Hainsey finally tastes playoffs

Defenseman eager for new experience

Penguins defenseman Ron Hainsey didn’t have trouble sleeping the night before his first Stanley Cup playoff game.

“The kids are here,” Hainsey said. “I was ready to sleep by 11.”

So, he was presumably well-rested Wednesday night, when he ended his run as the longest-tenured NHL player without a postseason appearance. Hainsey made his playoff debut in Game 1 against Columbus after 907 regular-season contests over a 14-year NHL career.

“We’re thrilled for him,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said after the team’s morning skate Wednesday. “I think he’s as excited as some of our young guys that it’s a new experience for.”

During his media session Wednesday morning, Hainsey tried his best to make it seem like a regular day at the office — “It feels like Wednesday,” he responded when asked what this day felt like — but admitted this is a day he has been looking forward to, particularly since he joined the Penguins in a February trade from Carolina.

“You try not to look too far ahead, but, certainly, from then on, the team was obviously going to be in the playoffs,” Hainsey said. “It was more a matter of where we finished and who we were playing, things like that. Your mind can definitely wander at that point heading into April.”

The closest Hainsey came to the playoffs before Wednesday was when the Canadiens made it in 2004, his second year in the league, but Hainsey spent most of that season in the AHL and did not see any playoff action.

Fleury in goal

Marc-Andre Fleury — not Matt Murray — started Game 1 of the first-round playoff series against Columbus.

Penguins coach Mike Sullivan had said Wednesday morning that Murray would be the starter, but Murray left midway through warmups and did not return. When the starting lineups were announced, though, Fleury was named the starter in goal.

Tristan Jarry served as his backup, with Murray scratched from the lineup entirely.

Murray last played Thursday in New Jersey, and appeared to experience some discomfort after stopping a breakaway by Taylor Hall late in the game.

Both Sullivan and Murray, though, insisted he was fine after the team’s practice Tuesday.

Murray played 49 games for the Penguins this season, going 32-10-4 with a .923 save percentage. Fleury played 38, going 18-10-7 with a .909 save percentage.

Rivalry already there

The Penguins and Blue Jackets had to do a lot of things to prepare for Game 1.

Stoking their rivalry — and all the passions associate with it — wasn’t on the list.

“Anytime you play anyone in the playoffs, that dislike is going to be there, just because of the intensity of the moment,” Penguins winger Bryan Rust said.

Columbus winger Scott Hartnell and the Penguins probably won’t agree on much during this series, but he echoed Rust’s sentiments.

“The dislike has been there for a few years, the Blue Jackets versus the Pens,” he said.

“Emotions fly high, especially in Game 1. Especially in this building.”

The Penguins and Columbus also met in Round 1 three years ago, and Blue Jackets defenseman Jack Johnson believes postseason showdowns are critical to taking the competition between franchises to the greatest possible height.

“That’s the only way rivalries start, the playoffs,” he said.

“You can’t manufacture rivalries in the regular season.”

Talk about annoying

Hartnell is no stranger to getting under the Penguins skin.

In the first round of the 2012 postseason, Hartnell and his Philadelphia teammates essentially pestered the Penguins enough to get them off their game and knock them out of the playoffs.

So, does Hartnell think the Penguins have matured a bit over the past five years?

“Maybe Sid,” Hartnell said. “He’s not whining all the time.”

Still, even if the Penguins aren’t quite as easy to fluster, Hartnell knows that has to be at least part of the game plan.

“Just kind of getting in his head a little bit,” Hartnell said. “I think that’ll help in this series.

“You’ve got to hit, you’ve got to annoy.”

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