What everyone seems to be missing about the Pittsburgh Penguins is that they don't need Sidney Crosby.

The Penguins have a roster capable of competing for the Stanley Cup, with or without the league's biggest star. So much attention is being paid to when Crosby might return from his broken jaw that we all might be missing the real story about how complete Pittsburgh's roster is. The Penguins would still be a favorite to reach the Stanley Cup Final even if Crosby wasn't going to be ready soon.

"The depth here is second to none," said Pittsburgh defenseman Douglas Murray, who arrived in a trade from the San Jose Sharks.

The Penguins' depth was evident in Game 1 against the New York Islanders on Wednesday when they had to play without injured defenseman Brooks Orpik, their shutdown guy.

In this salary-cap era, most teams would have to plug that hole with a youngster. The Penguins inserted veteran Mark Eaton, won won a Stanley Cup in 2009 and blocked eight shots in Game 1.

Brenden Morrow, acquired before the trade deadline, didn't have a point in Game 1 but was more noticeable than Penguins star Evgeni Malkin (two assists).

Scoring winger James Neal was injured against the Islanders, but rookie Beau Bennett, an apprentice scoring winger, produced a huge first goal with a great shot from a bad angle.

In their last 11 games without Crosby, the Penguins are 9-2, outscoring opponents 45-25.

This Penguins squad seems to be a more complete team than the group that won the Stanley Cup in 2009.

MORE: The latest on Crosby and Neal

No one would suggest that the Penguins are a perfect team, or an invincible team, or that they will coast to a championship. And everyone in Pittsburgh is eagerly waiting for No.87's jaw to be declared fit for duty. But there is a general confidence within the Penguins organization about how multilayered this team's potential is.

The confidence had grown daily since general manager Ray Shero took advantage of a favorable salary-cap position to give the team greater depth, toughness and offense.

"If you look at what Ray has done … the message to us is how badly he wants to win," Eaton said.

It is truly reminiscent of what Craig Patrick did in the early 1990s, when he added Ulf Samuelsson, Ron Francis and Rick Tocchet to make the team more complete. The 245-pound Murray offers a physical presence on the blue line as Samuelsson did, and you can draw some comparisons between Morrow and Tocchet. Francis and Jarome Iginla are different kinds of players, but Iginla commands the same measure of respect.

The Penguins' transformation this season can be traced directly back to being ousted in the first round of the playoffs last spring by the archrival Philadelphia Flyers. The Penguins were embarrassed by how they played. They have buttoned up their defensive play and are much grittier because of what happened in that series.

By adding Morrow, Iginla and Murray, the Penguins are much more prickly than fans realize. Tanner Glass was added in the offseason, and he was their most aggressive hitter. Orpik, Chris Kunitz and Craig Adams also hit with great regularity. Now they have a new trio of players who are no fun to play against.

In previous years, the Penguins would be concerned about opponents taking runs at their stars. But in Game 1, it was Morrow throwing a big hit on Islanders star John Tavares.

MORE: Full NHL playoff schedule

"He can have an impact even if he doesn't score," Shero said of Morrow.

As Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma said, when he has Matt Cooke playing with Morrow, they become a formidable physical presence.

Iginla has 840 penalty minutes in his career, and he can still breathe fire when necessary. This is a guy who has 530 goals and more than 60 NHL fighting majors.

When Crosby was asked Thursday what he liked best about how the Penguins played in Game 1, he said, "I like the way we were physical."

Everyone in the dressing room has a clear understanding of how different this team is now with the changes that Shero has made.

Murray, 35, said when you have been around a long time, you hear players talk about the few times in a career when you get "a special opportunity" to win a championship.

"We most definitely have that here," he said.

But Murray said he has also been around long enough to know that opportunity isn't always followed by success.

"There have been a lot of other teams that had the same talent level and haven't got it done," Murray cautioned. "When you've been on very good teams and not gone all the way, you see firsthand how important it is to pay attention to detail and to stay intense and to play physical, because talent doesn't give you anything free in the playoffs."


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