The champagne wasn't on ice because, well, they don't spray the bubbly in the NHL until after the big silver trophy gets the white-glove treatment in June.
Other than some smiles and a few hearty fist-bumps on a job well done, there was little sign of a celebration on the ice or in the home dressing room at PPG Paints Arena late Thursday night. Really, the Penguins' reaction to their 4-1 win over the Red Wings in Game No. 81 was as muted as it was after their win over the Flames in Game No. 8 back in October.
This is Pittsburgh, after all. Here, the crowd thinned out long before the final horn sounded. Here, success is measured only in Stanley Cup championships. Playoff berths?
"I don't expect less than that," Kris Letang was saying.
Postseason appearances have become a rite of spring in Pittsburgh. Thursday's win made it 13 years in a row for the Penguins, the longest such stretch in the NHL and the second-longest in major North American pro sports.
But with all due respect to Gregg Popovich and Bill Belichick, the Penguins' run transcends coaches, general managers and a few hundred players.
"It's difficult to make the playoffs, it's hard," said Mike Sullivan, who has only been on board for the last four years. "There's a lot of good teams. There's going to be good teams that don't make the playoffs. Every year there is. With the parity in the league, it's not an easy feat year in and year out."
The only common thread that holds most -- if not all -- 13 seasons together is Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Letang. That core has brought three Stanley Cup championships in their 40 combined seasons in Pittsburgh. Somewhat fittingly, all three figured prominently in Thursday night's clincher.
Malkin and Letang both made triumphant returns coming off injury. Malkin picked up an assist, but each player was on the ice for three of the Penguins' four goals. Crosby ended a season-worst, 10-game, goal-less drought. Much like his team's season, it wasn't necessarily pretty, but it got the job done:
Whether that core trio can make it four Cups will be decided over the next two months or so.
Playoff appearances might be old hat to some but sometimes you have to stop and smell the roses and appreciate what you have. These are not the Penguins of 2016 or '17. They are not a juggernaut. They will not enter the postseason as favorites to win the Cup or even represent the Eastern Conference in the Final. But they are team that nobody -- not even the Presidents' Trophy-winning Lightning -- should want to face. Nope, not with the Penguins playing their best hockey over the last five weeks or so.
"I believe in this group," Sullivan was saying. "When we play the right way, I think we can compete with any team in the league."
That the Penguins were even able to extend their streak to 13 years is remarkable considering all they've had to overcome already:
"I think every year we've got some adversity, it's not different," Letang was telling me. "If I remember a few years ago, Sid was out and I don't think the expectation was 'Sid's out, we're not making the playoffs, he's the best player in the world.' We still put up a big roster every year. That's the expectation going into training camp: To go to the postseason and give ourselves a chance to win."
Respectfully, I'll disagree with Letang. No, this isn't 2011 when the Penguins were DOA without Crosby, but this season was different.
Think back to January and February when they went 12-10-2 and there were legitimate concerns that the Penguins could miss out on the playoffs. Think back to Justin Schultz's broken leg in October and to subsequent injuries to Matt Murray, Matt Cullen, Olli Maatta, Bryan Rust, Zach Aston-Reese, Patric Hornqvist, Malkin and Letang, all of whom missed significant time.
"Key guys not in the lineup and yet guys continue to find ways to win," Sullivan was saying. "That's what I love about this group of players: They're a committed group. They love playing at this time of year and they deserve a lot of credit."
Then, throw in the fact that Malkin, Hornqvist and Phil Kessel, Thursday night's hero, all have endured protracted slumps at one point or another. It's impressive.
"It's always the goal to get in the playoffs," Crosby was saying when I asked about his team's journey. "Obviously, you want to win at the end of the year, but it's not as easy as that.
"Definitely with the injuries and things like that, we did a good job of different guys stepping up, guys who were called up, came in and did a good job. It took different things to get there but I think we definitely did it as a group and that always feels good."
Indeed, it was collective.
As Sullivan was saying, don't forget the role that ownership and management had in this. Not all teams spend to the cap limit. Ron Burkle and Mario Lemieux do.
"These guys, they just do it right in my opinion," the coach said.
