NHL teams
Vince Masi 8y

Pittsburgh Penguins' winning season as told by ... Counting Crows?

"A Long December" by Counting Crows was released in December 1996 and peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart. Twenty years later, the lyrics describe what has gone on with the Pittsburgh Penguins this season.

A long December and there's reason to believe

Maybe this year will be better than the last

The Penguins entered 2015-16 coming off a first-round exit after the first season under coach Mike Johnston. It was the third time in a five-season span the Penguins were eliminated in the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

But it was after a November loss to the New Jersey Devils that left Evgeni Malkin looking for answers. When asked about their struggles on offense, Malkin said, "We don't play right, we don't work hard. I know it’s tough right now. I know we're mad at each other. We need to stop, look in the mirror and start working. We’re not working." At that point, the Penguins were 10-7-0 and in fifth place in the Metropolitan Division.

December was long. The Penguins fired Johnston on Dec. 12 and promoted Mike Sullivan from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL. The Penguins were tied with the Boston Bruins for the Eastern Conference’s second wild card when Sullivan was hired. Replacing the coach had worked for the Penguins in 2009, when they fired Michel Therrien and hired Dan Bylsma with 25 games remaining, becoming the fourth team to win the Stanley Cup after an in-season coaching change.

The smell of hospitals in winter

And the feeling that it's all a lot of oysters, but no pearls

The Penguins were hit with an injury bug during the winter months:

  • Pascal Dupuis retired because of blood clots.

  • Marc-Andre Fleury suffered the first of two concussions in December.

  • Nick Bonino missed 18 games in January with a hand injury.

  • Beau Bennett missed 25 games with an upper-body injury.

  • Eric Fehr missed 17 games with a lower-body injury.

  • Malkin missed 10 games in February with a lower-body injury and then was out for 16 more in March with an arm injury.

  • Ben Lovejoy was out 12 games with an upper-body injury.

Despite everything, the Penguins still had the second-best record in the Eastern Conference during the beginning of the December solstice through the start of the March equinox, going 25-10-5. They were the highest-scoring NHL team in the dead of winter, averaging 3.28 goals per game while owning the highest even-strength goal differential in the Eastern Conference at plus-26.

I can't remember all the times I tried to tell myself

To hold on to these moments as they pass

From March 11 on, the Penguins went 14-2-0, the best record in the NHL in that span. When they woke up that morning, the Penguins were in the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot, eight points behind the New York Rangers, who were in second place. The 16-game run vaulted the Penguins to second place in the Metropolitan Division, giving them home ice over the Rangers in the opening round of the playoffs.

But as the Stanley Cup playoffs began, it marked the seventh postseason since the Penguins last won the Stanley Cup, when Sidney Crosby was just 21 years old. They even started with Jeff Zatkoff in goal after Fleury suffered his second concussion and rookie Matt Murray was out for the first two games of the series with a head injury.

When Murray stepped into net with the offense rolling, the Penguins finished off the Rangers -- the team that knocked them out of the playoffs the previous two seasons -- outscoring their division rivals 14-4 in the final three games of the series.

Next up, the Washington Capitals, who won the Presidents' Trophy with 56 wins and 120 points. Pittsburgh would pull off the six-game upset, winning all four games by one goal. Bonino clinched the series with an OT goal.

And then came the Tampa Bay Lightning, who were trying to “hold on to the moment" as well, looking to become the first team since the Penguins in 2009 to return to the Cup finals after losing the series the previous season. Pittsburgh would come back from a 3-2 series deficit, “holding on” in Game 7 with a 2-1 victory.

It's been so long since I've seen the ocean I guess I should

And now the Penguins made it back in the Stanley Cup finals, which meant their first trip outside the Eastern time zone since mid-January and their first visit to the Pacific time zone since ... December.

The Penguins handled all the San Jose Sharks could throw at them, clinching their fourth Stanley Cup title in franchise history. They are the first team to win the Stanley Cup twice when making an in-season coaching change.

Just four players played in the 2009 and 2016 clinchers: Crosby, Malkin, Chris Kunitz and Kris Letang.

So now they will look to repeat with a core that’s signed long-term, something that hasn’t been done since the Detroit Red Wings in 1997 and 1998.

Who knows, maybe next season will be better than the last.

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