The Penguins will begin defense of their back-to-back Stanley Cups when Philadelphia visits PPG Paints Arena Wednesday evening for Game 1 of the opening round.
Consecutive championships have become rare in the NHL — the Penguins are the first team to earn two in a row since Detroit in 1997 and 1998 — and no franchise has strung together three since the New York Islanders ran off four from 1980 to 1983.
Here’s a position-by-position look at the three Penguins teams that have won Cups during the past decade, showing how they compare to the 2017-18 club that will be trying to add another chapter to the franchise’s legacy:
GOALIES
2009 — Marc-Andre Fleury sealed the Penguins’ 2-1 victory in Game 7 of the Cup final by denying Detroit defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom as time was about to expire. He earned all 16 of the team’s postseason victories, as backup Mathieu Garon faced just eight shots in 24 minutes, 20 seconds of playing time in his only playoff appearance.
2016 — The playoffs had an unexpected — and unwelcome — start when third-stringer Jeff Zatkoff was forced to play Games 1 and 2 of the first round against the New York Rangers because Fleury was recovering from a concussion and Matt Murray, his rookie backup, was a late scratch for Game 1 after suffering a head injury in the regular-season finale. Zatkoff responded with a 35-save victory in the opener, then returned to his seat at the far end of the bench when Murray came back for Game 3.
Love our Penguins coverage? Consider subscribing.
Support journalism. Subscribe today.
2017 — Fleury and Murray gave the Penguins a tandem with few, if any, equals, and it showed as Fleury was credited with their first nine playoff victories, while Murray earned the final seven. Fleury temporarily assumed the No. 1 job at the start of the playoffs after Murray was injured during warm-ups before the first game against Columbus.
2018 —The Penguins enter the playoffs with a backup, Casey DeSmith, who never has faced a shot in the Stanley Cup playoffs. While that might seem like — and might actually be — cause for concern, it also was the case in 1991, when Frank Pietrangelo was No. 2 behind Tom Barrasso, and 2016, when injuries to Fleury and Murray bumped Zatkoff into the lineup.
DEFENSEMEN
2009 — Sergei Gonchar anchored a solid group on the blue line, leading Penguins defensemen in points (14) and average time on ice (23:02). Defense-oriented guys like Brooks Orpik, Rob Scuderi and Hal Gill were the backbone of the unit, while Kris Letang and Mark Eaton contributed at both ends.
2016 — Letang pretty much lapped the rest of the defense in some categories — he put up 15 points in 24 games and averaged 28:52 of ice time — and, in the process, set the standard by which his future performances would be measured. The Penguins had to play the final against San Jose without Trevor Daley, who’d sustained a broken ankle during the Eastern Conference final against Tampa Bay.
2017 — Justin Schultz picked up much of the offensive slack created when Letang had to sit out the entire postseason because of a herniated disk in his neck, accumulating 13 points. Largely overlooked was that Ian Cole, best known for his defensive work/penalty-killing, matched Schultz’s defense-leading total of nine assists.
2018 — Avoiding, or at least limiting, major injuries will be imperative, because the Penguins have less depth on their blue line than at any time in recent seasons, with reliable veterans such as Daley and Cole out of the mix. The onus will be on Letang to consistently elevate his game after having an up-and-down regular season.
CENTERS
2009 — The group featuring Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal and Max Talbot certainly did nothing to undermine the adage about strength down the middle being critical to winning a Cup. Talbot, a fourth-liner, underscored that by recording both of the Penguins’ goals in their 2-1 victory at Detroit in Game 7 of the Cup final.
2016 — Salary-cap concerns forced the Penguins to deal No. 3 Brandon Sutter after the 2014-15 season, but the guy they got for him from Vancouver, Nick Bonino, proved to be a more-than-capable replacement. He killed penalties, played a responsible two-way game and finished third in playoff scoring behind only Phil Kessel and Sidney Crosby.
2017 — The Crosby-Malkin-Bonino troika was outstanding again, at least until Bonino had his left leg broken by a P.K. Subban shot during Game 2 of the Cup final. And for the second year in a row, Matt Cullen handled fourth-line duties very well, winning faceoffs, killing penalties and contributing an occasional goal or assist.
2018 — General manager Jim Rutherford made a high-risk/high-reward move at the trade deadline, parting with a No. 1 draft choice and promising goalie prospect Filip Gustavsson to bring in Derick Brassard from Ottawa. While his work before being injured late in the regular season was mostly ordinary, Brassard has a reputation for playing his best in high-stakes games and should be a capable fill-in for Crosby or Malkin if either is injured. And fourth-liner Riley Sheahan would not be out of place if forced to move up to the No. 3 unit.
WINGERS
2009 — While there were no game-breaking wingers — Malkin, Crosby and Talbot were the top three playoff goal-scorers — three of Tyler Kennedy’s five goals were game-winners, and Bill Guerin chipped in with a couple of those. One surprise: Craig Adams had more goals (3) in 24 games than Matt Cooke (1), Chris Kunitz (1) and Pascal Dupuis (0) did in a combined 64.
2016 — This time, wingers showed up on the scoresheet in a big way. Kessel led the team with 10 goals and Patric Hornqvist added nine. They were followed by Carl Hagelin (who teamed with Kessel and Bonino on the celebrated HBK Line) and Bryan Rust, who tied Crosby and Malkin for third place with six each.
2017 — Rookie Jake Guentzel broke out in a big way, scoring a team-best 13 goals, no fewer than five of them game-winners. Although Kessel was held to eight goals, his 15 assists were more than any teammate except Crosby (19) or Malkin (18).
2018 — With the likes of Kessel, Hornqvist and Rust working on right wing, the Penguins should be able to count on steady production from that position. What they get from Guentzel, Conor Sheary and Hagelin on the left side could be a key variable in determining how long their playoff run lasts.
SPECIAL TEAMS
2009 — Malkin (7) and Crosby (5) accounted for all but eight of the team’s 20 power-play goals during the postseason. Their lone shorthanded goal of the playoffs, by Jordan Staal in Game 4 of the Cup final against Detroit, triggered a three-goal outburst that allowed them to even the series.
2016 — The Penguins had a better-than-average power play (23.4 percent), including a playoffs-best five goals by Kessel, and penalty-killing (85.1 percent) in 24 postseason games.
2017 — Kessel led the playoffs for the second spring in a row with five man-advantage goals, while the penalty-killing had a postseason success rate, 81.6 percent, that was just the 11th-best in the league.
2018 — The Penguins allowed at least one power-play goal in 11 of their final 14 regular-season games, the kind of trend that, if it continues, could bring their title defense to a premature end. It helps that their power play was the NHL’s most efficient in 2017-18 while their first-round opponent, Philadelphia, had the worst penalty-killing of any team that qualified for the playoffs.
NOTEWORTHY
2009 — The Penguins won the third championship in franchise history a year after losing in the Cup final (to Detroit, in six games) for the only time to date.
2016 — Fourth-line winger Tom Kuhnhackl killed penalties, but didn’t take any. He had zero penalty minutes in 24 playoff appearances.
2017 — The Penguins reached the final for the second year in a row, extending the trend of having all of their trips to the championship round come in back-to-back seasons.
2018 — The Penguins finished with a 17-20-4 mark in away games. They also had a losing record on the road during the regular season en route to Cups in 1990-91 (16-21-3) and 1991-92 (18-19-3), but had just 15 away defeats during each of their past three title-winning seasons.
Dave Molinari: Dmolinari@Post-Gazette.com and Twitter @MolinariPG
First Published: April 9, 2018, 2:25 p.m.