Penguins know experience ‘doesn’t guarantee anything’
PITTSBURGH — The dynasty that once appeared so certain is again in the offing for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Four victories against the Nashville Predators in the Stanley Cup Final would make Pittsburgh the first franchise to win backto-back championships in nearly 20 years and the first in the parity-driven era of the salary cap. It would give stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin their third Cup, one more than their boss — owner Mario Lemieux — earned during his Hall of Fame career and check off whatever boxes remain unchecked for a duo that is becoming one of the most accomplished in NHL history.
Yet for all the resiliency the Penguins have shown during their injury-marred title defense, they are taking nothing for granted heading into Monday’s Game 1.
Not their home-ice advantage. Not their massive edge in Stanley Cup Final experience (156 games vs. just five for the Predators, all by captain Mike Fisher while playing for Ottawa a decade ago). Not their ability under coach Mike Sullivan to thrive under the pressure that once seemed to crush them.
“I think the fact that a lot of guys went through it last year and they can draw from that experience is good,” Crosby, 29, said. “But it doesn’t guarantee anything.”
Certainly not against the well-rested Predators.
One of the last teams to qualify for the playoffs is now the last one standing between the Penguins and another parade in downtown Pittsburgh. Just don’t call Nashville the underdog. The Predators have hardly played like one while beating Chicago in a lopsided four-game sweep then outrunning St. Louis and out lasting Anaheim to reach the Cup finals for the first time.
“I know we were the eighth seed, but we didn’t feel like a group that we were,” Fisher said.
Now the guys from the place that calls itself“Smash ville” have a chance to bring the Cup to a place that is hardly a hockey hotbed as Carolina did 11 years ago.
“This year, we were kind of mediocre in the standings, and maybe that’s what we needed just to come into the playoffs not really caring about home ice or who we were playing but just knowing comfortably and confidently as a team we could be in this position,” said Predators defenseman P.K. Subban.
That’s a position the Penguins have become increasingly comfortable in under Sullivan. The core that Crosbyand Mal kin led to the Cup in 2009 went through seven frustrating and fruitless springs before returning to the top in 2016.
“I think that it’s a tough road no matter how you get here,” Crosby said. “We found ways all season long and, in the playoffs, we’ve found ways. We’ve had that same mentality, and that’s helped us. I think that’s kind of been our biggest strength.”