Except for two more injuries (to Matt Cullen and Bryan Rust…WTF?), last night’s Penguins-Columbus game couldn’t have gone better for the host.
The Blue Jackets came out and finished every check, but it didn’t slow the Pens down at all. The result was a TBS Saturday Night squash match. Penguins 4, Columbus 1, and the winner was never in doubt.
You won’t beat the Penguins that way. In the past, maybe. (Like the Philadelphia series in 2012). But these Pens keep their heads. Just play. The opposition can be as physical as it likes. But there’s a puck out there, too.
Old man Scott Hartnell kept running everybody. Once a Flyer, always a Flyer. When you’re 34 and only have 13 goals, you’d better do something.
The only thing that can beat the Penguins in the first round is attrition.
Unfortunately, that’s a possibility.
UPDATE: Kris Letang needs surgery to repair a herniated disc in his neck and will miss the Stanley Cup playoffs. Can the Pens repeat as Cup champs without Letang? Tune in at 3pm to hear what I think.