The Penguins never had some sort of magical hold over the Washington Capitals. They never thought the Capitals were somehow overdue to beat them.
None of that, however, eases the sting of their six-game defeat in this year's second-round series. It was just the second time in franchise history that the Penguins had lost to the Capitals in postseason play after beating them in nine of the 10 previous playoff clashes.
Moreover, when Evgeny Kuznetsov scored on a breakaway in overtime of Game 6 it derailed — at least for now — the Penguins' dynasty after beating Washington the last two springs en route to the Stanley Cup.
Does losing to the eventual Stanley Cup champion help soften the blow? Not the slightest, says Jim Rutherford.
"There's no consolation," the general manager told DKPittsburghSports.com. "When you lose, you lose. It's disappointing."
Though not as deep or as skilled as in year's past, at least on paper, Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals finally managed to end 44 years of playoff futility this spring by winning the franchise's first championship after not advancing past the second round in 20 years. They overcame an early two-game deficit against Columbus, they vanquished their demons of playoffs past against Pittsburgh, they ousted heavily-favored Tampa Bay by winning Game 7 on the road and then ended Marc-Andre Fleury and Vegas' Cinderella story in just five games.
And, as it turns out, the Capitals did so with some significant injuries to key contributors.
During their locker room cleanout Thursday, Nick Backstrom revealed that he missed four games in the Penguins series after a Justin Schultz shot broke his right index finger. Andre Burakovsky, who didn't play in the Pittsburgh series, had two broken thumbs. Brooks Orpik had the tip of his left pinkie severed off after taking an Erik Haula slash in Game 2 of the Cup Final (it was re-attached), while Kuznetsov played through a shoulder injury suffered that same game from a Brayden McNabb hit.
"I give Washington credit, they were the best team," Rutherford said. "It all came together for them at the right time. They had a rested goalie that made timely saves and their top players played a complete game. They deserved to win the Cup.
"But when you lose and you feel that you have a good enough team to ultimately win, there's no consolation."