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The acquisition of Marian Hossa at the trade deadline has paid off for the Penguins so far in the playoffs. Look for the speedy to Hossa to continue to shine against the Red Wings in the Stanley Cup finals, writes contributor David Pagnotta.

Staal, meanwhile, struggled throughout the regular season, but has turned it on during the playoffs. He’s contributed offensively, but more importantly he’s played an excellent shut down game in the defensive zone.

“You always approach the playoffs with a lot of confidence,” said Penguins head coach Michel Therrien. “And the confidence that we had is the way that we've been finishing the year the last two months I thought we played some great hockey.

“Not only offensively, but defensively, as well. There was no doubt that we were approaching every single game with a lot of confidence. But to be quite honest, when we start the playoffs, we're not thinking about the Stanley Cup finals. Our main focus was on the first round, and that was our philosophy with that young group.”

The trade deadline additions of Hossa, Pascal Dupuis and Hal Gill have paid extreme dividends for the Penguins.

Hossa ranks second on the team in scoring with 19 points, Dupuis has registered six points and a plus-7 rating, and Gill’s shutdown style has been brilliant thus far.

“We were missing some pieces of the puzzle,” Therrien said. “It was crucial for us. And all those three guys that we brought in, they really buy in right away to the team concept.”

With Game 1 set for Saturday, expect a lot of excitement at both ends of the rink. The Penguins are facing a dangerous opponent in the Red Wings and they’re going to need everyone to be a dynamo on the ice.

The scorers will need to score, the defensemen will need to black out the opposition, Fleury must to be on top of his game, and the grinders will have to get in Detroit’s head right from the get-go.

The Penguins have an extremely well-rounded squad, one the Red Wings have yet to face all year — and that gives Pittsburgh a huge advantage.

Granted, the Anaheim Ducks and San Jose Sharks had excellent seasons, but the Penguins’ roster isn’t something the Wings have seen. Pittsburgh’s youth and speed will bust through Detroit’s tight-knit blueline, and their gritty agitators will get in Chris Osgood’s grill. The goals scorers are among the most potent in the entire NHL and they’ll cause a havoc on the Red Wings’ system.

Therrien has utilized his assets quite well and while they may be young, they’re not going to use that as an excuse.

“We don't have much [Stanley Cup] experience,” Therrien said. “But we compensate with a lot of things. We compensate with passion. We play a mature game for a young team. When you put those two together, then this is a team who wants to learn. And they're ready to learn and they are making those sacrifices to learn.”

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