Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

Without Kris Letang, The Pittsburgh Penguins Are In Trouble Against The Washington Capitals

04/27/2017 at 8:49am EDT

from Ron Cook of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette,

On March 12, I wrote on these pages the Penguins can’t win the Stanley Cup without Kris Letang. Not much room for misinterpretation there. Well, I’d like to amend that declaration just a bit this morning. Only a fool would write off a team coached by Mike Sullivan and led by Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, a team with the collective heart of a champion. Of course, the Penguins can win if puck-luck is on their side and everything goes their way.

But I still don’t see it happening.

I don’t see a second consecutive Cup.

I don’t see the Penguins beating the Washington Capitals.

That’s no disrespect toward the Penguins or their group of defensemen. That’s tremendous respect for Letang, a one-of-a-kind player on his team.

I know the Capitals’ history works against them. The Penguins have won eight of nine playoff series against them, including last spring when they took the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Capitals out in six incredible games. I also know the pressure on Alexander Ovechkin and his Washington team. Crosby’s teams have won everything, including multiple Cups and multiple Olympic gold medals. Ovechkin’s teams have won nothing. The Capitals haven’t even made it past the second round of the playoffs in the Ovechkin era.

But it’s awfully difficult for a team to win the Cup without a star defenseman.

continued

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Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

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