Last year, during a downswing in their regular season, I wrote that the Pittsburgh Penguins looked like a team that was less than the sum of its parts. But in the two playoffs that followed, they’ve made one thing clear: I erred. Hey, it happens.
In winning the 2015-16 Stanley Cup, and now, in making it back to the Cup Final to attempt the exceedingly rare feat of securing back-to-back championships, the Penguins have carved out a space for themselves as one of the great teams in the modern era. Some of the faces may have changed – the salary cap necessitates it – but Pittsburgh’s core has overcome the odds and a slew of challenges this year to set themselves apart from most of the other champs. And this year’s group might be the most impressive of all.
To wit: the current Pens roster has made it through three rounds of post-season play with no discernible No. 1 defenseman. The man who occupied that role – veteran star Kris Letang – played only half the regular-season, and was sidelined for good in April when the team revealed he’d suffered a herniated disc in his neck in February and would be out of the lineup for 4-6 months. Given that their blueline was never going to be mistaken for the 1970s Montreal Canadiens’ defense corps to begin with, Letang’s injury was a devastating blow that might have sunk the Cup contention chances of many teams.
But the hits kept on coming. In the first round, Pittsburgh lost its top goalie, Matt Murray, to a lower body injury suffered in pre-game warmup of the first game. Murray was instrumental in the Penguins winning it all in 2016, and having him removed from the equation so suddenly and dramatically could’ve thrown the team into disarray. And at other points of the current post-season, head coach Mike Sullivan has had to deal with injuries virtually throughout his lineup: captain Sidney Crosby missed a crucial game against Washington with a concussion; winger Chris Kunitz missed the entire first round against Columbus; forwards Carl Hagelin, Patric Hornqvist, Bryan Rust and Connor Sheary all have missed at least two of the Pens’ 19 playoff games, while D-men Justin Schultz and Trevor Daley both have missed four games.
It’s true all playoff teams expect to be bitten by the injury bug at some point – and the Penguins’ Cup Final opponents in Nashville have had to cope with injuries to key contributors Ryan Johansen, Kevin Fiala, Mike Fisher, Colin Wilson and Craig Smith – but Pittsburgh has taken more than their share of lumps, and someone has always stepped up to make a difference.
Some nights, it was goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, who was spectacular through the early rounds and arguably their most valuable player, that helped the Pens get by. Other nights, it was Rust and rookie winger Jake Guentzel, who’ve combined to score five game-winning goals. Other nights, it was performances like the ones Schultz put up in Pittsburgh's Game 7 double-overtime win against Ottawa Thursday: a goal and an assist, 41 shifts, more than 24 minutes of ice time. And other nights, it was the three-headed hydra of Crosby, centre Evgeni Malkin and winger Phil Kessel – all of them dynamic playmakers, all of them terrific play-finishers, all combining for 63 points en route to Pittsburgh winning the Eastern Conference championship.
All of which is to say that, despite taking on a Preds team that’s looked dominant for most of their run through the Western Conference, the Penguins will surprise no one if they win the Final and become the first repeat Cup-winners since Detroit did so in 1997 and 1998. Hell, even a return trip to the Final a year after winning it all is an incredibly difficult task. The Red Wings managed that achievement in 2008 and 2009, but prior to that, you’d have to go back to 2000 and 2001, when the New Jersey Devils won a Cup and returned to the Final the following year. (Dallas also did so in 1999 and 2000.)
Those Devils and Stars teams played in the pre-cap era, when it was much easier to keep together successful rosters. Many Cup champs in the cap era almost immediately have to make changes, but that’s another thing that stands out about this Penguins squad: they essentially are the same group. There are a few newcomers, including veteran D-men Ron Hainsey and Mark Streit, and a few youngsters like Guentzel, but otherwise, GM Jim Rutherford has managed to return the team that beat San Jose in five games last year. It will be more difficult to do so this summer, as Fleury almost certainly will move on, either via trade or through the expansion draft. But for now, they’ve got the rare opportunity to bring the greatest trophy in pro sports through their hometowns for two straight summers.
The way the playoffs have unfolded thus far, nobody should bet that won’t happen. But regardless of whether they win this fourth and final round, in simply getting past the physical and emotional rigors of punishing post-season play for two consecutive springs, the Penguins will have proven it’s not impossible to repeat as champions in the cap era. And they’ll have shown cynics – ahem – they’re definitely more than the sum of their parts.
You can't put them up there with Wayne Gretzky's Oilers, Guy Lafleur's Canadiens or Mike Bossy's Islanders just yet, but you can't say the Pens haven't done something spectacular this year. They're on the verge of taking that next step, and that's something to marvel at.