PITTSBURGH – There was a time when we thought every spring here would look and feel this way.
After the Pittsburgh Penguins reached the Stanley Cup Final twice before Sidney Crosby’s 22nd birthday – not to mention Evgeni Malkin’s 23rd – it was basically accepted wisdom in the hockey world.
That the seven years between then and now haven’t gone to plan helps explain what you saw at Consol Energy Center on Thursday night. Pure, unfettered emotion. The release of so much frustration and tension and maybe even a little deeply buried doubt.
The Penguins are going to play for another championship. Finally.
“You know, it’s not easy,” said Crosby. “Having gone through a couple of those early on, at 20 and 21 years old playing in the final, I think you have more of an appreciation for it now. Just love the opportunity to be able to get back.”
The manner in which they got there should make it all the more satisfying. This team wasn’t even in a playoff position when coach Mike Sullivan was hired on Dec. 12 and yet by May 26 they left absolutely no doubt that they were the class of the Eastern Conference.
Their path here took them through a frustrating foe in the New York Rangers in Round 1. Then they knocked off the Presidents’ Trophy winners, Washington, in Round 2.
That left Tampa Bay, the defending conference champions, and the Penguins had to pull out of a 3-2 series hole to earn the right to face the San Jose Sharks.
When the do-or-die game arrived on Thursday, they were ready. The Penguins outshot Tampa 39-17 – making it 269-178 overall for the series – and managed to keep their heads through a hair-rising final period to secure a 2-1 win.
“That effort was the best we had over the whole playoffs,” said Penguins winger Patric Hornqvist.
“We wanted to be perfect for 60 (minutes) against them,” added teammate Ben Lovejoy. “We weren’t perfect, but we were close.”
It was rookie winger Bryan Rust that delivered both goals in the deciding game while rookie goaltender Matt Murray stopped 16 shots in his 28th career NHL appearance. They are two of the new faces that have helped push this group of top-level talent over the top.
Crosby was a monster at both ends of the rink in this Game 7 and Malkin, his longtime partner in crime, found another gear as well. The Russian guaranteed victory before the Penguins headed to Tampa for Game 6 and picked up three assists over the final two games.
However, what will ultimately define this group is the way it reacted after a dreadful start to the season that saw Mike Johnston replaced by Sullivan before Christmas.
They have become a resilient bunch. Playoff-ready, you might say.
“In the first meeting we had with them, I said to the group: ‘I think we have great players; our challenge is to become a great team,'” said Sullivan. “If we can do that, that’s how you win in this league. I think, to their credit, they have become a team in the truest sense of the word.”
The turnaround started in increments and went to another level when they steamrolled through March, finishing the regular season with 14 wins in 16 games despite missing Malkin to injury.
Malkin himself has pinpointed that at the period where he felt the Stanley Cup might be within reach. He wasn’t alone.
“Going into the playoffs with this team I don’t think that anyone didn’t think that we couldn’t win a Stanley Cup,” defenceman Ian Cole said in an exuberant winning dressing room on Thursday night.
Some of the doubts from years past were erased with all of the turnover in personnel. Phil Kessel, Nick Bonino and Carl Hagelin – arguably their most effective line in these playoffs – have all been acquired in trades over the last year.
It’s given new life to the veterans.
“I think we all know, the guys that were in here, we should have maybe been at this point more,” said Kunitz. “But whatever the reason is, now we’re back.”
Crosby was among those who believed a long playoff run would become a rite of spring in this city. There was no crystal ball to be found the night he lifted the Stanley Cup at Joe Louis Arena in 2009 – no hint of his concussion issues and the occasional spring of bad Penguins goaltending or bad luck or underperformance to come.
All of that history made for a carnival-like atmosphere at this Game 7, one where Lightning captain Steven Stamkos dramatically returned after missing eight weeks following surgery for a blood clot.
But it was the Penguins who embraced the moment. They pushed the pace and were diligent with the puck and had this building shaking on its foundation for the final five minutes.
“I thought it was incredible,” said Sullivan. “The third period, it was electric. It was the loudest that I’ve heard a building in all the years that I’ve been associated with this league, to the point where we had to scream to the players on who was up next.”
The decibel level went up after the final buzzer sounded and Crosby was called up to accept the Prince of Wales Trophy from deputy commissioner Bill Daly. Most teams are reluctant to touch it, but there was never a doubt the Penguins captain was going to grab it with two hands.
That’s what Mario Lemieux did in 1991 and ’92, and what Crosby did in 2009.
“It’s gone well when we’ve touched it here,” said Crosby.
Part of his thought process was also being sure to savour the moment – at least for one night. Then he’ll start focusing on the Sharks.
“It wasn’t easy getting to this point,” said Crosby. “So it would be great to finish off the right way.”
