Penguins take aim at rare Cup three-peat
Leafs, Jets will also try to end Canada’s 25-year drought
Will the Pittsburgh Penguins create a dynasty with a third straight Stanley Cup or will Winnipeg or Toronto break Canada’s 25-year championship drought? Can Nashville get the job done after losing in last year’s final?
Here are a few of the compelling storylines for the NHL playoffs:
PITTSBURGH DYNASTY?
There had not been a repeat Stanley Cup champion since the 1997 and ’98 Detroit Red Wings before the Penguins did it last year. Pittsburgh has the combination of talent and depth to take a serious run at three in a row, unseen since the New York Islanders won four straight from 1980 to 1983. This team plays top-10 scorers Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel on separate lines and has a devastating 26.2 per cent powerplay scoring rate. Can Crosby tie Patrick Roy’s record with a third Conn Smythe Trophy?
CAN THE JETS SOAR?
Winnipeg looks to have everything this season — skill, size, speed and even solid goaltending. Now they just need to win a playoff game. They were swept by Anaheim in 2015 in their only trip to the post-season since returning to Winnipeg seven years ago. In their previous incarnation before moving to Phoenix in 1996, the Jets got past the first round only twice and never made it to the third round.
GHOSTS OF THE PAST
There are only a handful of Toronto Maple Leafs left from the team that blew a 4-1 lead and lost 5-4 in overtime to Boston in Game 7 of their first-round series the last time they met in the playoffs in 2013. Toronto had done well to battle back from a 3-1 series deficit to force Game 7, but then it all came apart. Patrice Bergeron tied it at 19:09 of the third frame and won it 6:05 into OT. They are both quite different teams now, but Bergeron’s still in Boston.
HUNGRY PREDATORS
The Predators got in as a wild card last spring and went all the way to the final. Now Nashville wants more. The Predators were first overall in the regular season with 117 points. They certainly have the goaltending, defence and depth to make another run. If they win, half of Montreal may lose it when P.K. Subban lifts the Cup.