The champs are here.
And if they play anything close to how they did Wednesday night in Game 1 of their first-round series against the Flyers, the two-time defending champions are going to be here for quite a while longer. Who knows? Might even make it three straight years after all.
In Wednesday night's extremely convincing 7-0 win over the Philadelphia Flyers, the Penguins answered quite a few pertinent questions about their ability to keep pucks out of their net.
The goaltending? Matt Murray was in postseason mode, stopping all 24 shots he faced. Guy hasn't given up a goal in his last three playoff games dating back to Game 4 of last year's Cup Final.
The penalty kill? That group not only killed off all four Flyers power plays, they didn't even allow a shot.
But these are the Penguins, after all, and this is a team whose very identity is intrinsically linked to its two biggest offensive superstars and their ability to put pucks in the net.
That would be Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, of course.
Having either one of these generational talents on your team would be an embarrassment of riches, but when you combine both, well, let's just say it's a matchup nightmare for opponents. Derick Brassard, who made his Penguins playoff debut, certainly knows how that goes. He's been on the other side of things before with the Rangers and Senators.
"It's hard to handle when they’re both trying to make a difference," Brassard was saying. He assisted on Jake Guentzel's power play goal in the second period. "Both guys are competing out there and trying to make a difference for their team. It's hard for the other team to match that. If they want to throw their first pair or their checking pair, it’s impossible to defend."
Impossible to defend certainly applies to Crosby's goal at 9:01 of the second period. How was Valtteri Filppula or Brian Elliott supposed to have defended differently here?
Hint: They can't.
Now, we've all seen the captain showcase his legendary hand-eye coordination in recent weeks. He did it against the Canadiens on March 21, when he batted the puck up to himself before depositing it past Carey Price. He did it again on March 29 against the Devils in overtime, firing a puck off the post, and then swatting the carom past Keith Kinkaid.
The one shown above was next-level stuff, though. After Brian Dumoulin's one-timer from the point struck Wayne Simmonds and lofted toward Crosby near the left faceoff circle, Crosby, without looking at Elliott, backhanded the puck out of mid-air and into the net from 18 feet away.
Crosby's explanation?
"I don't know, you go to the net and sometimes they end up there, they don't always go in, so it's great to see them go in," Crosby said. "You have to go to the net this time of year, that's usually where pucks are."
True, but not every player — going out on a limb, no other player — has the ability to do, let alone think up, something like that.
But let's not forget the play beforehand that made it happen. It was Guentzel who made the play possible, winning a race against Andrew MacDonald to a loose puck to feed Dumoulin. That was Guentzel's third point in a career-high four-point night.
Of course, Crosby was only getting started there. Because then he did this at 7:41 of the third against Petr Mrazek, after Elliott had been mercifully lifted:
And then Crosby did this at 10:42 of the third to bring down the house:
The third goal, a slap-pass from Dumoulin, might not be SportsCenter Top 10-worthy, but note the way Crosby opened up his flat stick blade to ramp the puck up and over Mrazek's glove hand and into the top corner. Yep, Crosby goes to the net even with a 6-0 lead.
It was Crosby's third career postseason hat trick — joining May 4, 2009 vs. Washington and May 17, 2013 vs. Ottawa — to tie Mario Lemieux for the most in team history. Career playoff goals No. 58, 59 and 60 also leave Crosby 16 away from matching Le Magnifique for most playoff goals in team history.
Crosby entered the night as the franchise's fourth all-time leading playoff goal-scorer, but he actually surpassed Malkin in-game. Before Crosby's first goal, Malkin's goal at 14:09 of the first period had been the best goal of the night. It might still be, but we'll let you decide:
Again, impossible to defend.
The play started when Carl Hagelin, finishing up a penalty kill of a Malkin penalty, blocked Shayne Gostisbehere's shot, one of 24 shots the Penguins blocked.
Malkin swooped back into the play, took the puck just inside his own blue line and raced Usain Bolt-style down ice, stickhandling past a disinterested Jake Voracek, then blowing past Claude Giroux and driving wide on Gostisbehere. Malkin then lifted a backhanded shot to the far side that beat Elliott just inside the post.
Did Hagelin get to see the fruits of his labor?
"I changed, so not a great view," said the Swede, who had scored four minutes earlier.
That's OK. Kris Letang saw enough of it.
“I saw part of it, and I thought it was already a great play. And then it kept getting greater and greater.” He laughed. “But that’s Geno. That’s what he does.”
That's what both superstar players do.
It's what the Penguins do better than anyone, and it's why they will be a tough out in this year's tournament.
Sure, it was Crosby and Malkin who got the glory, but all those goals were the product of winning battles and blocking shots. "Being a hard team to play against," as Sullivan says.
The skill, the artistry, the you-name-it that Crosby and Malkin displayed in finishing is what makes the Penguins the Penguins.
Not to suggest that there was some sort of one-upmanship among teammates, but it certainly looked that way in Game 1. If there was, who's to argue with the results? Mike Sullivan sure wasn't.
"Highlight goals from elite players," the coach said. "There aren't too many guys that can make those plays. Sometimes we marvel at what they can do."
MATT SUNDAY GALLERY