NHL teams
Pierre LeBrun, ESPN Senior Writer 8y

Penguins' maligned D-corps steps up to fill Kris Letang void

NHL, Washington Capitals, Pittsburgh Penguins

PITTSBURGH -- Consider what a season-altering moment it really was for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Consider just who, exactly, would have played a team-high 28:41 minutes Wednesday night in a huge playoff game against the Washington Capitals, scored a goal and registered a plus-3 in the absence of Kris Letang.

And consider whether it might just be the NHL trade of the season.

Veteran GM Jim Rutherford aggressively pursued defenseman Trevor Daley, calling the Chicago Blackhawks numerous times when he saw things weren't working out. Finally he struck on Dec. 14, sending the struggling Rob Scuderi the other way.

"[What he did in] Chicago was just a real small snapshot of [Daley],'' Rutherford said Wednesday night after his team's 3-2 overtime victory that gave it a 3-1 series lead. "I've liked Trevor his whole career. My friend Bobby Orr had been telling me for five years how good he is. I've always agreed with him, but just could never swing a deal for him. It's our good fortune that things didn't work out for him in Chicago. He became available; we were looking for more speed to our defense and get a better transition game.

"I knew his character, I had already done all the work on him over the years. I don't need to say much more. Just watch tonight's game.''

Indeed. Daley was an absolutely force at both ends, scoring the opening goal and on the ice helping for the overtime winner. He swallowed up many of the minutes Letang left to be shared after his one-game suspension.

Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan didn't have to warn Daley what his night would be like.

"Not really. It was pretty obvious, I've been around for a little bit now," said Daley, smiling. "I kind of knew what the situation was going to be like. It's the time of year when you have to take advantage of it. Every play, every game matters. It was exciting.''

Two months into the season, his confidence was as low as it had ever been during his career. Had someone asked him then if he could imagine himself leading a team in minutes in a big playoff game -- well, you can imagine what his reaction would have been.

"Yeah, I would have told you no," he said, chuckling. "It's funny how this game works. You stick with it, and good things happen. I'm just grateful for the opportunity. I'm in a good place here in Pitt. I'm enjoying a great group of guys.''

That group of guys banded together to survive the loss of their minute-monster Letang, the team's top defenseman, who was suspended for a hit on Marcus Johansson in Game 3.

Many cringed at the thought of what a Penguins blue line might look like without Letang against the mighty Capitals in a big playoff game.

"We were missing two of our top defensemen, with [Olli] Maatta out too, but clearly our top defenseman in Letang," Rutherford said. "But that's what this team has been able to do. They've played as a team. We've had setbacks, we've had key guys out of the lineup. And they've stuck together.''

In particular, the remaining six guys playing defense for Pittsburgh in Game 4 knew what was being said of them. They used it as motivation.

"That's something people have been saying all year: 'Oh, they've got a great team, great goaltending, great forwards, but man, their D isn't very good. And now Letang is out, this is a for sure win for the Capitals,'" said defenseman Ian Cole, who played 17:41 Wednesday night. "You ask any defenseman in this room or anybody on this team. We think we have a fantastic D-corps, one that is very underrated. Do we have a ton of big-name guys who make a ton of money? Maybe not. But I think everyone does their job in the system and does it very well.''

Letang could be seen after the game popping his head in from the back room, eating pizza and wearing a wide grin. Imagine how relieved he is that his suspension didn't cost a loss in this series or become the series-turning event some wondered it might be.

"We wanted to rally behind Tanger; he's been so good for us all year," veteran center Matt Cullen said. "It was a big win. All the D-men who stepped in played really well. It's a tough one to step into, this is about as fast a hockey game as you're ever going to play. To step in from not playing for a while is a tough task, and I thought they all did a pretty good job.''

Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said the key was that Pittsburgh's six defensemen played to their strengths.

"They got in shot lanes when they needed to. They joined the play when they needed to," said Crosby. "Great looks from the point from a lot of them. I don't see Colsey join on a 2-on-1 too often, but he did it tonight because it was there. I think they just made the right plays. No one tried to be Tanger out there; they just tried to play their game and that was huge for us. He's a guy who plays a ton of minutes, and they did a great job handling it all."

Now Letang returns for Game 5 on Saturday. Ben Lovejoy joked that he'd better be ready to play 44 to 48 minutes.

In the meantime, the rest of this much-maligned blue-line corps might just have changed a few perceptions of their group. Special moments in the playoffs tend to do just that.

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