Last night, the Pittsburgh Penguins took a 3-1 series lead over the Washington Capitals in a nail-biting overtime victory. In doing so, they defied the odds – and a few different unfortunate statistics that all pointed to a probably loss.
First of all, the Pens were missing their top two defensemen, Kris Letang and Olli Maatta. Pittsburgh went into the game with a dismal record of 2-8-1 when Letang was missing from the lineup, and the fact that he played 35 minutes in the previous game didn’t make his absence any easier.