Penguins A Cup Contender

After watching the Penguins clinch their tenth-consecutive playoff berth with a 5-0 drubbing of the New York Islanders on Saturday, I couldn’t help but reflect on last year. When we squeaked past a woeful Buffalo Sabres squad on the final day of the regular season to literally crawl into the playoffs on our belly.

Remember?

Now we enter the homestretch as the hottest (and perhaps best) team in the National Hockey League. Winners of five in a row. Eleven out of 12. Six-straight on the road, for good measure.

Our scintillating performance harkens back to 2009. The parallels are hard to ignore. Following a moribund start, the team rallied around an energetic young coach to win a Stanley Cup.

Could it happen again this year?

You bet. Here are a few reasons why.

Star Power

For sheer star power, it’s hard to match the Pens’ quartet of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Phil Kessel and Kris Letang. Indeed, the fabulous foursome boasts of skills and attributes that less gifted clubs can only dream about.

They’re lighting it up, too. Sid earned the NHL’s First Star for March while pacing the locals to a 12-4 record. Letang’s been magnificent, piling up minutes and points (a career-best 62) in Norris Trophy proportions. With six goals in his past nine games, Kessel’s come on like gangbusters at just the right time.

Don’t forget Marc-Andre Fleury. Often overlooked, “Flower” won eight of nine starts to go with a sterling 1.98 GAA. Along the way, he outdueled more heralded counterparts Braden Holtby and Henrik Lundqvist.

Depth

The Pens have been rocked by injuries, especially of late. Malkin, Fleury and defensive stalwart Olli Maatta presently are on the shelf, along with Kevin Porter, Scott Wilson and rookie sparkplug Bryan Rust.

Our boys just close ranks and keep comin’. That’s because general manager Jim Rutherford assembled a deep team. The kind we haven’t seen in the Steel City for a number of years.

Take the defense, for example. When Ben Lovejoy was hurt in February, Ian Cole returned from a month-long exile to plug the gap. Quite capably, too. In 21 games since his return, Cole’s recorded eight assists and a plus-14.

Lovejoy stepped back in when Maatta went down. The Pens haven’t missed a beat. Derrick Pouliot played really well when called upon. He can’t break into the regular rotation, partly because newcomer Justin Schultz has done such a good job.

That’s what I call depth.

Reminds me of ’91 and ’09 when the black and gold had players like Randy Hillier and Philippe Boucher waiting in the wings.

Speed

Speed thrills. It kills. And it, most profoundly, enables the Pens to dominate opposing teams.

Adversaries like Washington, Philadelphia, the Rangers and Islanders have melted in the face of the Pens’ blitzkrieg attack. Burners like Carl Hagelin, Kessel and Rust routinely turn foes into a collection of uniformed pylons with their blazing speed.

It brings to mind a Gary Roberts lament from the ‘08 Finals. After the Pens were dominated by the lightning-fast Red Wings in Games 1 and 2, a frustrated Roberts griped, “You use up so much energy trying to find the puck, that by the time you get it you’re exhausted.”

The same goes for our present-day Pens. They don’t allow opponents room to breathe.

Passion

When Mike Sullivan assumed the coaching reins from Mike Johnston on December 12, he inherited a troubled team. It was reflected in the Pens’ often pallid performances. Not to mention an unusually quiet bench.

And now? Players are animated and focused. Thanks in no small part to Sullivan’s influence, the team’s work rate is fantastic. Kids like Tom Kuhnhackl and Conor Sheary fling themselves after loose pucks, pouring out every ounce of energy, every shift.

Their exuberance and hunger is contagious. Crosby looks like “the Kid” of old. Matt Cullen skates like he’s 29, not 39. Chris Kunitz is flying, too. Everyone, from crease-crashing Patric Hornqvist to callow Oskar Sundqvist, works his tail off.

Opponents are laboring to keep pace.

Coaching

In light of our recent success, it’s easy to forget how disorganized the Penguins looked under Johnston.

Lacking rhythm, pace and flow, the Pens struggled at times to connect on a single pass, let alone the series of short, tape-to-tape passes MJ prescribed. Puck support—especially in the offensive zone—was virtually nonexistent.

Man, have things changed. Again, credit Sullivan. He tore out the defensive restraining bolts that had superstars Crosby and Letang mired in quick-drying cement. His up-tempo approach re-ignited the offense to the tune of 150 goals since New Year’s Eve. An average of 3.57 goals per game. Incendiary by today’s NHL standards.

Sullivan’s a whiz on match-ups, too.

Is a Stanley Cup a certainty? Hardly. To paraphrase an old Beatles tune, the playoffs are a long and grinding road. Although we’ve had our way with them, our Metro Division rivals could present a significant road block. Washington, in particular, surely will employ a hammer-and-tongs approach in an attempt to slow our boys down and soften them up.

In the wild, wild West, Dallas would prove a most difficult foe. Chicago, too.

We’ll need all our horses to go the distance. If Fleury and Malkin return hale and healthy? I like our chances.