from Travis Yost of TSN,

Their top-end talent was always good enough to get the team into the playoffs. Beyond that, there were always question marks. Could the depth forward groups - beaten up against weaker competition all season long - ever hold up against the other powers of the Eastern Conference? Time and time again, the answer was no.

That changed considerably this season under first-year head coach Mike Sullivan. He embraced the individual talents assembled by the front office and found creative ways to put the pieces together.

That’s a point worth focusing on, especially with Pittsburgh now having disposed of both New York and Washington. There’s a tendency in the hockey media to bestow all of the glory and affection on the marquee players when a team piles up big victories.

But in Pittsburgh, the sea of change is really being driven by what’s behind Crosby. He’s always gotten the better of his opponents. Now, his teammates are doing the same.

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