HISTORY ONCE AGAIN FAVOURS PENGUINS
Pittsburgh adds to storied NHL annals with Cup berth at the expense of Senators
The Pittsburgh Penguins’ home stage is larger than life.
The history is here, there and everywhere. After a tremendous battle against the gutsy and game Ottawa Senators in a 3-2 Game 7 double-overtime victory here Thursday, the Penguins have a shot at a second straight Stanley Cup, their fifth in franchise history.
The Chris Kunitz goal fits into the script.
Enter the PPG Paints Arena a certain way and you can’t miss the infamous “Badger” Bob Johnson quote — “it’s a great day for hockey” — scrawled on the wall.
The legendary Johnson coached the Penguins to their first of four Stanley Cup titles in 1991 before dying of brain cancer a few short months later.
His memory has lived on. And all around the building, there are also ready reminders of all the superstars in the Penguins’ rich history: Mario Lemieux, Ron Francis, Paul Coffey, Bryan Trottier, Larry Murphy, Mark Recchi, Tom Barrasso.
Over here is a picture of Scotty Bowman, who took over from Johnson and coached the Penguins to their 1992 Stanley Cup. Over there, it’s Jaromir Jagr, who will take his place in hockey’s shrine once he finally stops playing.
Lemieux’s retired No. 66 also hangs from the rafters along with the Penguins’ four Stanley Cup banners. If you take a stroll from the visitors’ dressing room toward the Penguins’ room, you can’t miss Suite 66, the players lounge that offers yet another reminder of the history and the mural that includes the former greats and the current ones. During the Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin era, the Penguins have two Cups, including the one they claimed last June, and they’ve been to the final three times. And then there was that small matter of the 7-0 thrashing the Senators received here in Game 5.
All that came into play when the puck dropped in front of the ear-splittingly loud and proud crowd full of gold.
“It is an intimidating building to be in, I’m not going to lie,” Senators centre Zack Smith said beforehand. “They are the defending Stanley Cup champions. There are a lot of good players out there. They are the best team we’ve played. And a lot of people didn’t expect us to be here.”
The Senators beat the injurydepleted Boston Bruins in the first round and skated past the odds to defeat the New York Rangers in the second round.
Senators coach Guy Boucher wanted his squad to try to play within a bubble, doing whatever they could to block out the noise coming from the seats.
If the players trusted in their style — the system that has drawn the “boring” label — Boucher insisted they would give themselves a legitimate shot.
“We don’t want to have to focus on doing something new and extraordinary,” he said.
The Senators lived up to that in the first period, suffocating the Penguins for much of the fastpaced opening 20 minutes.
There were no goals, but one thing became crystal clear: There was going to be no repeat of Sunday’s blowout.
The plan was to keep the crowd from becoming a factor early.
It was still loud in the building, but a degree of anxiety arrived.
When Kunitz finally opened the scoring, beating Senators goaltender Craig Anderson on a two-on-one break 9:55 into the second period, the crowd was back on its feet. The Penguins were in control.
Not so fast. The Senators didn’t panic. A mere 20 seconds later, Mark Stone replied. The anxiousness returned to the building, the tension rose.
The Penguins pushed hard in the late stages of the period, a tad unlucky to not find the bouncing pucks in and around Anderson, but the Senators also came close on a power play late in the period.
In the third, the Senators were on their heels, bailed out time and again by Anderson before the Penguins got their break — an interference penalty to Dion Phaneuf.
Justin Schultz found a hole behind Anderson on the power play. The crowd was in full roar, pushing the Penguins to victory.
The Senators wouldn’t give in, climbing back yet again. Left alone at the side of the net, Ryan Dzingel tied the game 2-2 with 5:19 remaining in regulation, finding the puck after Erik Karlsson’s shot bounced off the post and then Penguins goaltender Matt Murray.
Oh, what fun it was in a place so rich with hockey history.
Pittsburgh is not Ottawa. While there’s naturally a sense of surprise in the nation’s capital about the Senators’ impressive run, there’s no shock about the Penguins’ success.
With history comes expectations, an unspoken belief that going deep into the playoffs is almost a given.
Naturally, the town is proud of its Penguins. An afternoon walk around the city Thursday — going north from the arena down toward the infamous steel bridges and to PNC Park and Heinz Field (the picturesque homes of MLB’s Pirates and the NFL’s Steelers) — provided the illustration.
There were countless Crosby, Malkin and Marc-Andre Fleury jerseys and T-shirts on the streets, while buses featured “Go Pens Go” messages.
As afternoon turned to evening, the bars were hopping. With the benefit of an extra happy hour, given the 8 p.m. start, fans were ready to celebrate, optimistic that the Penguins would, yet again, be going back to the final.
Ultimately, they got their wish, ending the Senators’ dream and watching their beloved team go back to the final again. It was, to paraphrase Johnson, a great night for hockey in Pittsburgh.