B2B: Playoffs begin again

This article is an abbreviated excerpt from the book: Pittsburgh Penguins Back-to-Back Champions. This article is part nine of a 12-part series complimenting AT&T SportsNet's
re-airing of the 2016 and '17 Stanley Cup Final victories
by the Penguins. Click
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for AT&T SportsNet's re-air schedule.

Ahead of Game 1 of the First Round against the Columbus Blue Jackets at PPG Paints Arena, as expected, Matt Murray was set to be the starting goaltender with Marc-Andre Fleury as his backup. But then, something happened that was cause for concern: Murray left warmups early.
It was certainly unusual, as goalies probably benefit the most from warmups and usually always stay out. Once Evgeni Malkin, always the last to leave the ice, headed off, the clock on the scoreboard was reset to 18 minutes. That's how long everyone would have to wait to see if Murray would lead the Penguins onto the ice ahead of puck drop, scheduled for 7 p.m.
The videoboard always shows a live shot of the players gathered outside the locker room before they run down the tunnel. Bent over, set and ready to go, was Fleury. It was disclosed later that while making a routine save, Murray had torn his hamstring, to the point where he felt a snap as the muscle separated.
"I remember feeling something kind of tweak on the second drill that we did in warmups," Murray said. "I took the first shot, and I felt a little something. Then I got up and I was moving around, and I was fine. I took another one, made the save, the rebound went to my right. I just went to go push, and about halfway through the push, I just felt something snap. Turned out to be my medial hamstring.
"I tore my hamstring and it kind of felt like something popping in your leg. At first you don't really feel pain, but you feel like you have no strength. I couldn't bring my leg back underneath me, basically. It was just hanging out there. So I just hobbled my way to the bench. I knew something was wrong right away."
He was in no condition to play, and that meant the net was Fleury's.
He skated to it amidst thunderous, goosebump-inducing, spine-tingling cheers from the crowd that had loved him and supported him for so many years. There have been countless amazing moments at PPG Paints Arena since it opened in 2010, but the ovation Fleury received from the fans as he led his team onto the ice will forever be one of the best. We all looked at each other up in the press box, smiling and marveling, unable to even speak to each other because of how loud it was.
"Starting in goal… Number 29… Marc-Andre Fleury!"
As Jeff Jimerson sang the national anthem, Fleury stood between the pipes, shifting from one skate to the other, his face buried into his chest protector, dark hair falling over his eyes, a spotlight shining on the veteran netminder as bright as his signature smile. He would go on to thrive underneath it.

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Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford and head coach Mike Sullivan had sat down for a chat with Fleury the previous summer about his situation, and the decision was made for him to stay in Pittsburgh for the time being. As a former Penguins goalie himself, Rutherford knew just how important Fleury was to the team. And while Murray had established himself as the future of the crease, Rutherford wanted to keep Fleury around for the present.
The Penguins had room under the salary cap to keep both goalies, as Murray's contract extension - signed October 20, 2016, for three years with an average annual value of $3.75 million - would not kick in until the following season.
So the Penguins began their title defense with two legitimate, talented and accomplished No. 1 netminders. And right away, the decision paid off, as Murray suffered a broken hand while competing for Team North America at the World Cup of Hockey and would miss the first six games of the season, meaning Fleury led the team onto the ice for an 11th-straight season opener.
For the remainder of the year, just as they had always done, the fans heartily cheered Fleury every time he skated to the net, which happened a lot less than he was accustomed to. Fleury had to learn how to stay sharp with a drastic decrease in workload, but he figured it out, saying that making the situation work was dependent on attitude more than anything else.
While Rutherford had made it clear that he wanted to keep Fleury, the rumors began swirling in the weeks leading up to the trade deadline on March 1. Rutherford did make two moves that morning, sending Eric Fehr and Steve Oleksy to Toronto and acquiring Mark Streit from Tampa Bay. But as the clock hit 3 p.m. that afternoon, Fleury was still a member of the Penguins.
And the decision to keep Fleury paid off, as they were able to go to a two-time Stanley Cup-winning netminder for the emergency start.
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The Penguins knew they had a challenge ahead of them with Columbus. The Blue Jackets had built an identity under feisty head coach John Tortorella of being a physical, aggressive team, heavy on the forecheck, able to pin teams down in their own end. They established that game right away, as the Blue Jackets thoroughly tilted the ice in their favor during the first period of play, outshooting the Penguins 16-3.
Fleury had been slightly nervous at the start of the game, mostly due to the suddenness of everything. But he had been in this situation so many times before, well over a hundred, that the nerves dissipated quickly and experience took over. He was the biggest reason the scoreboard read 0-0 heading into intermission.