Not all teams swing for the fences at the trade deadline (or a few weeks before). Jim Rutherford does. It's not just making the deals but identifying the right players and having them fit seamlessly. Without the acquisitions of Marcus Pettersson, Nick Bjugstad, Jared McCann and Erik Gudbranson, perhaps the Penguins are in the second wildcard spot like, say, the Blue Jackets or worse.
As Murray and Crosby pointed out, don't forget the role of the farm system either.
"Says a lot about the way they develop players, and the consistency is pretty cool," the goalie said.
The call-ups from Wilkes-Barre certainly have their fingerprints on this, too. Without Garrett Wilson, Teddy Blueger, Zach Trotman, Juuso Riikola, Adam Johnson and, hell, even Joe Blandisi, the Penguins streak could have ended at 12 years.
Sure, it took the Penguins 81 games and until April 4 to get to 99 points, but the Penguins' mantra this season has been to just get in the playoffs and see where that takes them. Well, here they are.
Who they'll face in the first round is still unknown. It could be the Islanders or it could be the Capitals. That will be determined following Saturday night's regular-season finale against the Rangers. The only certainty is that the Penguins won't be the second wildcard team and have to face Tampa Bay in the first round.
The Islanders, who beat the Panthers in a shootout Thursday night, will face the Metro Division champion Capitals in Washington on Saturday. If the Penguins win and the Islanders lose in regulation, the Penguins would have home-ice advantage in their first-round series. If both the Islanders and Penguins win, New York would have home ice.
The Penguins could face the Capitals if they lose to the Rangers and the Hurricanes beat the Flyers in regulation, falling into the first wildcard spot.
Basically, the Penguins control their own destiny and it sets up another huge game here on Saturday night. Given the stakes, Sullivan likes his team's chances.
"For me, it's all about attitude and how you look at it," he said. "Usually, if you're in the situation that involves pressure, it's a great opportunity. That's what we talked to our players about. The opportunity that we have, let's take advantage of it. That's why I think this group of players thrives in high-stakes situations. They have the right mindset where they're not paralyzed by the pressure of the moment."
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
THREE STARS
My curtain calls go to …
1. Phil Kessel
Penguins right winger
If only every game were against Detroit. With two more goals on Thursday, he's now scored five goals in three games vs. the Red Wings this season. That's his most against any opponent. Taylor takes a deeper dive into Kessel's night here.
2. Matt Murray
Penguins goaltender
Murray's been money lately, winning five of his last seven starts. He stopped 33 of 34 shots on Thursday for just his second win in six career starts against the Red Wings. With seeding still on the line, you better believe he'll make his 10th straight start Saturday against the Rangers.
3. Sidney Crosby
Penguins center
With a goal and two assists, Crosby is now two points shy of 100 for the season. Should he hit the century mark on Saturday, it will be just the sixth time in his Hall of Fame career.
THE GOOD
It was no coincidence that the Penguins ended their three-game dry spell on the power play with Malkin and Letang back in the lineup. The Penguins went 2-for-4 with the man-advantage for their first multi-goal game since March 14 at Buffalo. That was the last game that Malkin was 100-percent healthy. But as Sullivan was saying after Thursday's win, Malkin and Letang mean far more to the Penguins at 5-on-5.
"Both guys are dominant players," the coach was saying. "It just changes the whole dynamic of our team."
"The impact they have, I think, it's felt throughout every aspect of our game, not just the power play. It puts players in positions where they're cast in the role that they should be cast in. They're in somewhat of a comfort zone. It's just a significant impact that they have. We're a much better team when they're in our lineup."
With Malkin back, Teddy Blueger moved down to a bottom-six role which reunited the Russian star with Kessel. At 15:32 of the second, Kessel scored off Malkin's faceoff win against Darren Helm for his second even-strength goal in as many games:
Letang didn't record a point but was all over the ice. Managing minutes? Forget about it. He played a game-high 25:52 to go along with nine shot attempts and two blocked shots. In his last 17 games, Letang has recorded five goals and 11 assists for 16 points. Eleven of those points have come at even strength.
THE BAD
From a Penguins perspective, there was really nothing bad about Thursday's game. But there was one sequence that qualified as ugly. It was certainly unusual.
