The challenge was created and accepted back on April 5, Brian Dumoulin said, the day the Penguins learned they’d be without defenseman Kris Letang for 4-6 months because of surgery to repair a herniated disc in his neck.
While there were certainly opinions coming from outside the Penguins dressing room that questioned whether this group could win the Stanley Cup without Letang, the feeling on the inside was markedly different.
“Yeah, we did,” was Dumoulin’s matter-of-fact response when he was asked Saturday whether the remaining Penguins defensemen used the you-can’t-do-it-without-Kris perception as fuel.
Despite plenty of injuries – in addition to Letang, losing Olli Maatta and Trevor Daley for much of the stretch run and Justin Schultz and Chad Ruhwedel during the Eastern Conference final – here they are, the Penguins defensemen four wins away from a pretty sizable statement.