The Pittsburgh Penguins may not have the playoff experience of the Detroit Red Wings but they do have momentum.
If you look at the Red Wings offensively, you'll see three names: Johan Franzen, Henrik Zetterberg and Daniel Cleary. Because of injury, Pavel Datsyuk is way down the list and Marian Hossa has just 12 points. The best aren't the best yet for the Red Wings.
You can't say the same for the Penguins. Evgeni Malkin has taken his game to a new level and Sidney Crosby's passion and persistence has been there in abundance through the Eastern Conference Final.
And they've gotten consistent goaltending from Marc-Andre Fleury. A year ago in the Stanley Cup Final, that was a bit of an issue. Goaltending wasn't the reason why the Penguins didn't beat Detroit but Fleury was a little inconsistent. He's now a consistent performer.
Public Enemy #1
Marian Hossa is public enemy #1 going into Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh. In his only game against his former team this seaon, he was booed every time he touched the puck. But he got the last laugh when he scored a goal.
Hossa was a key playoff performer for the Penguins last season, scoring 12 goals and 26 points. It was not a shock for the Penguins management when Hossa signed with another team as an unrestricted free agent.
What was a shock was that he signed with the Red Wings for just one year because the Penguins were offering five years.