The team followed the lead of their goaltender, settling in once they returned for the second period and surrendering just 16 shots over the final two periods of the game, limiting Columbus to the perimeter and allowing only low-quality scoring chances. Fleury ended up with 31 saves in the 3-1 Penguins win.
Jake Guentzel hadn't gotten on the board in Game 1, which felt like an anomaly considering how he had ended the regular season. The rookie forward finished the year on a goal and point streak of five games, where he had racked up five goals and three assists. Going back even farther to the Stadium Series on Feb. 25, he had led all NHL rookies with 21 points in 18 games. His individual numbers were remarkable, but the unbelievable chemistry he had formed with Sidney Crosby was even more impressive.
Along with second-year winger Conor Sheary, the three formed what many dubbed the "Sid and the Kids" line. They had been unstoppable, so good that even Vezina Trophy-winning goalie Sergei Bobrovsky couldn't figure out how to slow them down. In the first period of Game 2, the speedy Sheary came charging at the Blue Jackets netminder as he left the net to play a puck, and forced a turnover to Guentzel, who got it to Crosby at the side of the open cage for a goal. Crosby would return the favor the next period.
Ian Cole swept the puck up to Crosby, sending him and Guentzel on a 2-on-1. As he carried the puck up ice, Crosby looked over at his winger, who opened up his blade, ready for the captain to place the puck on his stick. Crosby sent it over, and Guentzel fired a shot into the back of the net before Bobrovsky had a chance to react for his first career playoff goal. Crosby, Malkin and Hornqvist also got on the scoresheet in Pittsburgh's 4-1 win.

Guentzel went on to record a hat trick, including the overtime game-winner, in the Penguins' 5-4 victory in Game 3. He became the first rookie in franchise history to score a postseason hat trick and the second rookie in NHL playoff history to score a hat trick and overtime goal in the playoffs, the first being Montreal's Gerry Plamondon in 1949.
"What a game," he said. "It was so fun to be a part of. I think the playoffs brings out everyone's best in their game."
With that, the Penguins took a decisive 3-0 series lead, and the chance to eliminate the Blue Jackets on the road in Game 4. But as the Penguins always say, the toughest win to get is the fourth one, and the Blue Jackets, with their backs against the wall, had too much pride to go down without a fight.
Though Guentzel did extend his playoff goal-scoring streak to three games with a shorthanded tally, becoming the first player since Maurice "Rocket" Richard in 1944 to score five goals in his first four playoff games, Columbus ended up with a 5-4 victory to keep their season alive and force a Game 5 back in Pittsburgh.
Despite the Penguins' success in the series thus far, an unfortunate trend had been developing - slow starts. For whatever reason, the Penguins hadn't been able to come out with the level of intensity and desperation that is required at that time of year, and as a result, got thoroughly outplayed early in games. That was the case again in Game 5, as the Blue Jackets outshot the Penguins 8-1 in the first few minutes of play.
Columbus didn't stop there. They made sure Fleury would have the busiest night of his playoff career, as he turned aside 49 of 51 shots, his highest postseason regulation save total. And it wasn't just that he faced a high quantity of shots; many of them were high quality. The Jackets were finding soft spots on the ice that allowed them to go in alone, and they also created a lot of traffic in front that resulted in scrambles and second and third chances. But Fleury was up to the challenges they presented.
He kept his team in the game, allowing them to get out to a 3-0 lead, with a pair of goals from Bryan Rust, who stepped up with a big performance in yet another playoff game. And while Columbus made it close, getting to within a goal, the Penguins were able to discover their killer instinct, pulling away and finishing off the Blue Jackets in a 5-2 win.
The ovation Fleury received from the crowd when he led his team onto the ice before Game 1 was incredible, to be sure. But the atmosphere in the building shortly before Fleury followed his team off the ice after Game 5 might have been even better.
With just over a minute-and-a-half remaining, the crowd began organically chanting the name of their fan-favorite, franchise netminder so loudly it felt like the roof was going to explode.
"FLEURY! FLEURY!"
It was such a cool scene, capping off a playoff performance that Fleury will look back on as one of his favorites. And it's one that will stand in the record books, as it was the 57th playoff win of his career, establishing a new franchise record.
"This was up there," Fleury said. "To be here at home in front of our fans and be able to get that win with the support that they gave me throughout the season, throughout all these years - still get butterflies and goosebumps when you hear the crowd chant. I'm happy I was able to contribute and get that win here tonight."
The magnitude of his performance in that series cannot be understated. It's easy to look at the series result and think that the Penguins dominated. But that doesn't tell the story. The Blue Jackets were a tough and talented team, and they were, quite honestly, the better team in all five games.
