Boredom Thrills Panthers Will Pittsburgh Adjust To Florida’s Drone And Groan?

They’ve already become the buzzwords of this Florida Panthers-Pittsburgh Penguins playoff series.

Sacrifice. Sweat. Frustrate. Dump and chase. Deny. Overachieve. Underwhelm.

The Penguins know what they’re up against in the Eastern Conference finals that begin today at the Civic Arena - an overachieving team manned by nonegotists with an exceptional defense and an indefatigable work ethic.

Detroit and Colorado will meet in the Western Conference finals, starting Sunday in Detroit.

So much for the Legion of Doom, the Philadelphia Flyers’ top line that figured to reach the finals until the Panthers eliminated them in six games. Welcome to the Legion of Boredom.

“People say we’re boring,” Panthers coach Doug MacLean said. “If we’re boring, I really like boring.”

But might all the speculation and calculations questioning whether the Penguins can adjust the highest-scoring act in hockey to the Panthers’ drone-and-groan pace be misplaced?

As the new kids on the playoff block, the Panthers are enjoying the inescapable fascination that accompanies all teams on their initial journey deep into the playoffs. But it could be the Panthers, the hardest-working team in hockey, must adjust to the Penguins, rather than vice versa.

Lesson in point: The New York Rangers entered their secondround series against Pittsburgh dripping with the confidence of a team convinced it had a mistakeproof game plan. They left it singing the wonders of players named Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr.

The Flyers offense is physical and relentless, a nonstop succession of big bodies flying to the net. The Penguins aren’t so physically intimidating, but are far more multidimensional.

Maybe scarier, too.

Lemieux and Jagr aren’t just hockey’s two best scorers, they also might be its best players, scorers capable of finding the net from any angle on any shift. Even without Ron Francis, the NHL’s No. 4 scorer who will miss the series with a broken left foot, the Penguins are as equally capable as confounding and confusing a defense as the Panthers are in entangling and tormenting an offense.

Lemieux is playing like a player possessed in these playoffs, too, with goals in seven consecutive playoffs games and eight goals in five games against the Rangers.

Then there’s Jagr, who has scored in all 11 Penguins playoff games and might be the most dangerous player in hockey on a open patch of ice.

“They are creators out there,” Panthers goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck said. “They do the unexpected things, so when you watch tapes and try to look at their habits, you can’t really dwell on it too much. Because maybe that game they might change it up.”