The Pittsburgh Penguins are the first back-to-back Stanley Cup Champions since the Detroit Red Wings in 1997 and 1998. Although the team’s roster was very similar to last year, there were a few new additions to the team in 2016. Many factors play into the reasons they repeated this year but some of the smaller and finer things should not be over looked. Here are some of the details why the Pittsburgh Penguins were back-to-back Stanley Cup Champions:
- Goaltending
Goaltending is arguably the biggest part of the game of hockey and Marc-Ande Fleury’s and Matt Murray are no strangers to the playoffs. Initially, Matt Murray was supposed to be Pittsburgh’s starter for game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Murray ended up getting injured during warm ups and Marc-Andre Fleury stepped in to take over. In prior playoffs, Fleury had not performed to the best of his abilities ever since the Penguins won the Stanley Cup in 2009. Penguin’s fans must have been holding their breaths watching Fleury play Game 1 of the series.
The Penguins came away with a 3-1 win and Fleury would finish the game with 31 saves, a solid outing. Fleury would start for the rest of the series and Pittsburgh would win the series in 5 games, moving on to the second round in Eastern Conference and facing their rivals the Washington Capitals for the second year in a row. The Penguins would lead the series 3 to 1 but the Capitals would tie the series after Fleury gave up 4 goals in game 5 and 5 goals in game 6. But in game 7, Flower (Fleury) would redeem himself and shutout the Capitals leading to a 2-0 Penguins win and a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals to play the Ottawa Senators.
The Penguins and Senators would tie the series at 1 apiece and in game 3, Fleury would give up 5 goals. By this time Matt Murray had already been back on the bench and Coach Mike Sullivan decided to replace Fleury in Game 4. Fleury’s playoffs ended with a 9-6 record, 2 shutouts, a goals against average of 2.56 and save percentage of .924. Murray would help the Penguins win game 4 and beat the Senators in 7 games. In the Stanley Cup final, Murray helped the Penguins win in 6 games and finished the playoffs with a record of 7-3 with 3 shutouts, a goals against average of 1.70 and a save percentage of .935. Both goaltenders played exceptionally well and kept their team in the game. This is probably the number one reason why the Penguins won the cup.
- Chemistry
The Penguins suffered many injuries during the regular season and playoffs and still managed to win the Stanley Cup with guys that are second and third year players. There were changes in the lineups but somehow the Penguins managed to make them work. Players like Jake Guentzel, Scott Wilson, Bryan Rust, and Carter Rowney made the most of their opportunities playing for the Penguins and made their line mates better. Mike Sullivan knew who played the best, with whom and at what position. Even though the HBK line was not even used once during the Stanley Cup Final, Sullivan managed to create lines that played both sides of the ice, offensively and defensively. Of course, it helped that some of these guys got to play with Sidney Crosby and Evgen Malkin. In the end, Sullivan must have created a strong bond between his skaters with team building activities in the locker room.
- Officiating
There is no question that officiating during the Stanley Cup Finals was suspect with one of the worst displays of officiating out of any final in the history of the NHL. In game 1, P.K. Subban was robbed of a goal and the Predators were robbed of a 1-0 lead. The Penguins challenged the goal claiming the Predators entered the offensive zone offside. The replay showed Filip Forsberg in control of the puck, entering the zone. The puck was in the zone first with one of Forsberg’s skates crossing the blue line and the other skate behind the blue line. This is a good play and Forsberg should have been considered onside. Instead, the officials said he was offside and took the goal away resulting in a momentum shift. Immediately thereafter, Pittsburgh would score three goals in the first period and go on to win the game 5-3. Another moment of poor officiating was in game 6. In the second period, Filip Forsberg shot a puck which Murray saved glove side but it came loose and Colton Sissons poked it in the net. The goal did not count because of any early whistle which was ridiculous because Murray never had control of the puck. The Penguins eventually won 2-0 after scoring a late goal that would have been the tying goal, then an empty netter late in the game. Overall, the officiating in this Cup final was nothing short of horrific.
