The truth of the matter is the Penguins have been traded in on their popular image for the last six years and, save for a trip to the Conference finals in 2013, they just haven’t fulfilled their promise. When they won their Stanley Cup in 2009, Crosby was 21, Malkin and Letang were 22, Jordan Staal was 20 and Fleury was the old man of the group at 24.

At the time, the only question seemed to be how many Cups would this team win but for so many reasons it hasn’t happened. Crosby remains a great player but it’s getting harder to argue he’s a generational talent. After Malkin, Kessel and Letang, there isn’t much in the way of depth. That leaves them one option: Junk it up in front of Fleury and hope you can do just enough to win. That was the formula Wednesday and it added up to a win. But if you were looking for anything else from this team, you were disappointed.

-Ed Willes of the Vancouver Province where you can read more on the Penguins/Canucks game last night.