PITTSBURGH — Marc-Andre Fleury’s sprawling save on Detroit’s Nicklas Lidstrom in the final moments of Game 7 of the 2009 Stanley Cup Finals was supposed mark the end of one potential dynasty and the beginning of another.
Yet it took the Penguins and star Sidney Crosby seven years to provide a bookend moment to that giddy night at Joe Louis Arena, the breakthrough coming in San Jose last June when they closed out the Sharks in six games to capture the franchise’s fourth title.
Ten months after that joyous flight back home and the victory parade jammed with half a million fans, Crosby and company are back for more.