Five Reasons Why Pittsburgh Penguins Will Win the Stanley Cup

Pittsburgh Penguins - 2009 Stanley Cup Champions

The Pittsburgh Penguins are having a phenomenal season, which is incredible considering it is an abbreviated year due to the NHL lockout making almost every game as strenuous as playoff hockey throughout the regular season.

The Penguins had many accomplishments throughout the season; one of the biggest being a 15-game winning streak that began on Mar. 2 and lasted until their first loss on Apr. 2 at the hands of the Buffalo Sabres. Pittsburgh was just two games shy of tying the league record earned by the Penguins back in 1993. In addition to the streak, the Penguins went the entire month of March without a loss making them the first team to do so during the regular season in league history.

Prior to the trade deadline, the Penguins made a few acquisitions and after only two losses for the newly assembled team to get comfortable and gel together, they once again began a winning streak that was halted at seven also at the hands of the Sabres.

When a team has a historic season such as Pittsburgh is having, they are obviously doing something right. They are actually doing plenty of things right and among the five most important things are the new acquisitions, leadership, depth, their veterans and defensive play. These things will no doubt make the Penguins unstoppable in making a successful playoff run and ultimately to win the Stanley Cup.

Stephanie Lewark is an NHL and Pittsburgh Penguins Senior Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow her on Twitter (@steelcitysports), check out her Facebook page, or add her to your Google+ circle.

New Acquisitions

Prior to the deadline, the Penguins made moves to acquire new players defenseman Douglas Murray, and forwards Brenden Morrow, Jerome Iginla and Jussi Jokinen.

The Penguins were a strong team already, but there were still a few tweeks needing to be made and with these new acquisitions, the team was made better, stronger, even unstoppable as they proved with another winning streak with seven games after only a two-game loss while the newer players got acquainted with a new system and teammates.

Penguins general manager, Ray Shero, not only added grit and physicality, he also added more talent, skill and the all-important veteran presence with this group of acquisitions.

Leadership

The Penguins have many players who are willing to step up when they are needed at any given time. Each player has his own brand of leadership characteristics, which will come in handy during the playoffs and is one of the team's strengths.

Captain, Sidney Crosby, leads by example while defenseman Brooks Orpik is a quiet leader. And others like Brenden Morrow and Jerome Iginla provide veteran leadership.

All of the types of leaders that the Penguins have will be needed during the playoffs in order to make it through to win the Cup and this team no doubt has all the necessary leadership qualities to do that.

Depth

The Penguins' depth has been a foundation that they have been building on since before Ray Shero became the general manager and has been finely molded into an extensive network for the team to draw on when needed.

This will be important during the playoffs when the unavoidable injuries begin to creep up.

One good thing about this season is that the Penguins have already used their depth when superstars like Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin have been out of the lineup. Depth played a big part in the Penguins continuing to thrive and stay successful through the season even without some of their biggest, most talented players.

Veterans

Its apparent that you need your veterans to lead especially going into the playoffs because nothing compares to experience. When you think of some of the Penguins more successful seasons, you recall they had an experienced veteran presence on the ice and in the locker room such as Gary Roberts and Bill Guerin.

Many of the players bring playoff experience to the table, but veterans like Brenden Morrow and Jerome Iginla prove priceless to a team throughout a successful playoff run.

Defensive Play

The Penguins made it a point to focus on their defense and when they did that, they began a 15-game winning streak.

An important part of defense is goaltending. The tandem of Marc-Andre Fleury and Tomas Vokoun have stood strong in net this season for the Penguins. Vokoun was brought aboard to give Fleury more of a break to be rested come playoff time and it appears to have worked.

These two, along with the entire defensive core, will undoubtedly be a big reason the Penguins will have a successful playoff run.