Penguins still set the bar for NHL title contenders
In an era of parity, Crosby’s crew is serious Cup threat
They say that the salary cap has ridden the NHL of dynasties.
They say that league parity has created an anything-goes playoff format of coin flips and remarkable reversals of fortune. How a team like Chicago can miss the playoffs one year and win the Stanley Cup two years later. Or how another team, like Carolina, can go from winning it all to missing the playoffs the following season.
So how is it that the Pittsburgh Penguins, who are closing in on a 14th consecutive playoff appearance, continue to be relevant? More importantly, how are they doing it in a year where they have lost 247 man-games to injury, including two months without their best player and what looks to be the rest of the season without one of their top goal scorers?
“These guys never look for excuses. They just find ways to win games,” Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan said prior to Thursday night’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. “The expectation is that we have enough to win. I believe that.”
It’s tough to argue with Sullivan, there.
Pittsburgh, which recently traded its first-round pick in the upcoming draft as part of the package to acquire Jason Zucker, has been without a first-rounder in five of the past seven years.
But as long as the Penguins have Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin — and they’ve proven it doesn’t have to be both at the same time — they’re always going to be hockey’s version of the New England Patriots.
The last time Pittsburgh missed the playoffs was in Crosby’s rookie season in 2005-06. That was 14 years ago. That’s eight seasons more than the second-longest streak. During that span, they have reached the final four times and won three championships.
There have, of course, been other dynasty teams over that same period. But their reigns haven’t lasted nearly as long.
Chicago won three Cups in six years, while L.A. won in 2012 and 2014. But while both those teams are now eyeing rebuilds or retools, Pittsburgh headed into Thursday’s game first in the Metropolitan Division.
They are not only surviving, they’re thriving. And they are doing it in a season in which Crosby has missed 28 games and linemate Jake Guentzel is likely out for the remainder of the year.
How has the window of opportunity managed to stay wide open for so long? How have they avoided the dreaded rebuild?
“It’s not the same thing every year, so it’s hard to say,” Crosby said. “I think as players there’s high expectations . ...
“At the start of the year, we try to set the standard high.”
The standard is set high because that’s where Crosby has set it. At age 32, he still expects to be the best in the world. And he has the numbers to prove it, having scored 40 points in 30 games this season. But he also demands the same level from his teammates, even if others are constantly trying to write the Penguins off as being too old or not deep enough.
“You could make a point (that the window is closing) based on age and history and things like that. I can see a point for that,” said Crosby. “But there’s always a lot of predictions and projections that aren’t always right, too, so I think regardless of what side of that you’re on, you have to go out there and play.”
Predicting that the Penguins would take a step backward this year was not unfounded after the team was swept in the first round last year. With Phil Kessel traded in the summer as part of a salary dump and with Crosby on the shelf after surgery on a core muscle injury in November, there was talk that Pittsburgh would join L.A. and Chicago on the road to rebuilding.
Instead, the opposite has occurred. Pittsburgh went 18-6-4 in the 28 games Crosby missed, with Malkin scoring 13 goals and 41 points in that span.
So when Guentzel had shoulder surgery in December, the rest of the players simply shrugged. If they could win without Crosby, they could certainly do the same without Guentzel. They just had to dig in and work that much harder. And with Crosby and Malkin both healthy, there’s no reason why Pittsburgh can’t add another title to its dynasty.