PITTSBURGH -- And so seven years later, the door swings open once again to the Stanley Cup finals for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The same stage now awaits Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang, as it did during that championship run of 2009.
So much time has passed, so many opportunities gone by the boards, and almost suddenly here it is again, the shot at glory many believed would be commonplace.
But in the wake of a dramatic 2-1 victory over a plucky Tampa Bay Lightning team in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals Thursday night, if there is one defining characteristic about this Pittsburgh team, it's in how vastly different it is.