The Pittsburgh Penguins are, once again, headed for an early summer after being ousted in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
And once again, said defeat came at the hands of the New York Rangers.
Pittsburgh certainly had their hands tied in the quarterfinal match-up, as they entered the series without four of their top five defensemsen – Kris Letang, Christian Ehrhoff, Olli Maatta, and Derrick Pouliot – all of whom rank as the club’s best puck-moving blue-liners.
With the Pens falling apart due to their dire need of offense from their back end, the loss of young defenseman Simon Despres seems to ring as all the more significant.