If you thought the Nashville Predators had a “next man up” mentality in these playoffs, take a look at the current Pittsburgh Penguins defensive roster. They practically invented the phrase.
After losing Kris Letang to a neck injury in early April, the Penguins needed the rest of their defensive core to step up in a big way. Letang averaged nearly 29 minutes per game in the playoffs last year and had 15 points in 23 games. It was a loss that most teams would not be able to recover from.