They dominated the Penguins for stretches, but Fleury continued to come up with timely saves, and as a result, helped his teammates overcome the emotion that accompanies momentum swings. Overall, he stopped 181 of 194 shots for a .933 save percentage in his five games played, the third-best single-series total of his career.
With that, the Penguins had defeated the NHL's fourth-best team. Ahead of them was the NHL's best team. The feeling of déjà vu was intense. For the second straight year, the Penguins would face the Washington Capitals in the Second Round.
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The matchup felt destined to happen, as the two franchises have been symbiotically intertwined through success, animosity and history. They were arguably the best two teams in the entire league, with many pithily terming the matchup the "Stanley Cup Final," with the assumption that the winning team would go on to win it all. And there was good reason for that assumption.
That's because for the second straight year, the Capitals had captured the Presidents' Trophy as the league's top regular-season team and entered the postseason as Cup favorites. And in order to win that Cup, these teams had to go through each other once again.
The Capitals hadn't had any luck in that regard. They had played the Penguins nine previous times in their history, and the results were completely lopsided in Pittsburgh's favor, 8-1. However, this time, it felt like it might be the Capitals' year to finally end their championship drought and exorcise their own demons in the form of the Penguins.
The series began on the road, at Verizon Center in the heart of D.C.'s Chinatown. Sullivan always likes to start Crosby's line at the beginning of every period to set the right tone, and the trio did exactly that in Game 1. Guentzel and Hornqvist, who had replaced Sheary on that line to bring a different dimension of muscle, compete level and battle, each set up Crosby for a pair of goals just 1:04 apart in the second period.
The first came on the opening faceoff, just 12 seconds into play. Crosby won the draw and Hornqvist tipped it up to Guentzel, who carried into the offensive zone. He and Crosby went in on a 2-on-1, and Guentzel passed it over.
They picked up right where they left off on their next shift. This time, Guentzel again carried in, but opted to drop a pass to
Olli Maatta
. He put a shot on net, where Hornqvist was waiting. He displayed incredible patience holding onto the puck just long enough to get it over to a crashing Crosby for the open net.
"We got one early there. Didn't have too long of a shift so then we came off and then got out there again, were able to get a quick chance and put it in," Crosby said. "That's how it goes sometimes. You don't get some for a while and then they come in bunches. It's nice to see a couple go in."
While the Capitals eventually tied the score at 2-2, Nick Bonino - who scored the series-clinching overtime winner in Game 6 the previous year - continued his clutch scoring against Washington by netting the game-winner late in the middle frame for a lead the Penguins would not relinquish, and that's due mostly to the play of their goaltender.
Fleury put on what was then considered his best performance of a postseason filled with them. He was incredible in the third period, where he made 15 of his 33 saves. He somehow managed to keep the puck out of his net during an especially insane scramble as the clock ticked down, allowing his team to take Game 1 in a tough building.
The Penguins went on to win Game 2 by a decisive margin, 6-2, but the score doesn't tell the full story. The Capitals badly outplayed the Penguins from the drop of the puck, and the only reason they were in the game was again because of Fleury.
That's when the captain stepped up. The game changed because of two plays from Crosby, both on incredible individual efforts just over three minutes apart in the second period to help the Penguins get a lead they would not relinquish.
"I can't say enough about Sid's leadership," Sullivan marveled of Crosby, who recorded his 52nd career multi-point playoff performance, surpassing Mario Lemieux to set a new team record.
Everything was going perfectly for the Penguins. They had managed to take a 2-0 series lead on the road against a bitter rival, and had the chance to take a stranglehold on the series back in their own barn. However, adversity struck when the Penguins lost Crosby early in Game 3.
Just five minutes into the first period, Crosby was driving to the net when Ovechkin's stick caught him in the head. Ovechkin also clipped Crosby's skate, causing him to lose balance and fall toward the side of the crease. At that point, Capitals defenseman and former Penguin Matt Niskanen collided with Crosby, again catching him in the helmet.
Crosby left the game and did not return, getting diagnosed with a concussion. Niskanen received a five-minute major for cross-checking and a game misconduct, insisting afterward he wasn't trying to injure Crosby on the play. While opinions on the play differed, and Crosby chose not to comment, Fleury - half-jokingly - taped over Niskanen's name on the back of his helmet for the rest of the series.
Crosby had been playing inspiring hockey, and the Penguins had been going as their captain did, so when they lost him, they looked lost themselves. The energy of both the players and their fans was dampened by what had just happened.
Everything was out of sync, including line combinations and the power play. But while they couldn't control what had happened to Crosby, they could control their response to it, and so the Penguins battled. They overcame ridiculous odds, trailing 2-0 with two minutes left to play, by scoring twice in a 48-second span to force overtime.
And while the Capitals emerged victorious, the Penguins' effort was something to be proud of. They would need a similar effort in Game 4, as Sullivan announced the day before that Crosby and Sheary - who had also suffered a concussion in a collision with Hornqvist - had both been ruled out for the contest. Those were two big losses to a team already missing Murray and Letang.
But this was a resilient group, and Sullivan believed that they would respond the right way to the adversity and challenge ahead of them, just as they had learned how to do since he took over the team.
The players went out and proved him right with a gutsy, gritty, scrappy effort. It was one of those games where everybody was prepared to do things the hard way. They knew they would have to scrape and claw for everything they got, and that nothing would be given to them.
The Penguins didn't generate a lot of scoring chances and were outshot heavily, 38-18. They spent a lot of time trapped in their own zone battling and competing for pucks. At times the Pens were hanging on by the frazzled strings at the end of the rope. But held on they did for a 3-2 win and 3-1 series lead.
But the Capitals, who were sick and tired of losing to the Penguins, responded with a vengeance. They won Game 5, 4-2, to keep their season alive in spite of Crosby's return. But now the Penguins would be going back to their own building with the chance to eliminate the Capitals in Game 6, on home ice, for a second straight year.
This time, they couldn't get the job done. All the compete and battle and character that had been present just a few nights earlier was completely missing from their game. They ended up producing their worst performance of the playoffs to date in a lackluster effort, allowing the Capitals to get out to a 5-0 lead before scoring twice in the final three-plus minutes.
But despite watching a 3-1 series lead dissolve into a sudden-death, do-or-die Game 7 on the road, the Penguins' confidence never wavered. Hornqvist said before the game he knew that the team would have a bounce-back game.
"We have to embrace the moment," he said. "We haven't played our best the last two games and we all know it. We have to come out as a new team and play the right way and really enjoy it out there. It's going to be a fun game. You can write your own legacy here."

Bryan Rust continued to add to his own legacy of being a clutch playoff goal scorer, earning himself the nickname Mr. Elimination. Rust opened the scoring for the Penguins off a beautiful feed from Guentzel, his eighth goal in 12 career playoff elimination games. Hornqvist took his own advice by scoring a goal of his own early in the third period to give Pittsburgh a 2-0 lead, which would stand as the final score.
But the story was truly all about Fleury.
He posted 29 saves in yet another brilliant effort from the veteran netminder that postseason for the first road Game 7 shutout in Penguins franchise history. "He's been unbelievable," Hornqvist said afterward. "He got a shutout tonight and he's been our best player all playoffs."
Fleury had to be sharp from the start, as the Capitals came out strong in front of their home crowd, outshot the Penguins 4-0 and dominated them for the first few minutes. The Penguins goaltender weathered the flurry, if you will, and allowed his team to settle in. And from there, they took over. Though that doesn't mean the Capitals didn't continue to get their chances. They absolutely did. They were the NHL's best regular-season team for a reason, one of them being they had a ton of talented offensive players.
They had their stretches and created a lot, especially in the second period, and that's when Fleury came up with arguably the save of the game amongst many worthy candidates, when he stopped Alex Ovechkin with the shaft of his stick. As per his tradition, Fleury thanked his stick afterward with a funny and slightly inappropriate gesture.
"I said a little thank you," Fleury said with his trademark grin. "That was a big one."
It certainly was, and is right up there with the one Fleury had in Game 7 of the 2009 Eastern Conference semifinals in this same building against that same player.
Overall, Fleury's workload was heavy, as the Caps threw a lot at him. Not just pucks, but bodies too. He had so much going on around his net, but managed to stay calm and steady and get the job done, just like he had done all series and all playoffs long.
"A little tired, I'd say," Fleury laughed of his emotions after the game. "It's been a hard series. They're a good team. They came at us hard, they didn't quit until the end. But I'm real proud of our guys, the way we played. I thought the third period was awesome for us and we were able to hold onto the lead."
The Penguins knew they would not be advancing if it wasn't for Fleury, their best player since he took over the net for Murray a month earlier.
"We're not in this position moving on if he doesn't play the way he did," added Crosby, who hunted down the game puck for his longtime teammate following the handshakes, even recruiting the Capitals ice crew for assistance. "There were times where they had sustained pressure throughout games and he made some big saves, allowed us to stay in the game and allowed us to stay patient. He was huge for us all series long."
It had been a taxing series, both mentally and physically. Now it was time to get some rest before meeting the Ottawa Senators in the Eastern Conference Final.