This is not the same Penguins team, and this has not been an easy run for Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and their running mates.
But once again, they are in the Stanley Cup final, four wins away from back-to-back titles and hoisting their third Cup in the past eight years. With Game 1 on Monday night in Pittsburgh, the team that stands in the way of the Penguins further cementing their legacy is the upstart Predators, the club from the non-traditional market with exuberant superstar P.K. Subban that has so shockingly carved its way through the Western Conference.
And as exciting as Music City will be when Game 3 is played there Saturday night, this best-of-seven series is still all about the Penguins. If the storyline seems tired, this one is a little different, with many more bumps in the road through the first three rounds than there have been in the past.
“It’s been a really hard playoffs,” coach Mike Sullivan said after his team needed double-overtime to beat the Senators in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference final on Thursday night. “We’re not perfect on some nights by any stretch. But this group of players has a will to win as a group more so than any other group I’ve been around.”
Sullivan has surpassed most outside expectations himself, taking over in the middle of last season and leading the Penguins on a relatively simple run through the weak East that included a five-game, first-round victory over the Rangers. They then beat the Sharks in a six-game final that was fairly anticlimactic.
But this postseason has already been a grind. First, the Pens were playing with top defenseman Kris Letang out four-to-six months after neck surgery in April. Then starting goalie Matt Murray got hurt, keeping him out until Game 3 of the conference final. Former starter Marc-Andre Fleury came in for Game 1 of the first round against the Blue Jackets and played terrific while dispensing Columbus in five games.
That set up the seemingly annual epic second-round matchup with Alex Ovechkin and the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Capitals. And once again, it was Crosby and Co. coming out on top, needing seven hard-fought games but steadfastly keeping Ovechkin from ever getting out of the second round.
The common thought would be that the retooled Rangers would await in the conference final, but they were upset by the Senators in the second round, when Ottawa’s trapping style and opportunistic offense forced the Blueshirts into a handful of late-game meltdowns and a series loss in Game 6.
That made the Senators-Penguins conference final not the showiest matchup imaginable, but it produced some great hockey, including the decisive double-overtime game won by Chris Kunitz. Ottawa coach Guy Boucher proved prescient when he said before his team was blown out 7-0 in Game 5, “We know [the Penguins] are a better team. Everyone knows that on the planet.”
So that is the same sentiment the Penguins bring into this Stanley Cup final, with the Predators having surprised just about everyone to this point. First they swept the Blackhawks in the first round, hardly breaking a sweat with the Chicago team that has won three Cups in the past eight years. Then they dismantled the Blues in six games before running through the Ducks in a very physical six-game conference final.
They’re missing their top center in Ryan Johansen, who had emergency surgery after Game 4 of the conference final after suffering compartment syndrome in his left thigh. Along with Subban, they’re led by a trio of Swedes in Filip Forsberg, Viktor Arvidsson and Mattias Ekholm, as well as 6-foot-5 Finnish goaltender Pekka Rinne.
It certainly is a stern test for the Penguins, and they know it.
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“We’re going to have to get better at playing a 60-minute game,” Kunitz said, “if we’re going to have a chance to beat Nashville.”
It hasn’t come easy for the Penguins this postseason, and it won’t start now with the Stanley Cup on the line.
“I think they have a certain perspective that they understand the opportunity to play this deep and compete for the Stanley Cup doesn’t come around every year,” Sullivan said. “And when it does, when a team like ours puts itself in the position like we have, we have to maximize this opportunity.”
Stanley Cup keys
1. Containing Crosby: The Penguins captain is going to be the best player on the ice, and he can change the tenor of a series with one shift. The Predators defensemen are known more for their offensive prowess, but they have to focus on trying to keep Crosby off the scoresheet.
2. Nashville back end: Nashville has the most talented group of defensemen in the league, with P.K. Subban, Roman Josi and Ryan Ellis leading the way. As much as they need to worry about stopping Crosby, the Penguins need to worry about trying to stop this group from taking over the series.
3. Special teams: Everyone tries to get under the skin of the Penguins, but that almost always leads to foolish penalties — and the Pittsburgh power play is operating at a terrific 25 percent success rate. The Nashville penalty kill is also great at 88.1 percent, so who wins that battle could tip the balance of the series.
Prediction
Brett Cyrgalis
At some point, the Predators are going to come back to earth, right? It’s hard to see them overcoming the experience of the Penguins, but they’re going to push them far.
Pick: Penguins in seven, with three or four games going to overtime.
Larry Brooks
Nashville’s Big Four defense should prove the key factor in this series between conference survivors who are missing key pieces (Kris Letang for the Penguins, Ryan Johansen for the Predators) yet live to talk about it.
Pekka Rinne gives Nashville no less than a saw-off in nets against the Matt Murray/Marc-Andre Fleury tandem. It will be interesting to see whether the officials allow the Predators to punish Sidney Crosby the way the Senators were allowed to abuse the league’s signature star.
Pick: Nashville in six.