Penguins primed for title defense
Forget about past history and playoff experience. The Pittsburgh Penguins insist those things won’t matter when the puck drops tonight in Game 1 of their first-round series against Columbus Blue Jackets.
So what if the Penguins have twice as many Stanley Cups (four) as the Blue Jackets have postseason wins (two)? Sure, it looks nice in a trophy case, but those things are designed to celebrate the past.
Pittsburgh believes it will also have zero impact on the present when the defending Cup champions take on their upstart Metropolitan Division rivals in a showdown between the teams that finished the regular season with the second- and fourth-best records in the league.
“I think you start fresh,” said Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, who led the NHL with 44 goals. “The fact we have a lot of guys coming back, that helps as far as trust and belief, but everybody starts from scratch here.”
The Blue Jackets are familiar with the concept, churning through nine coaches and two playoff appearances since entering the league in 2000. They finally have something under John Tortorella that seemed nearly impossible: momentum and swagger.
“There’s something building here,” forward Scott Hartnell said. “The last couple years were tough, but what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. I believe in everyone here, and I think we have a fighting chance.”
With the emphasis on fighting. Where the Penguins focus on speed, Columbus would just as soon mix it up, a study in contrast that could provide the most compelling series during the opening round of the playoffs.
The Penguins received a boost yesterday when AllStar center Evgeni Malkin was cleared to play after missing the final three-plus weeks of the season with an upper-body injury.
Elsewhere in the NHL — Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Michal Rozsival has undergone surgery to repair facial fractures and will miss the start of the postseason. Rozsival was injured when Anaheim’s Nick Ritchie punched him last week. Ritchie was suspended for two games.