Back-to-back Stanley Cup winners, Penguins shoot for three-peat

Hockey sticks clacked against ice, and a sellout crowd erupted Wednesday night as the Penguins’ championship banner reached its resting place in the crowded rafters at PPG Paints Arena. The players stood at the blue line, with the Stanley Cup placed on a pedestal before them, and craned their necks to see the addition to the banners accumulating overhead.

It was a sight and sound not witnessed there in 357 days.

A year ago, the Penguins began a quest to become the first team since the 1997-98 Detroit Red Wings to win back-to-back Stanley Cups. They were not denied. On Wednesday, the bar raised with the banner. The Penguins concluded their celebration and embarked on a larger challenge. No…