NHL.com continues its preview of the 2014-15 season, which will include in-depth looks at all 30 teams throughout September.

The Pittsburgh Penguins' recent trend of disappointment in the Stanley Cup Playoffs following an impressive regular season continued in 2013-14, when they were eliminated by the New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference Second Round after holding a 3-1 series lead.

Pittsburgh overhauled its managerial and coaching staffs, along with its lineup, in an effort to break that trend. The Penguins will still have familiar faces Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and Marc-Andre Fleury when they open their season Oct. 9 against the Anaheim Ducks, but not much else is the same.

Second-line forwards James Neal and Jussi Jokinen have departed and must be replaced. Key defensemen Brooks Orpik and Matt Niskanen are with the Metropolitan Division rival Washington Capitals. Coach Mike Johnston has replaced Stanley Cup-winning coach Dan Bylsma.

NHL.com continues its preview of the 2014-15 season, which will include in-depth looks at all 30 teams throughout September.

The Pittsburgh Penguins have stepped on the ice for the first time under new coach Mike Johnston.

Through the first week of training camp, Johnston's message has been clear. He wants the Penguins conditioned, intense and prepared for a grueling 82-game schedule. That was evident when he had the two camp groups finish their respective Sept. 19 practices with a set of wind sprints that would make Kurt Russell's rendition of Herb Brooks proud.

"[The practice] was high tempo, high intensity," forward Pascal Dupuis said. "There's no messing around out there. It's from one drill to another and you have to act professional, he wants this team to play fast and that's how you have to skate and that's how you have to practice."

NHL.com continues its preview of the 2014-15 season, which will include in-depth looks at all 30 teams throughout September.

There's a reason no Stanley Cup champion has repeated since the Detroit Red Wings in 1997-98.

"It's damn hard," forward Justin Williams said.

It got harder because the rest of the Western Conference upgraded in the offseason. But if there's a team that's poised to pull it off, it's a Kings team that returns everybody except defenseman Willie Mitchell.

"I think some people talk about being satisfied after winning one," defenseman Alec Martinez said. "But personally … it really makes you hungrier. You want to do it again. The amount of fun that you have, just with your teammates, with your family, it's a really special thing and you want to keep doing and do it as many times as you can. It's going to be a tough test, both physically and mentally, but I think we've got a good group in this room that know what to expect and have gone through it once or twice before."

NHL.com continues its preview of the 2014-15 season, which will include in-depth looks at all 30 teams throughout September.

Coming off their most successful season in years, the Montreal Canadiens enter 2014-15 trending upwards. Carey Price, P.K. Subban and Max Pacioretty are entering their peak seasons; veterans Andrei Markov and Tomas Plekanec demonstrated their value during Montreal's run to the Eastern Conference Final in the Stanley Cup Playoffs; and young, homegrown talent abounds in the likes of Alex Galchenyuk, Brendan Gallagher, Michael Bournival, Nathan Beaulieu and Jarred Tinordi.

A Stanley Cup used to be the measure of success for a Canadiens season, but the most recent championship banner was raised to commemorate the 1993 Cup. A generation of fans that has grown up without a championship of its own was supercharged by the excitement generated by a first-round sweep of the Tampa Bay Lightning and an always-satisfying win against the Boston Bruins in the Eastern Conference Second Round.

So however success now is measured in Montreal, it begins with a return trip to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Here are three keys to making that happen:

NHL.com continues its preview of the 2014-15 season, which will include in-depth looks at all 30 teams throughout September.

From the perspective of general manager Marc Bergevin, the Montreal Canadiens are starting with a clean slate despite an extremely successful 2013-14 season that culminated with a run to the Eastern Conference Final.

A six-game loss to the New York Rangers left Montreal achingly close to the team's first appearance in a Stanley Cup Final in 21 years. While Bergevin is proud of his team's accomplishments, his thoughts are focused on the upcoming season.

"We're back to square one now," Bergevin said. "Even though we reached the conference final, it means nothing. It doesn't mean that we start ahead of everybody else other than the Rangers. [The] Washington [Capitals] will be better. I'm going to go all those teams. They're all going to be better. They're all going to try to beat us, so our first goal … is to make the [Stanley Cup] Playoffs. That's reality."

NHL.com continues its preview of the 2014-15 season, which will include in-depth looks at all 30 teams throughout September.

NHL.com continues its preview of the 2014-15 season, which will include in-depth looks at all 30 teams throughout September.

It was Justin Williams' turn to speak during the Los Angeles Kings' Stanley Cup rally at Staples Center, three days removed from a second NHL championship in three seasons. Bob Miller, the Kings' play-by-play man, summoned Williams to the podium with a rousing introduction that featured several nicknames for the Conn Smythe Trophy winner.

Justin Williams

Right Wing - LAK

GOALS: 19 | ASST: 24 | PTS: 43
SOG: 239 | +/-: 14

"I hate that 'Mr. Game 7' nickname. I can't stand it," he said to the crowd with a sheepish smile.

"Yeah, absolutely," Williams said during the NHL Player Media Tour. "I hate it because they kind of postered me up as a Game 7 guy, but our team's success has let me be successful in those games."

With Williams' work in Game 7s -- a 7-0 record, seven goals, a League-record 14 points -- the moniker is more than fitting. But that's generally how it goes with the 32-year-old forward. Try to single him out with praise and he'll find a way to deflect it to those around him, whether it's his teammates, coach, general manager, family, or those who won the Conn Smythe before him.

NHL.com continues its preview of the 2014-15 season, which will include in-depth looks at all 30 teams throughout September.

NEW YORK -- Montreal Canadiens left wing Max Pacioretty has stopped thinking.

Contrary to what he has been told for much of his life, he believes lack of forethought, in this particular case, will be for the better.

“I tend to overthink things," Pacioretty said. "I've had a couple of coaches tell me to just turn off my brain out there; don't think. Whenever I think that I have to score a goal to change a game, I have to get this many points or whatever, I never have success.

"When I just worry about the process and doing the right things, the results end up taking care of themselves. It sounds so cliché, but for me it really is on point with how I have had success."

The New York Islanders are ready to return to Barclays Center in Brooklyn before moving there full-time next season.

The Islanders on Friday will play their second annual preseason game in the arena against the New Jersey Devils.

"It's something a lot of us are looking forward to," Islanders forward Colin McDonald said. "There may not be as much talk or as much hype in the room about this one. Everyone wants to play there though."

MONTREAL -- The Colorado Avalanche are a study in contradictions.

The Avalanche won the Central Division, arguably the toughest in the NHL last season, while finishing in the bottom half of the League in shots on goal per game (20th) and shots on goal against per game (25th). In fact, no team that qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs allowed more than the 32.7 shots on goal per game the Avalanche did, and three of the 16 playoff teams took fewer shots on goal per game.

Colorado has become a popular choice of the hockey analytics community for a regression this season because of the poor shot metrics, yet the Avalanche are built around a number of prime, young talents who are progressing in their NHL career.

The word "regression" is not the first one that jumps to mind when you think of Nathan MacKinnon (19 years old), Gabriel Landeskog (21), Matt Duchene (23), Ryan O'Reilly (23), Tyson Barrie (23), Erik Johnson (26) or Semyon Varlamov (26).