DETROIT — As Sidney Crosby spoke with his parents in the Joe Louis Arena hallway after the Penguins’ practice Sunday afternoon, he wore a sweat-soaked, standard-issue team playoff T-shirt with the word “SACRIFICE” on the back — in five languages.
In the nearby visiting dressing room, the Penguins have done a quick remodeling job for the first two games of the Stanley Cup Finals, posting placards reminding the players of catchphrases appropriate for a motivational infomercial that sells a three-CD set of sales secrets for $29.95 in the dead of night.
The slogans included “Demand More,” “Take the Next Step,” “Keep Climbing,” “We Supply Everything But the Guts,” “Good is the Enemy of Great,” and the final one at the door: “Are You Willing to Sacrifice to Win? If Not, Turn Around.”
An equipment man tried (and mostly failed) to keep intruders from walking across the Penguin logo rug unrolled in the middle of the room.
And the Penguins, who had stormed to 3-0 leads in all three of their previous playoff series in this postseason, emphasized that they remain confident heading into tonight’s Game 2 of the Finals against the Red Wings.
Crosby has been teamed with wingers Marian Hossa and Pascal Dupuis for the postseason, but Pittsburgh coach Michel Therrien is shaking up the Pens’ lines after the 4-0 loss in Game 1. In the shuffling, Ryan Malone will replace Dupuis as Crosby’s left wing at the outset of Game 2. Still, with the Wings having the last change at home, Crosby will continue to see the Pavel Datsyuk-centered Detroit line out against him tonight.
“We’ve done it a lot all season,” Crosby said of the changes, “so I don’t think it’s a huge deal. I think nobody’s role changes when they change lines. I think everyone is expected to do the same thing. It’s just different looks, and sometimes it depends on who Coach wants to play certain lines against and how they match up. So that’s just basically a decision to make sure everything’s evened out.”
Therrien said of the matchup between Crosby’s and Datsyuk’s lines: “We’re still OK with it. . . . We’re not going to pull Sid off the ice every time he’s going to play against (Henrik) Zetterberg. We don’t have the last change, and they do. And I don’t mind that matchup.”
Actually, the Penguins probably would accept a standoff between Crosby’s and Datsyuk’s lines, if Evgeni Malkin can be productive. Malkin, the young Russian who had a terrific season, stepping up when Crosby was out with a high ankle sprain, is a finalist for the Hart Trophy as the league’s MVP.
Therrien said he delivered a pep talk to Malkin on Sunday morning, calling it “just a reminder of a few things he needs to focus on. With a player like this, I believe you’ve got to be positive with him. He feeds from positive.”
At practice Sunday, goalie Marc-Andre Fleury was good-naturedly poking fun at himself for his stumble through the gate when coming onto the ice before Game 1. He gave his teammates a few laughs Sunday when he “rehearsed” his entrance at practice.
“I didn’t want to fall and get skated over,” Fleury said later, smiling. “So I had to work on that little bit.”
And that happened despite the fact there was no sign in the dressing room telling the Penguins to stay loose.
