Buried deep within the Penguins’ glorious Game Five victory over the Predators on Thursday night is a most disturbing pattern. One I feel compelled to write about in hopes of dispelling any bad juju or lingering negative mojo.
Go back with me eight years, if you will, to June of 2009. Led by superstar Pavel Datsyuk and perennial Norris Trophy winner Nicklas Lidstrom, the powerhouse Detroit Red Wings were the kingpins of the hockey world. They’d defeated an up-and-coming but green Penguins team with relative ease in the 2008 Final to win the Stanley Cup, their second title in six years.