After falling in six games to the Detroit Red Wings in the 2008 Stanley Cup Final, the Penguins were determined for redemption in 2008-09, but the roster entering the season looked much different than the year before. Ryan Malone and Gary Roberts were traded to Tampa Bay in the offseason. Ty Conklin, Marian Hossa, Jarkko Ruutu, and Georges Laraque left via free agency and Ruslan Fedotenko, Miroslav Satan, Matt Cooke and Eric Godard joined the Penguins as free agents. Defenseman Sergei Gonchar was sidelined for nearly five months after suffering cartilage and ligament damage from a hit in a pre-season game vs. Tampa Bay. Head coach Michel Therrien signed a three-year contract extension through the 2010-11 season which paid him approximately $1 million annually.
The season started in Stockholm, Sweden as the Penguins split back-to-back games with the Ottawa Senators at the Stockholm Globe Arena. The Penguins completed October with a 5-4-2 record and won their next six games and had the second-best record in the Eastern Conference as of November 15, 2008 at 11-4-2 (.706). Marc-Andre Fleury suffered a lower-body injury that night in a 5-2 win over Buffalo at Mellon Arena. Despite the streak, on November 16th the Penguins swapped defensemen with the Dallas Stars sending Darryl Sydor to Dallas for Philippe Boucher.
With Fleury out of the lineup until December 18th and struggling when he returned, the Penguins proceeded to go 13-19-3 (.414) over their next 35 games and were in 10th place in the Eastern Conference (24-23-5, .510 win %), three points out of the final playoff spot, and put Michel Therrien's job in jeopardy. A 3-2-0 record over the next five games wasn't enough to save Therrien. On February 14th at Toronto, with Sergei Gonchar back in the lineup for the first time all season, the Penguins led 2-0 after the first period and 2-1 going into the third. The Maple Leafs then scored five third period goals to win 6-2. The next day, Therrien was fired and replaced by Dan Bylsma, the head coach of the Penguins' AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
Over the next 25 games, the Penguins went 18-3-4 (.800) which included a seven-game winning streak from February 25th to March 10th. In the 25 games after Bylsma joined the Penguins and Marc-Andre Fleury had a 16-3-4 record with a .915 save percentage and 2.40 goals-against-average. Evgeni Malkin won the NHL's scoring title with 113 points (35G, 78A) and the Penguins finished in fourth place in the Eastern Conference (45-28-9, .604 win %) with home-ice in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs against the rival Philadelphia Flyers.
After taking a 3-1 series lead, the Penguins dropped Game 5, 3-0, and headed back to Philadelphia for Game 6. Just 15 seconds after the Flyers went up 3-0 with 15:54 left in the second period of Game 6, Max Talbot fought Daniel Carcillo. Despite Carcillo winning the fight, Talbot shushed the frenzied Wachovia Center crowd on his way to the box. The Penguins ignited for three goals in a 12:24 span starting 14 seconds after the fight that tied the game at 3-3. The Penguins scored twice in the third period to eliminate the Flyers four games to two.
The Penguins dropped the opening two games of round two at Washington before winning three-straight to take a 3-2 series lead heading into Game 6. The Capitals won Game 6 forcing a deciding Game 7 at the Verizon Center in Washington. The Penguins scored twice in an eight-second span in the first period en route to crushing the Capitals, 6-2. Pittsburgh swept the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Final to set up a rematch with the Detroit Red Wings in the Stanley Cup Final.
Detroit and Pittsburgh each held serve at home leading up to a deciding Game 7 in Detroit. Max Talbot scored twice in the second period to give the Penguins a 2-0 lead heading into the third period at Joe Louis Arena. Jonathan Ericsson scored with 6:07 left in the game to set up a dramatic finish. A faceoff with 6.5 seconds left inside the Penguins defensive zone to the left of Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury would give the Red Wings a chance to tie the game. Henrik Zetterberg won the faceoff against Jordan Staal. The puck skittered back to Brian Rafalski at the right point who's shot was blocked by defenseman Hal Gill. Henrik Zetterberg gathered the puck in front of Gill and fired a shot off of Fleury's right leg pad. The puck trickled to Fleury's right, where Niklas Lidstrom, who had crept in from the left point, fired a shot toward Fleury from about 10 feet out. Fleury dove to his right and stopped the shot with his chest just before time expired.
Evgeni Malkin won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the player most valuable to his team during the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs as he scored 14 goals and 22 assists for 36 points. Malkin scored three game-winning goals, recorded at least one point in 18 of 24 games and had 12 multi-point games including a four-point (3G, 1A) effort in Game 2 vs. Carolina.
