It's probably impossible for a Game 7 to feel run of the mill.
The lights are too bright. The stakes are too high. Every mistake is magnified, and every success is celebrated too much.
But if anyone could treat a winner-take-all showdown as ordinary, these Penguins just might be the team to do it.
When they take on the Ottawa Senators in the final game of the Eastern Conference final Thursday night at PPG Paints Arena, it will be the third Game 7 in their last five series.
Of the 20 players who dressed for a 2-1 Game 6 loss in Ottawa on Tuesday, only rookie winger Josh Archibald has yet to appear in an NHL Game 7. If Patric Hornqvist and Justin Schultz return from injury — a prospect coach Mike Sullivan said was reasonable Wednesday — there might not be a single Game 7 virgin on the ice.
"I think our guys have it in perspective," Sullivan said. "They understand what a seven-game series is all about. All you can do is control what you can and do your very best to have success."
The fact that the Penguins have so much Game 7 experience is a double-edged sword, however.
On one hand, it's a big advantage.
There's very little chance the Penguins will shrink from the enormity of the moment.
Take winger Bryan Rust for example. He has played in two Games 7s in his career — in the Eastern Conference final against Tampa Bay last year and in the second round against Washington this season — and scored the winning goal in both.
It's hard to imagine him fumbling a puck in a key spot because of jitters.
"For me and for a lot of guys in the room, it's just another hockey game," Rust said. "It might be a little bit more pressure, but I think pressure's good. It makes guys work a little bit harder and do things the right way. I think that's going to help our team."
Or consider the case of Matt Murray. He's a goaltender who has won 17 playoff games before his 23rd birthday, which he will celebrate Thursday. Included in that total is a Game 7 victory against Tampa Bay last season.
It's hard to picture the nerves getting to him, either.
"Of course it's fun. Hockey's fun," Murray said. "I would say it's added fun when the stakes are high. Everybody's trying that much harder, and it's that much more intense. It's fun to get lost in those moments and do what you can do."
As cool as the Penguins might be heading into Thursday night, there are some obvious downsides to being pressed into Game 7 situations so regularly.
For one thing, letting a playoff series come down to one game brings into play all kinds of small-sample-size swings of luck and momentum.
The team that scores first in Game 7 wins about 75 percent of the time in NHL history. One bad bounce, and even a superior team can be looking at the wrong side of that formidable stat.
Coming off Craig Anderson's 45-save performance Tuesday night, the Penguins also are all too aware of how strong goaltending can render opponents helpless, no matter how well they're playing.
"Everything's magnified in a Game 7. Every little mistake," forward Carter Rowney said. "You know both teams are going to defend hard. Both teams are going to bring their best game."
For another thing, Game 7s are taxing. Physically and mentally grueling. And the Penguins are playing in one for the second straight series.
They've played 206 games since the start of last season, not counting exhibitions and the World Cup of Hockey. The Senators have played 188.
With a victory Thursday night, the Penguins would play for the Stanley Cup for the sixth time in franchise history. They would be the first team to reach the final in back-to-back seasons since the Penguins and Detroit squared off in back-to-back meetings in 2008-09.
But to make any of that happen, they'll need to have energy in reserve.
"I think our energy is good. I do," center Matt Cullen said. "We've been playing four lines throughout the entire playoffs. Obviously we have some different bumps and bruises, but that's par for the course at this point. I would say our energy level as a group is pretty good."
Jonathan Bombulie is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at jbombulie@tribweb.com or via Twitter at @BombulieTrib.
