Crosby and Pens get rematch with Wings

Detroit won in six games last year and is looking to repeat winning back-to-back championships as it did in 1997 and 1998.

DETROIT (AP) — Don’t be fooled by the scraggly semblance of a beard that strains to cover chunks of Sidney Crosby’s 21-year-old face.

He’s most definitely still Sid the Kid, but with a tough loss to the Detroit Red Wings in the Stanley Cup finals under his belt, the young Pittsburgh Penguins captain has the experience that could make a difference in the rematch.

“There’s no surprises this year,” Crosby said Friday. “We know what to expect. Even a simple thing like today, coming in we know what to expect.”

For the first time since 1983 and 1984 when the New York Islanders and Edmonton Oilers split a pair of titles, the NHL championship is a rematch. The Penguins hope to equal the Oilers’ feat of losing in the final round against a dynasty team and wresting away the Cup the following year.

“We know our opponent,” Crosby said. “Last year that wasn’t the case. There shouldn’t be any anticipation, really. We know what to do. We’ve got to go out there and do it.”

Edmonton’s win in 1984 ended the Islanders’ reign of four straight titles and started the Oilers’ run of five championships in seven years.

The Red Wings, who have won four titles in 11 seasons, are built on a foundation of older stalwarts such as captain Nicklas Lidstrom, Tomas Holmstrom, Kris Draper and Kirk Maltby. They are bolstered by relative newcomers Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg, their top two regular-season scorers.

Detroit won in six games last year and is looking to win back-to-back championships — something no NHL team has done since they did in 1997 and 1998 and with several of these same players.

“It’s fun when you look back at some of the pictures when we tried growing beards and still had a little of the baby fat going,” said Maltby, a four-time Cup winner. “Now the roles are reversed and we’re the older guys.

“To be able to get here for a fifth time is something I never would’ve dreamed of.”

The banged-up, older Red Wings expect to have Lidstrom back on the blue line tonight after he was forced to sit out the last two games of the conference finals against Chicago because of an undisclosed lower-body injury.

Draper, sidelined for all but four games during this postseason, should also return along with defenseman Jonathan Ericsson — just a few days removed from surgery following a bout with appendicitis.

Datsyuk is still the biggest question mark. He practiced Friday morning, but will be a game-time decision.

The Penguins have surged since February when coach Michel Therrien, who took them to the finals last year, was fired. Pittsburgh was in 10th place in the Eastern Conference and in danger of missing the playoffs.

Dan Bylsma, who played under current Red Wings coach Mike Babcock in 2003 when Anaheim reached the Cup finals, was promoted from the AHL to head coach and led an 18-3-4 finish that vaulted the Penguins to the No. 4 seed.

Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are tied for the NHL playoff lead with 28 points. Crosby is on top with 14 goals, and Malkin is right behind him with 12.

“You dream your whole life about being in that position and you work so hard, and right at that moment you never know if you’re going to get another chance,” Crosby said of the finals loss. “We feel pretty fortunate to get a second chance here.”