NHL Playoffs 2021: 3 reasons Penguins will win the Stanley Cup

3. The Pittsburgh Penguins have experience

Winning a Stanley Cup is extremely tough. The Penguins know this better than anyone, as only the Boston Bruins have played in more Stanley Cup Playoff games than them over the past 10 seasons.

It starts with Crosby, who has nearly two full seasons worth of postseason games on his resume. Since the start of the 2005-06 season (Crosby’s rookie year), only former teammate Chris Kunitz has played in more postseason games than Crosby’s 168. In the postseason, Sid The Kid finds a way to raise his level of play to an even higher level, averaging 1.13 points per game.

Malkin also has a strong postseason resume. He’s a bit of a question mark thanks to an injury, but if he’s healthy, he’s capable of taking over games in the postseason. Malkin started the season slowly, but he was heating up just before he got injured. Hopefully, for the Penguins, he’ll get back to dominating like he usually does.

Letang’s experience will prove to be valuable, especially on what’s a relatively young blueline. Brian Dumoulin and Cody Ceci are the only other defensemen on the blueline with at least 200 NHL regular-season games and 20 postseason games.

The only place the Penguins lack experience is in net, as Tristan Jarry and Casey DeSmith have a combined one game of postseason experience. That said, both have AHL postseason experience, which counts for something. Jarry should be the number one goalie in the playoffs, but DeSmith provides the Pens with a solid Plan B in case Jarry gets injured or struggles.