This ring is a replica of the actual ring awarded to Sidney Crosby. This size 11 ring features a raised skating penguin logo surrounding four glittering cubic zirconia inside the penguins' chest designed over the stone-emblazed outline of the Stanley Cup. Similar stones accentuate the face and shoulders of the ring. The left shank features three stone-clad Stanley Cup trophies with "2009" proudly displayed at the top. The right shank features Crosby's name and number with the sculpted team logos and scores of each post-season series victory.
The season started in Stockholm, Sweden as the Penguins split back-to-back games with the Ottawa Senators at the Stockholm Globe Arena. The Penguins completed October with a 5-4-2 record and won their next six games and had the second-best record in the Eastern Conference as of November 15, 2008 at 11-4-2 (.706). Marc-Andre Fleury suffered a lower-body injury that night in a 5-2 win over Buffalo at Mellon Arena. Despite the streak, on November 16th the Penguins swapped defensemen with the Dallas Stars sending Darryl Sydor to Dallas for Philippe Boucher.
With Fleury out of the lineup until December 18th and struggling when he returned, the Penguins proceeded to go 13-19-3 (.414) over their next 35 games and were in 10th place in the Eastern Conference (24-23-5, .510 win %), three points out of the final playoff spot, and put Michel Therrien's job in jeopardy. A 3-2-0 record over the next five games wasn't enough to save Therrien. On February 14th at Toronto, with Sergei Gonchar back in the lineup for the first time all season, the Penguins led 2-0 after the first period and 2-1 going into the third. The Maple Leafs then scored five third period goals to win 6-2. The next day, Therrien was fired and replaced by Dan Bylsma, the head coach of the Penguins' AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
Over the next 25 games, the Penguins went 18-3-4 (.800) which included a seven-game winning streak from February 25th to March 10th. In the 25 games after Bylsma joined the Penguins and Marc-Andre Fleury had a 16-3-4 record with a .915 save percentage and 2.40 goals-against-average. Evgeni Malkin won the NHL's scoring title with 113 points (35G, 78A) and the Penguins finished in fourth place in the Eastern Conference (45-28-9, .604 win %) with home-ice in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs against the rival Philadelphia Flyers.
After taking a 3-1 series lead, the Penguins dropped Game 5, 3-0, and headed back to Philadelphia for Game 6. Just 15 seconds after the Flyers went up 3-0 with 15:54 left in the second period of Game 6, Max Talbot fought Daniel Carcillo. Despite Carcillo winning the fight, Talbot shushed the frenzied Wachovia Center crowd on his way to the box. The Penguins ignited for three goals in a 12:24 span starting 14 seconds after the fight that tied the game at 3-3. The Penguins scored twice in the third period to eliminate the Flyers four games to two.
The Penguins dropped the opening two games of round two at Washington before winning three-straight to take a 3-2 series lead heading into Game 6. The Capitals won Game 6 forcing a deciding Game 7 at the Verizon Center in Washington. The Penguins scored twice in an eight-second span in the first period en route to crushing the Capitals, 6-2. Pittsburgh swept the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Final to set up a rematch with the Detroit Red Wings in the Stanley Cup Final.
Detroit and Pittsburgh each held serve at home leading up to a deciding Game 7 in Detroit. Max Talbot scored twice in the second period to give the Penguins a 2-0 lead heading into the third period at Joe Louis Arena. Jonathan Ericsson scored with 6:07 left in the game to set up a dramatic finish. A faceoff with 6.5 seconds left inside the Penguins defensive zone to the left of Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury would give the Red Wings a chance to tie the game. Henrik Zetterberg won the faceoff against Jordan Staal. The puck skittered back to Brian Rafalski at the right point who's shot was blocked by defenseman Hal Gill. Henrik Zetterberg gathered the puck in front of Gill and fired a shot off of Fleury's right leg pad. The puck trickled to Fleury's right, where Niklas Lidstrom, who had crept in from the left point, fired a shot toward Fleury from about 10 feet out. Fleury dove to his right and stopped the shot with his chest just before time expired.
Evgeni Malkin won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the player most valuable to his team during the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs as he scored 14 goals and 22 assists for 36 points. Malkin scored three game-winning goals, recorded at least one point in 18 of 24 games and had 12 multi-point games including a four-point (3G, 1A) effort in Game 2 vs. Carolina.
This ring is a replica of the actual ring awarded to Sidney Crosby. This size 11 ring features a raised skating penguin logo surrounding four glittering cubic zirconia inside the penguins' chest designed over the stone-emblazed outline of the Stanley Cup. Similar stones accentuate the face and shoulders of the ring. The left shank features three stone-clad Stanley Cup trophies with "2009" proudly displayed at the top. The right shank features Crosby's name and number with the sculpted team logos and scores of each post-season series victory.
