The fourth-seeded Pittsburgh Penguins begin their defense of the Stanley Cup title tonight at Mellon Arena in Game One of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals against the fifth-seeded Ottawa Senators, and there is one thing that comes to mind for the Penguins to advance out of the first round: consistency.
The Penguins have probably played anything but spectacular hockey the last month after starting the post-Olympic push to the playoffs 4-0.
In the past two years, when the Pens started the playoffs, March and the early part of April have been a great time in the season for them, as they were one of the hottest teams coming into the playoffs the last two years.
Last year, when coach Dan Bylsma took over the team after Michel Therrien got fired, the team went 18-7 after Bylsma was named the coach. This year during that stretch: 10-9 with the team limping into the playoffs. Not exactly the best time of year to be playing that kind of hockey.
But there are many differences between this year's team and last year's team that knocked off the mighty Detroit Red Wings in Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Final in Detroit.
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Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Eric Lutz
2010 NHL Playoffs: For the Pittsburgh Penguins, Consistency Is Key
April 14th, 2010 by Eric Lutz Leave a reply »
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