NHL Playoffs 2011: How Far Can the Penguins Get Without Their Star Players?

Finally, the time of the season most fans and players have been waiting for, the playoffs, or as Max Talbot said on Twitter after the last game of the regular season, “Just shaved for the last time till June. Let the real season begin!”

The Penguins still start the playoffs with less power than they had hoped to have as captain Sidney Crosby is still on the injured reserve list. Evgeni Malkin is also out for the rest of the season after knee surgery in February.

But even with the adversity of two of their biggest stars out of the line up, things are looking up for the Penguins, who had over eight players on their injured reserve list at one point.

As an added bonus, Jordan Staal returned to the line up in January after missing the first half of the season due to complications from an injury suffered in last year’s playoffs and a broken hand. Staal has 30 points in only 42 games played this season in addition to being powerful at both ends of the ice. He looks to be a big factor in keeping the team motivated and playing well during the post season.

With just Crosby and Malkin out, it almost seems like a normal team for the Penguins who won eight out of the last 10 games of the season. But the question is, how far can the team get without (arguably) two of the best players in the world?

Looking at their record this season without those players, they can go pretty dang far. The team stepped up when faced with adversity with help from their coach, Dan Bylsma, who kept spirits high even when it looked like all may be lost.

"I think we've heard that anybody can coach Crosby and Malkin," Penguins General Manager Ray Shero told NHL.com. "But coaching without those two guys, and how the team's playing now with work ethic and discipline is something he's said from Day 1. I'm really proud of that for the team and for Dan.”

With the discipline Bylsma has installed in his players, there is no doubt that they can play at a top level even without all their star power. They face the Lightning in the first round of the playoffs, who they split the season series against during the regular seasons. Both of their victories were blowouts however, with scores of 8-1 and 5-1.

It is almost guaranteed that Crosby will not be back for the first round; he has not been cleared for contact practice yet even though he is skating during practices. But that shouldn’t stop the team from beating the Lightning and advancing to the second round if they can carry their late season momentum into the postseason.

The team people have seen over the past three months proves that even with their captain missing, they can compete at a high level that may even be good enough to win the Stanley Cup for the second time in three years.

The injury bug seems to have disappeared for the team so if they can stay healthy and continue working as hard as they have been, there is no telling what it will take to stop them from going after what they believe is theirs. And should Crosby return to the line up at some point in the post season, it will only make the team stronger.