Facing early elimination not overly daunting to veteran Penguins

Hotel X Toronto is considered 4½-star lodging. The grounds of the 404-unit dwelling include, among other amenities, a Guerlain Spa, rooftop swimming pool, eight squash courts and a TopGolf swing suite.

The Pittsburgh Penguins booked a six-week stay. Twelve days after checking in, eviction beckons.

Trailing 2-1 in their best-of-five, NHL qualifying-round series, the Penguins’ stay in the “bubble” would burst less than a week after their playoff run began with a loss to the Montreal Canadiens in Game 4 on Friday.

“It should not be the last game for us,” center Evgeni Malkin said during a video conference call with media Thursday. “We don’t want that. We rested the four months beforehand. We want to play more.

“We don’t want to be finished (Friday), for sure.”

Few would have predicted that possibility just six days prior, when the Penguins entered this unique postseason on many people’s short list of favorites to claim the Stanley Cup about 4½ months following the “pause” of the NHL season because of concerns related to the coronavirus pandemic.

Since the Canadiens had the NHL’s eighth-worst record, the Penguins were thought to have been booked for at least a month or so in Toronto, the length of time in which a first-round series against a top-four Eastern Conference seed would need to complete.

Instead, the scrappy Canadiens have pushed the Penguins to the brink after they erased a two-goal deficit during a 4-3 win against the Penguins in Game 3 on Wednesday.

Bask in my hockey expertise, peons. https://t.co/vAWUd3sBsS

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“We try to stay positive right now, try to support each other,” said Malkin, a Penguins’ alternate captain for more than a decade. “The next two days is huge for us, including myself. We have great experience, like we’ve played before so many games in playoffs. Our confidence is fine. We understand we are playing against a good team. We just did not play right last game. If we play right, we’ll have a good chance to win.”

In 18 elimination games the Penguins core of Malkin, Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang have played since 2007-08, they’re 10-8. That includes a 7-0 record during the three playoff runs that ended with a Stanley Cup. But it also includes consecutive defeats while facing elimination in 2018 and last season.

“We try to stay positive,” Malkin said. “We have great experience …

“We need all three guys — me, ‘Tanger’ and Sid — to take a huge step up and (have) everyone follow us. If we play and do the right things, we have a great chance to win.”

But what are “the right things” for a team that entered this series such a prohibitive favorite but have outscored, 8-4, at even-strength?

“Attention to details,” defenseman Marcus Pettersson said.

The implication was rooted in things such as not turning the puck over or allowing odd-man breaks.

“Do the small things right,” veteran forward Patric Hornqvist said. “If we do that, we will be fine.”

When the qualifiers series began last week, East No. 12 seed Montreal was the biggest betting underdog in the round.

Yet here the Canadiens are, up two games to one against the mighty Pittsburgh Penguins.https://t.co/2HaPNowg5P

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Throughout a combined 23 minutes of media availability Thursday, three Penguins players and coach Mike Sullivan said all the right things. They remain confident. They believe in the players on the roster. They’ve done some good things in this series. They’re staying loose and not panicking.

Sullivan wouldn’t tip his hand on any possible lineup changes. Though he lamented a lack of urgency to this point of the series, Sullivan insisted his players’ collective mindset is in the right place.

“The guys are upbeat,” Sullivan said. “We’ve just got to make sure we stay in the moment. Let’s win the one game right in front of us. That’s what we’re going to try to do. I think we’ve got a confident group. We understand where we’re at. We know what’s at stake here. We had pretty energetic practice (Thursday), and I think the guys are excited to play (Friday).”

Hornqvist has been part of four elimination-game wins with the Penguins. He’s one of 11 players who have won at least three such games in the NHL — all but one of that group (Patrick Marleau) having done so while with the Penguins.

“The mood is great,” Hornqvist said. “We know what kind of situation we’re in. We’ve been there before, a lot of guys have been there before. No one said it was going to be easy to play in the Stanley Cup playoffs. We know what we are up against. We just have to get those details together.

“We’re all looking forward for 4 o’clock (Friday) to get going.”

Keep up with the Pittsburgh Penguins all season long.