PITTSBURGH — There is nothing routine or stale for the Pittsburgh Penguins as they begin their quest for their third straight Stanley Cup Wednesday night
against the Philadelphia Flyers at PPG Paints Arena in a first-round playoff
series opener.“I still pinch myself almost every day that you get to be a part of something like this
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the past two Stanley Cups while technically a rookie under NHL rules.“It’s just so exciting. It’s like Christmas when you’re a kid almost. You know how much fun you had watching when you were a kid. I’ll bet you I’ll feel
like that for years and years. It’s really cool that I get to be here. I’m just
trying to cherish that.”They’re also trying hard to win it all again, while not overlooking the journey.“Certainly, the expectation within our room is that we have the ability to compete,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “We know that it’s hard, and we
know that we’ve got to go out and earn it each and every day, each and every
game. That’s where our mindset is. I don’t think any of us are trying to reflect
on where this team stands.”The Penguins finished second in the Metropolitan Division, just two points ahead of the Flyers, but seem to enter their first-round series as a bigger
favorite than that margin would indicate, more than likely based on Pittsburgh’s
recent postseason success.Philadelphia isn’t arguing that point, but the team isn’t accepting anything as a foregone
conclusion
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White Jersey , either.“We didn’t expect very many people to pick us to come out of this series, and that’s OK,” Flyers coach Dave Hakstol said. “There’s a quiet belief in our
dressing room. … We’re the underdog. We’re pegged that. We know that. We’re
playing against a hell of a hockey team that has a lot of experience at the
playoff level. We’ve got to go out and earn it, and that’s what we’ll do.”There are a couple more tangible reasons for Pittsburgh to be favored.The Penguins, who have home-ice advantage in the series, were 30-9-2 at PPG Paints Arena during the regular season. They also have the most potent power
play in the NHL going into the postseason, with a 26.2 percent success rate.And then there were the head-to-head meetings. Pittsburgh swept the four games, scoring five goals in each, with star centers Sidney Crosby and Evgeni
Malkin combining for 14 points.“I know we didn’t get the points that we wanted in the games against them, but I think out of the four games, in three of them we played really well and
kind of let a few games get
away
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News. “It doesn’t matter now. It’s a clean sheet now in the playoffs and all our
focus is on getting the first win.”Both teams have players who excelled during the regular season. Philadelphia’s Claude Giroux finished second in the league scoring race with 102
points. Pittsburgh’s Malkin was third with 98 points, while teammates Phil
Kessel (92) and Crosby (89) ranked eighth and 10th.The last time these teams met in the playoffs, in 2012, also in the first round, Philadelphia not only upset Pittsburgh in six games but also got under
the Penguins’ skins with a physical, agitating style that led to several
Pittsburgh star players getting involved in fights and scrums.The only Penguins remaining from that team are Crosby, Malkin and defenseman Kris Letang, but all three engaged in the uncharacteristic behavior in the 2012
series.“We’re all over 30 years old now. We’re supposed to be mature,” Letang said. “I mean, it was. … whatever it was, it was in the moment. Emotional. We have a
different
team
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Everything is different, so we don’t even look at that.”Philadelphia has five holdovers from that series — Giroux, Sean Couturier, Jakub Voracek, Matt Read and Wayne Simmonds.Couturier said this time the Flyers’ motivation is to win in a more direct way.“I don’t think we’ve played our best game or a full 60 minutes against Pittsburgh yet,” he told the Daily News. “I like our chances if we play some
good hockey and focus for 60 minutes, maybe even more.”After trading for Tavon Austin this spring, the Cowboys said they would put him in a “web back” role similar to the one Lance Dunbar used to play as a
receiver out of the backfield.They also list him as a running back on their roster, but it appears they may be going in a different direction when it comes to the way they actually use
Austin. Austin, who was a wide receiver at West Virginia and with the
Rams
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while backfield work has been reserved for other players.“All the things you see me doing out here is pretty much what I’ll be doing,” Austin said, via the
Dallas Morning News. “I ain’t touched the backfield yet, but hopefully, eventually if they need me back there, I’ll be
back there too.”The unsettled nature of the Cowboys receiving corps has been discussed often this offseason and Ezekiel Elliott‘s presence means there isn’t the same
uncertainty at running back, which may play a role in how the team ultimately
decides to deploy Austin this
season.
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