Eighteen years ago today, the Pittsburgh Penguins punched their ticket to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1992.
The Penguins, full of a mix of youth and grizzly veterans, had made their return to the postseason a year prior, quickly dispatched in five games by the Ottawa Senators.
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Now a year later, Pittsburgh had seemed to have learned a lot from their loss, storming through the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs with a 4-0 sweep of the Ottawa Senators and a 4-1 series win against the New York Rangers.
Up next were the Penguins’ cross-state rivals from Philadelphia, but the series shifted heavily towards Pittsburgh from the start.
The Flyers held off being eliminated in Game 4, but all things went Pittsburgh’s way in Game 5 at the Mellon Arena.
Ryan Malone scored twice along with goals from Evgeni Malkin, Marian Hossa, Jordan Staal, and Pascal Dupuis as the Penguins cruised to the Stanley Cup Final with a 6-0 win.
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