..And hopefully they match 2008 Penguins in “not winning the Cup”
The 2024 New York Rangers have matched a mark last accomplished by the 2008 Pittsburgh Penguins to start a playoff season with a 7-0 record.
Will the @NYRangers repeat history? #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/ZYCI81BGtj
— NHL (@NHL) May 10, 2024
NY will hope to emulate the 1994 version of their team more, being as they eventually won the Stanley Cup.
But let’s take the opportunity to look back and wax poetic about the 2008 Penguins, in what was a very important team to take the next step. As we’ve seen with the Auston Matthews’ Toronto era (or even maybe the Connor McDavid Edmonton stint so far) it can be so hard to win this time of year. Those teams have had tremendous failures to launch, as the Rangers’ current opponent in Carolina also knows all too well these days where great regular seasons and a strong roster can still turn up empty at the most important time.
Knowing that makes looking at the 2008 Pens with all the more reverence. They were a train wreck in 2005-06 following the lockout in Sidney Crosby’s rookie year. Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal joined up for 2006-07 and Pittsburgh was on the rise — but still almost no match for a veteran and quality Ottawa side who bounced the inexperienced Penguins with ease in the first round.
Luckily, unlike the careers of Matthews, McDavid, Alex Ovechkin and so many others — immediate postseason takeoffs would not elude Crosby, Malkin and the Pens.
They have 2008 to thank for that.
The story of that team is well-known; they were bolstered by picking up Marian Hossa at the deadline (and don’t sleep on Hal Gill as well) to show the intent of improving and getting to the next level and without delay.
Boy, did they ever. The Penguins were just getting started but managed to “finish the story” or at least part of it by completing a redemption in a four-game sweep over the same Senators that made short work of them the year before. By fate, seeing that some first round opponent had to be a huge emotional and mental lift to get the opportunity to clear their first series against the team that defeated them.
Next up was NYR, who was no slouch in 2008 and seeing Jaromir Jagr’s last truly “height of his powers” type of performance. Jagr scored 15 points in 10 playoff games in the 2008 playoffs at the tender age of 36, then would be off to the KHL. But even Jagr couldn’t prevent the Pens from bolting out to a 3-0 series lead. New York would keep their season alive with a Game 4 home win but folded up shop due to a 3-2 Pittsburgh OT game where Hossa pushed the Pens to the conference final.
Even the ECF was more of the same, Pittsburgh jumped out to a 3-0 series lead over Philadelphia before they hardly knew what hit them. Again a Game 4 Flyers win was the only thing to prevent a gentleman’s sweep, courtesy of a no doubt about it 6-0 Pens win in Game 5.
Pittsburgh wouldn’t win the Cup, but ripped through the Eastern Conference in ‘08 with enough authority to see that the team was not just an emerging power but one that had arrived. It set the stage for everything to follow for the next 15 years worth of playoff entries and three championships.
Like the Rangers are living now, playoff hockey tends to become a lot of fun when taking 3-0 series leads. Nothing can go wrong now, can it?
(Now is the part where we learn if jinxes really work.)