Remember when Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed knocked each other down in the climatic scene at the end of Rocky II? That was basically Jack Johnson and Tyler Bertuzzi at 14:52 of the second period:
First, Johnson got his stick up and clipped Bertuzzi in the face as the puck went into the corner to the right of Murray. But as the Red Wings forward fell to the ice in pain, he threw his stick, hitting Johnson in the face. Both players were bloodied and both went to the penalty box to serve matching double-minor penalties.
How unusual is that? Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said he was talking to Chris Chelios after the game about it. If Chelios, who played 1,651 games — seventh-most in league history — hasn't seen it called before, chances are it hasn't happened before.
"You don't see that very often," Blashill said. "I think I argued our guy only high-sticked their guy because he high-sticked our guy. But they weren't buying it."
THE OTHER SIDE
Over the last month or so, the Penguins have played only a handful of teams that were out of playoff contention. Some, like the Sabres and Rangers, simply rolled over. Not the Red Wings. During their six-game winning streak that ended Thursday, the Red Wings managed to knock off quality teams like the Golden Knights, Sharks, Bruins and Penguins.
The Red Wings even jumped out to a 1-0 lead on Matt Puempel's power-play goal at 7:35 of the first period -- his first point of the season -- but they could not sustain that momentum. In the end, they were simply out-classed. Detroit's top line of Anthony Mantha, Dylan Larkin and Bertuzzi, a trio that combined for eight points against the Penguins on Tuesday, were completely held in check.
"I didn't think our best players were nearly as good as they've been," Blashill said. "They've been excellent through this stretch. What you'd like to have happen when that is the case, you'd like other people to step up. ... They weren't bad. They just weren't nearly as good."
One Red Wing was at his best though. Jimmy Howard stopped 43 of 47 shots. If not for the goalie, it could have been much worse. Detroit, which qualified for the playoffs every year from 1991 to 2016, will miss out for the third straight spring.
THE DATA
• Jake Guentzel's first-period goal was his 39th of the season. If he gets one more on Saturday, he'll become the first Penguins winger since James Neal to hit the 40-goal mark. If he doesn't, he'll still likely join Chris Kunitz (2012-13) as the only player besides Crosby or Malkin to lead the Penguins in goals since 2005-06.
• Not to sound like a broken record but Dominik Simon led the Penguins with a 72.73 Corsi For percentage. He's now done that in four of Pittsburgh's last six games.
• Hornqvist's secondary assist on Kessel's second-period power-play goal gives him points in two of the last three games. He'd gone the previous seven games without a point.
• Crosby won 68 percent of his faceoffs. As impressive as that is, Cullen won 75 percent.
• Maatta’s assist on Guentzel’s goal was his first point since Feb. 2 at Toronto. Thursday was his fourth game back from a shoulder injury.
THE INJURIES
• Brian Dumoulin, defenseman, missed his second game with a lower-body injury but is progressing according to Sullivan. Dumoulin did not skate Thursday.
• Kris Letang, defenseman, returned after missing the last four games with an upper-body injury.
• Evgeni Malkin, center, returned after missing eight games with an apparent rib injury.
• Zach Aston-Reese, forward, missed his 12th game with a hip injury and is considered to be out longer-term.
• Chad Ruhwedel, defenseman, missed his 18th game with an upper-body injury and is also considered to be out longer-term. He is skating on his own.
THE LINEUPS
Sullivan’s lines and pairings:
McCann-Crosby-Guentzel
Rust-Malkin-Kessel
Simon-Bjugstad-Hornqvist
Blueger-Cullen-Wilson
Maatta-Letang
J. Johnson-Schultz
Pettersson-Gudbranson
And for Blashill's Red Wings:
Bertuzzi-Larkin-Mantha
Helm-Athanasiou-Hirose
Kuffner-Ehn-Frk
Puempel-Turgeon-Witkowski
Kronwall-Hronek
Hicketts-Bowey
McIlrath-Chelios
THE SCHEDULE
The Penguins will practice at noon today in Cranberry. I'll have your coverage, including any injury updates. The Penguins will close out the regular-season schedule Saturday night against the Rangers at 7:08 p.m. Dejan, Sunday, Taylor and I will all be there for that one.
THE COVERAGE
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MATT SUNDAY GALLERY
Penguins vs. Red Wings, PPG Paints Arena, April 4, 2019 - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS