Kevin Gorman: Penguins have a dozen reasons to win another Stanley Cup

The Pittsburgh Penguins start these Stanley Cup playoffs with a dozen players who have hoisted the Cup in celebration of a championship at least once.

Whether they can win another could depend largely upon the postseason play of the dozen Penguins who have never experienced that elation.

“You have the benefit of experience to draw on, and I think that certainly can’t hurt a group,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “This group has a fair amount of experience. Having said that, this is a new season, this is a team, this is a new challenge and we’re going to have to face that challenge together, regardless of what your experience level is in the playoffs.

“Whether a guy has limited experience or has never played in the playoffs before, these are guys we’re going to rely on to help this team have success. That’s the way I look at it. We’re not so much looking in the rear-view mirror.”

But a glance in the rear-view mirror is a reminder of the Penguins’ motivation moving forward. When the Penguins won their past two championships, captain Sidney Crosby first passed the trophy to Trevor Daley in 2016 and to Ron Hainsey in ’17. Both were NHL veterans who had never won the Cup.

The Penguins open the Stanley Cup playoffs Wednesday night with a first-round series against the New York Islanders at Nassau Coliseum. If they are going to end their run with another celebration, it will be due in large part to the play of not only three-time Cup champions like Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang but also because of contributions from newcomers in their bottom-six forwards and a deep defensive corps.

Jack Johnson was traded by the Los Angeles Kings to the Columbus Blue Jackets in February 2012, before the Kings won two Stanley Cup championships in a three-year span. Johnson was a healthy scratch in Columbus’ first-round exit last year, which left him feeling like he didn’t even make the playoffs.

Johnson wants nothing more than to have his name on the silver chalice, which is why the 32-year-old defenseman signed a free-agent contract with the Penguins over the summer.

“I came here to win,” Johnson said. “That’s why I was excited to come here. Even the guys that have won, they’re self-motivated. It’s not like they’re any less motivated to win the Cup than I am. I’m excited to get back in the playoffs.”

What Johnson doesn’t buy is the notion that he will provide the Penguins any additional incentive. As much as the playoffs are about players making a personal sacrifice, they are rewarded for that risk by getting their names engraved for eternity.

“Guys that have three are thinking about getting four, so it puts them in elite company,” Johnson said. “They wouldn’t have three already if they weren’t self-motivated. They guys that have three aren’t any less motivated than the guys who don’t have any.”

What their second-round loss to the Washington Capitals taught Crosby & Co., however, is that the team is only as good as its weakest link – and the Penguins’ weak links were exposed in broad daylight last postseason.

“You’re on a team, and that’s what your focus is: It’s on the group,” Crosby said. “Every year that presents a different makeup and different experiences but there’s always motivation for the guys next to you. You want to see everyone do well, whether it’s their first playoff or 10^th, we’re all playing for each other in here.”

“I think it helps. They bring a certain level of energy to it. But that’s something with each game you experience, you go through and you learn. The fact that you have guys in here that have won doesn’t guarantee anything, either. You’ve got to go out there and use that experience and execute. It’s great to have that energy but everybody has to do their part and find ways to win.”

Last year, the Penguins’ offense was so abysmal when their bottom-six forwards were on the ice – scoring just three goals at even strength – that they might as well have been playing shorthanded. Their defense corps was so thin that their third pairing was Jamie Oleskiak and Chad Ruhwedel, a duo who would now find it tough to crack their top eight on defense.

These Penguins are better, even if the standings don’t say so.

They also are younger, thanks to the trades of disappointments Derick Brassard and Riley Sheahan for forwards Nick Bjugstad and Jared McCann, a 22-year-old who is all smiles and champing at the bit to make his postseason debut.

“I’m just trying to pick their brains as much as I can, Sid and Geno and those guys who have won the Cup,” McCann said, unintentionally leaving out Letang, Matt Cullen, Brian Dumoulin, Jake Guentzel, Patric Hornqvist, Phil Kessel, Olli Maatta, Matt Murray, Bryan Rust and Justin Schultz. “I’m just trying to keep my energy high and show the boys I’m ready to go.”

Trust that the Penguins who have won the Cup will feed off that energy, just as the players who haven’t won a championship before will try to soak up that experience like a sponge.

“Hopefully, it works both ways,” Gudbranson said. “I’m certainly going to be leaning on those guys. I’ve got a little bit of experience but not anywhere near what these guys have been through. It’s going to be a pleasure to play with them.

“It’s so hard to get to the playoffs and once you’re in it you’re going to put everything you can every single day into it. If that brings some extra life, some extra juice to the guys who have won before then I hope I can do that.”

Not only do they go hand in hand in the playoffs but the Penguins are hoping they go from hand to hand when passing the Cup.

Keep up with the Pittsburgh Penguins all season long.