff appearance, stopped 12 shots.

It was a familiar showing for Rinne: The three-time Vezina Trophy finalist allowed eight goals on just 36 shots during the first two games in Pittsburgh.

Rinne, the playoff leader in wins and goals-against average, rebounded in a big way for Games 3 and 4 in Nashville, limiting Pittsburgh to a just two goals on 52 shots as the Predators evened the series.

But Rinne struggled again Thursday in Pittsburgh, a place where he's never started and won in six career games. He gave up two goals in the first 6:43 of the game and it never got better.

Rinne is now 1-8-2 lifetime against the Penguins - his lone win came in relief at Nashville - and he owns a career 5.15 goals-against average and .822 save percentage in Pittsburgh. Rinne has allowed 11 goals on 45 shots in seven periods of play during the Stanley Cup Final in Pittsburgh.

''We've got to be better in front of him. ... I don't think that necessarily they were bad goals,'' Laviolette said. ''Our guys have a tremendous amount of confidence him. We just have to do a better job in front of him.''

Crosby started the first-period surge for Pittsburgh when he split Roman Josi and Ryan Ellis on the opening shift of the game and hit the post. That shift led to a Predators' penalty and the game's first goal on Pittsburgh's ensuing power play, as Schultz beat Rinne with a point shot that went between his pads.

Rust beat Rinne to the glove side with a backhander a little more than five minutes later and Malkin made it 3-0 with 10.2 seconds left in the first period.

Saros relieved Rinne to start the second, but Pittsburgh upped its lead to 4-0 just 1:19 into the period on Sheary's goal from Crosby. Kessel scored his first in six games, making it 5-0 later in the period, while Hainsey capped Pittsburgh's second three-goal period of the game.

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PITTSBURGH (AP) The Pittsburgh Penguins kept Pekka Rinne plenty busy this time.

Too busy for Rinne and the rest of the Nashville Predators to keep up with the surging defending Stanley Cup champions.

Jake Guentzel, Scott Wilson and Evgeni Malkin scored 3:18 apart early in the third period as the Penguins chased Rinne and pulled away for a 4-1 victory in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final on Wednesday night. The Penguins lead the best-of-seven series 2-0. Game 3 is Saturday night in Nashville in what amounts to a last stand for the Predators and their suddenly very average-looking goalie.

The 22-year-old Guentzel finished with two goals to give him an NHL-high 12 during the playoffs, the second-most by a rookie in postseason history. His 19 playoff points are the most by an American-born first-year player and he'll have at least two more cracks at adding to that total.

If the Predators don't get it together back home in ''Smashville,'' it might only be two.

Matt Murray played spectacularly at times through the first two periods, buying his teammates enough time to find their footing and get to Rinne. Murray finished with 37 saves in all as he helped move the Penguins to within two victories of becoming the first team to go back-to-back since the Detroit Red Wings in 1998.

Pontus Aberg scored the lone goal for the Predators, who were once again undone by a sudden barrage from the NHL's highest-scoring team.

In Game 1, the Penguins pushed three goals by Rinne in a span of 4:11 in the first period to build a 3-0 lead. The Predators rallied to tie before Guentzel's go-ahead goal with 3:17 remaining put the Penguins ahead to stay.

This time, Pittsburgh's flurry came a little bit later. And it was once again led by the baby-faced son of a coach who has no problem shouldering the responsibility of playing alongside star Sidney Crosby.

The game was tied at 1 at the start of the third period when Guentzel jumped on a rebound 10 seconds into the period to put Pittsburgh ahead. Wilson was credited with his third of the playoffs just over 3 minutes later when a centering pass caromed off Nashville's Vernon Fiddler and by Rinne.

Malkin added his ninth of the playoffs and second of the series just 15 seconds later and Rinne was skating to the bench in favor of backup Juuse Saros after stopping 21 of 25 shots. Rinne fell to 0-5-0 in five career starts in Pittsburgh and he has never beaten the Penguins anywhere as a starter.

The Penguins vowed to put more pressure on Rinne than they managed in their 5-3 victory in Game 1, a win they managed despite going 37 minutes without throwing a single puck Rinne's way and none in the second period, the first time that's happened since the NHL started tracking shots in 1957.

The Penguins matched their entire shot total from the opener (12) by the end of the first period but still found themselves trying to keep up with the Predators. The Stanley Cup newbies were disappointed but not dismayed by their Game 1 loss, pointing to the way they carried play for long stretches as tangible proof they weren't just happy to be here.

The result was the kind of up-and-down play that showcased the speed on both sides and included more than a dash of antagonism, particularly early.

Nashville's Matt Irwin drilled Pittsburgh's Matt Cullen from behind into the boards in the first period, a hit that left the 40-year-old Cullen headed down the runway for a quick check but didn't result in a penalty. Minutes later, Penguins forward Chris Kunitz became tangled up with P.K. Subban and ended up cross-checking Subban in the head, part of a sequence that saw Malkin go off for hooking. Malkin and Subban even ended up fighting in the third period when things got out of hand.

It was a scene hard to imagine through the first two taut and chippy periods.

The 23-year-old Aberg beat Pittsburgh defenseman Olli Maatta to a puck in the Penguins zone, passed it through Maatta to himself and then patiently drew Murray out of the net before flipping it by the sprawled goaltender.

The Penguins, as they've done when pressed throughout the postseason, responded almost immediately.

Guentzel, who snapped an eight-game goalless drought when he pumped the winner by Rinne with 3:17 left in the series opener, tied it later in the period. The 5-foot-11 rookie planted himself at the post and jabbed a backhand rebound to tie it.

Pittsburgh stayed in it thanks to Murray and when Pittsburgh returned to the ice for the start of the third they, as coach Mike Sullivan is fond of saying, ''got to their game.''

A style that now has the Penguins two victories away from history.

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