Veteran Penguins Taking Big Dump on Young Blue Jackets

The Pittsburgh Penguins are an absolute machine, especially come playoff time, and the Columbus Blue Jackets are finding that out firsthand as the young club gets a lesson in winning from the reigning Stanley Cup champs.

The Pens snuck out a thrilling 5-4 overtime win in Game 3 on Sunday to take a 3-0 stranglehold in their first-round series against Columbus. Pegged by many to be one of the tightest series in the opening round, the results after a trio of Penguins victories would suggest the opposite.

The defending champs have been dominant offensively, averaging four goals per game so far, tops of the 16 teams in the playoffs. Evgeni Malkin has returned to his typical playoff-dominating form, while Sidney Crosby has found his new favourite sidekick and—maybe most importantly—a former Cup winner has filled in more than adequately for another in the Penguins' net. In a matchup between one of the NHL's youngest teams in Columbus and one of the oldest in Pittsburgh, it's the Pens' vets who are teaching the Blue Jackets how to win in the playoffs—a much different task than doing so in the regular season.

Sometimes the best trades for a team are the ones it doesn't make, and Jim Rutherford and the Penguins organization are reaping the rewards of such a decision right now. Despite having a star 22-year-old Matt Murray starting the majority of the team's games and having, maybe, the AHL's top goaltender in Tristan Jarry waiting in the wings, the Penguins' general manager opted to hold on to Marc-Andre Fleury at the trade deadline.

The commitment to depth and to their 2009 Cup-winning goalie paid off immediately, as Fleury was forced to step in and start Game 1 after Murray went down with a lower-body injury in warmups. Fleury stole the opening game and was great in the following two contests, posting a .945 save percentage and 1.86 GAA while facing an average of 36.3 shots per game.

Since their first Stanley Cup run together in 2009, Chris Kunitz has been, for the most part, a staple on the left wing of Crosby until sustaining a lower-body injury at the end of March. Enter rookie Jake Guentzel, who has been great since being recalled by the Penguins in November and starting his career off with a bang by scoring on his first NHL shot.

The Penguins' third-round pick in 2013 has found undeniable chemistry with Crosby since Kunitz has been sidelined, and especially through the first three games of the playoffs. The rookie has twice as many goals (four) as any other skater in the postseason, and has scored the game winner in two out of Pittsburgh's three victories so far.

Malkin is no stranger to performing on the big stage, as his team-leading 36 points en route to Pittsburgh's 2009 Stanley Cup victory proves. Malkin has 109 points in 102 playoff games since that time, with only Crosby (110) and Patrick Kane (121) posting more over that span.

The 30-year-old is following up his exceptional complimentary performance last postseason by taking charge and dominating the Blue Jackets so far, with his four assists and six points leading all playoff skaters.

Class is in session for Columbus as the veteran-laden Penguins, including Fleury, Crosby, and Malkin, have been taking the young Blue Jackets to school. The Penguins can sweep away the Blue Jackets' franchise-best season in Columbus on Tuesday.