With seconds remaining on the clock, the Penguins’ hopes of winning in regulation and forcing a Game 7 in Detroit slipped away as Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury fell out of position with Red Wings winger Johan Franzen staring at an open net.

Scuderi would block a flurry of shots from the Red Wings in dramatic fashion that would allow the Penguins to win at home, force a game 7 in Detroit, and eventually become Stanley Cup Champions.

On that night in Pittsburgh, it was not high profile superstar Sidney Crosby, nor that season’s Art Ross trophy winner, Evgeni Malkin, that was the catalyst for Pittsburgh’s victory. It was the statistically unfriendly, unheralded defensive defenseman that willed his team to victory in Pittsburgh’s Mellon Arena. For his beneficial play that night, Scuderi earned the nickname, “The Piece”.

For the 2010 playoffs, “The Piece” was missing.

With both stay-at-home blueliners Scuderi and current Montreal Canadien Hal Gill departing via free agency, the Penguins were left with a smaller, less physical, and less disciplined defense to take on the opposition in the postseason. The 2010 version of the Pittsburgh defensive lineup struggled down the regular stretch of the regular season and into the playoffs. They were able to will their way past the Ottawa Senators in the first round in six games.

In the next round, they weren’t so lucky. They were eliminated in seven games by Montreal.

After his teammates witnessed the Penguins defensive struggles last season, Rob Scuderi’s nickname should have changed from a singular noun to a plural one, based on playoff value alone.

In fact, “Pieces Missing” might be an appropriate title for the Penguins’ offseason game-plan drawn up by Pittsburgh’s General Manager Ray Shero.

For the 2010-2011 season, Pittsburgh defense will once again take on radical change; this time, the Penguins hope, for better.

On the first day of free agency, the Penguins allowed four of their seven defensemen, including long time Pittsburgh powerplay quarterback and alternate captain Sergei Gonchar, to walk in free agency. They replaced them with two of the most highly sought defenseman on the open market - former New Jersey Devil, Paul Martin, and former Phoenix Coyote, Zebnyk Michalek.

Martin, who played six seasons with the New Jersey Devils, is one of the league’s finer two-way defenseman in the league - with a caution flag attached.

In 2009, Martin, 29, was only able to play 22 games with New Jersey, was forced to decline an invite to play in the Winter Olympics due to injury, and only notched 11 points with the Devils last season. Throughout his career to date, Martin has never scored more than 40 points in a season, but is a career plus-55. The Penguins have high hopes that leaving the bottled-up “trap” system that Martin played under former Devils coach Jacques Lemaire and entering Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma’s up-tempo style of play will be a boon for Martin’s career. He was signed to a five year deal, worth $25 million.

Michalek, 27, is also a former understudy of Jacques Lemaire’s system, beginning his career as a member of the Minnesota Wild. Since the NHL’s lockout throughout the 2004 season, the 6’2 Czech has been a unheralded and key component of the Phoenix Coyotes blueline for the last five seasons. His career stat line is lackluster (115 points in 415 games with a minus-22 rating), but his play on the ice is anything but. Michalek is a very good skater with superb shot blocking ability (ironically enough, he will wear number four just as Rob Scuderi did with Pittsburgh) with a booming right-handed slap-shot to boot. He is expected to be a mainstay in Pittsburgh’s top four defenseman and penalty kill. Like Martin, he was given a five year deal. Michalek’s is worth $20 million.

Martin and Michalek will join, and help create, a blueline that is amongst the most balanced in the Eastern Conference.

Brooks Orpik remains one of the more physically imposing defenseman in his own zone. Orpik found himself out of position often with last year’s defensive lineup, being forced to overcompensate for large amounts of turnovers on the team’s breakout passes in 2009. He will return to a role more suited to his skill set in 2010, due to the team’s more defensive-minded roster.

Kris Letang, who was resigned to a four year extension in the offseason, is one of the league’s most athletically gifted defenseman, but is still very raw in reaching his skill set’s full potential. He will be expected to mature his game in 2010 and help revamp an anemic Pittsburgh power-play that has been an Achilles’ heel last season, finishing with a dismal 17.2% success rate (19th in the league).

Alex Goligoski will also be counted on to make large strides in his development this season. He is seen as one of the league’s top young puck-movers and is being groomed to be one of the league’s better power-play quarterbacks in the NHL. Goligoski struggled defensively throughout the season, often times looking too raw in his own zone to be considered NHL ready. Still, Goligoski’s upside is massive and once the team reach the postseason last season, his surprisingly responsible play in his own zone was one of the few bright spots in an otherwise dark period for the Pittsburgh blueline. In addition to Michalek and Martin, Ray Shero also signed veteran blueliner Andrew Hutchinson to a two way contract for the league minimum. Hutchinson will compete with AHL prospects Ben Lovejoy and Deryk Engelland for the final starting defensive spot on the roster. Both Lovejoy and Engelland appeared in the NHL last year during stretches of injuries to the Pens blueline and the results were better than expected.

To ignore Pittsburgh’s star power at forward would be remiss, but to over-exacerbate it would be trite, redundant, and undermining the team’s true intentions and gained potential this offseason. Shero and all hockey fans are stating the obvious when they state their expectations of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Jordan Staal. All three players have had a great impact on both the Pittsburgh Penguins and the NHL, but they are parts of the sum for the Pens, rather than the contrary.

Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury returning to form in 2010-2011 is paramount. Despite his inconstancies and struggles in the 2010 playoffs, Fleury has established himself as one of the league’s finest net-minders when it counts, garnishing his resume with 37 playoff wins in the last three seasons. He’s also earning the bragging rights for trips to the Cup Finals in two of the last three seasons, and a Stanley Cup ring.

For Fleury’s part of the puzzle to fit, so must the large piece in-between the forwards and the goalie - the defensemen. In 2008, the pieces fit. In 2009, the pieces were missing. Ray Shero has purchased all of the right tools to make the proper replacements.

If the “Pieces Missing” theme of the offseason becomes “The Perfect Fit” once the puck drops in October, it might not be too long before the Pittsburgh Penguins will have the opportunity to hoist “The Masterpiece” - Lord Stanley’s Cup - once again next summer.

Notes

Players Departing This Off-Season: Bill Guerin (F - TBA), Alexei Ponikarovsky (F - LAK), Ruslan Fedotenko (F - TBA), Jay McKee (D - TBA), Jordan Leopold (D - BUF), Sergei Gonchar (D - OTT).

Key Acquisitions This Off-Season: Paul Martin (D - NJD), Zebnyk Michalek (D - PHX), Ryan Craig (F - TB), Andrew Hutchinson (D - DAL), Brett Sterling (F - ATL).

- After skating Crosby, Malkin, and Staal on three separate lines, consistently, for multiple seasons, Shero and various members of the Pittsburgh coaching staff have stated that all three players will likely be skating in the top six forwards to start the season. Both Malkin and Staal have skated at wing for brief stints in the past, but the results were more satisfactory with Evgeni Malkin moving to wing rather than Staal.

- The Penguins have $2,174, 354 in cap space remaining (per capgeek.com). They were reduced $83,979 from cap space due to performance bonuses.

- Wing prospect Eric Tangradi has had a strong prospect camp showing this summer and has a very strong chance of making the NHL team. Forwards such as Tangradi, Chris Conner, Mark Letestu, Dustin Jeffrey, and Nick Johnson are other AHL players that could increase their NHL experience pedometer with Pittsburgh if an injury occurs this season.