The Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the San Jose Sharks in six games on Sunday night to win its fourth Stanley Cup in its illustrious history.
Before this season, many wondered if the Sidney Crosby era would be left unfulfilled. He has had tremendous individual success, winning multiple Art Ross Trophies, Hart Trophies, Ted Lindsay Awards and a Maurice Richard Trophy, all before the age of 27. He also won a Stanley Cup in just his third year in the league.
With an abundance of accolades, and a star-studded cast, which includes another two-time Art Ross winner and Hart Trophy recipient Evgeni Malkin, critics have questioned Crosby’s character, leadership and will to win. It was seven years to the day since the Penguins last played for Lord Stanley. June 12, 2009, the Penguins defeated the Detroit Red Wings in seven games, with a cast of fresh-faced, surefire superstars, barely old enough to grow facial hair. While Crosby’s beard is still questionable, this Penguins team is no fluke. They are the real deal, and they beat an unbelievably snake-bitten and hungry San Jose Sharks team.
The storylines heading into the finals were abundant. This Sharks team, with playoff failure after playoff failure, finally shook off the curse that has plagued the core of this team for the better part of a decade. On the other side, long-time Maple Leafs scapegoat Phil Kessel, who was run out of town by the Toronto media, finally got a shot to play for the Cup. He was called fat, lazy and a coach killer. These are two teams that had not lived up to expectations, facing off for all the marbles. The script for these finals was dramatic, and it was never ending. The pain for the two cornerstone players for the Sharks was a near two-decade-long process.
Between center Joe Thornton and winger Patrick Marleau, they have 34 years of NHL experience. After going first and second overall in the 1997 NHL draft, the two have terrorized the league year after year, while representing team Canada for the Olympics. Neither Jumbo Joe nor Marleau have ever made it to the Stanley Cup finals. These veterans have each put in 18 years of service to the league, and for the first time, finally had the chance to lift the cup—except they ran into a red-hot Penguins team.
Head Coach Mike Sullivan’s Penguins blitzed the Eastern Conference Finalist Tampa Bay Lightning every game, putting 91 more pucks on net than Tampa throughout the series. For reference, that is more than three games worth of shots. The overwhelming volume of shots continued for Pittsburgh, as they out shot the Sharks in each game, amassing a plus 67 differential.
Martin Jones, the Sharks goaltender, who faced questions as to whether or not he could perform as a starting goalie throughout the year, was MVP worthy throughout the duration of the series. At times, he single handedly lifted his team to victories. Joe Thornton and fellow superstar Joe Pavelski, who coming into the series was the leading goal scorer in the playoffs, were quiet, totaling just one empty-net goal. The Sharks’ true standout offensively was Logan Couture. After an injury-riddled season, Couture rattled off 30 points in just 24 playoff games, which is a historic total among active players. Only Crosby (31) and Malkin (36) have scored more in one postseason, and Crosby and Malkin’s totals came with their previous Cup win back in 2009.
So what was the Sharks’ downfall this time around? This Sharks team was good. Really, really good. They smacked around a powerhouse LA Kings team, who many picked to go to the finals, in just five games. They overcame a scrappy Nashville team in seven games. They dominated perhaps the strongest St. Louis team to ever take the ice. So what went wrong?
The Western Conference has developed into a heavy, hard-hitting, smash mouth brand of hockey. Penguins’ general manager Jim Rutherford added forwards Phil Kessel and Carl Hagelin, who may be the two fastest men in the NHL. He called up lightning-fast forwards Bryan Rust and Conor Sheary as the injury bug bit the Penguins. The emphasis was clear:speed, speed, speed. The Penguins circled the waters around Martin Jones for lengthy stretches of the series, using the speed-designed forward core to the best of its ability. The Penguins’ relatively no-name defensive core was outstanding too, holding San Jose, with its backs to the wall, to just two shots in the final period of the playoffs as they trailed 2-1 until Pens winger Patric Hornqvist scored an empty-netter off of a blocked shot by none other than Sidney Crosby.
San Jose had difficulty creating turnovers in the offensive zone because of how quickly the Penguins were able to advance the puck. The advantage of having a shifty, fleet-footed defenseman like Kris Letang was apparent. Letang was tremendous all series long, and he had the shift of his life on his game-winning goal in game 6, as he pirouetted around the entire San Jose team.
Each team had several heroes worthy of the Conn Smythe Trophy, the award for playoff MVP. Penguins Captain Sidney Crosby ended up winning, putting up 19 points and contributing with his endless list of intangibles. Crosby scored three game-winning goals versus Tampa Bay, and orchestrated the entire play on the game-winning overtime goal in game 2 of the finals. This team was going nowhere without the captain leading the ship.
Riding on the back of a rookie goaltender, Matt Murray, who finished the year with more playoff wins than regular season starts, and a deep, four-line team, willing to do anything for the glory, the Penguins took game 6 with a score of 3-1, finishing off a desperate Sharks team in its home arena. The Cup will be coming back to Pittsburgh, and the legacy of Sidney Crosby is just getting started.
From Hall of Famer, Mike Lange: “Get in the fast lane, grandma. The Penguins are the Stanley Cup Champions.”
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