Fab 15: Pens not satisfied
Mike Sullivan insisted the Pittsburgh Penguins would take a minute to enjoy clinching their 15th straight playoff berth, the longest active streak in major North American professional sports. Not really.
The postgame routine following Thursday night’s 5-4 overtime win against Washington that assured the Penguins of a chance to compete for the Stanley Cup went much like the postgame routine of the 32 victories this season that came before it. A quick talk from Sullivan. A brief moment to exhale. And that was it.
“I’m proud of the group for working as hard as they have to solidify a playoff spot, but certainly that’s not where it ends,” Sullivan said Friday. “This is where the real fun starts.”
It’s the kind of “fun” in which the Penguins have become a fixture for a decade and a half. The kind of “fun” that will serve as the ultimate arbiter on how 2021 is judged. The kind of “fun” Pittsburgh seems ready for despite a series of injuries to high-profile players that have thrust unlikely contributors briefly into the spotlight.
Thirty different players have recorded at least one point for the Penguins this season. Twenty-five have scored a goal, including players like fourthline forward Frederick Gaudreau, who picked up the fifth of his career in the victory over the Capitals that thrust Pittsburgh into a tie for first place in the hotly contested East Division.
The Penguins are in the mix with five games to go, even with star center Evgeni Malkin out since mid-March with a lowerbody injury. Malkin’s absence is one of several to high-profile players that have forced Sullivan to get creative putting together his lineups. Yet nearly everyone who has made it over the boards and onto the ice has found a way to contribute.
Rookie defenseman Pierre Olivier-Joseph was a revelation when the 21-year-old found himself pressed into action after injuries devastated the blue line in January. Undrafted forward Radim Zohorna — all 6-feet-6 of him — joined the likes of Hall of Fame owner Mario Lemieux when he found the back of the net on his first NHL shot in a victory over Buffalo last month.
Defenseman Mike Matheson — acquired in an offseason trade that sent two-time Stanley Cup winner Patric Hornqvist to Florida — credited the example set by Malkin, captain Sidney Crosby and defenseman Kris Letang.
“You don’t want to let them down,” Matheson said. “They make you raise your level to catch up to them.”
A level that’s carried the trio to three Stanley Cup titles. A level all three know is required if they want to make a serious run at a fourth.
Perhaps that’s why the celebration was so muted. Sure, clinching was an important step. But it was just one.
“The natural state of mind as a player is you’re never really satisfied until you get to the ultimate goal,” Matheson said. “As much as it’s not a normal thing for me to come to the last week or two into the season having clinched a playoff spot, that’s a great feeling ... but we’re chasing a much bigger goal than just making the playoffs.”