PITTSBURGH - Chances are, if you're on defense for the Pittsburgh Penguins, part of the journey to tonight’s Stanley Cup final went through the Bay State. Four Penguins - Ryan Whitney, Hal Gill, Brooks Orpik and Rob Scuderi - have ties to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. A coincidence perhaps, but the bonds and experience it's built upon could prove pivotal for the Penguins in a must-win Game Three.

For Hal Gill, it means knowing what the Red Wings are going through right now. Not just because the Penguins have had 2-0 leads in each of their first three series, but as a member of the Boston Bruins in 2004, Gill’s team (along with fellow Pens defenseman Sergei Gonchar) led Montreal three-games-to-one with a chance to close the series on home ice. Days later, the Bruins were golfing, losing both Game Five and Game Seven at home and unable to close out a Canadiens team once left for dead.

“I think the hardest thing to do is close out a series,” Gill said. “That’s a true test. When someone’s back is against the wall, they come out hard. That’s what happened in that series.”

“Tonight, we just want to push the pace and take care of business at home. If we do that we won’t have to worry about it.”

Gill, who was born in Concord, played his college hockey at Providence College and made his NHL debut with the hometown Bruins in 1997. His current locker mate, Rob Scuderi, was just a freshman at Boston College.

As an Eagle, Scuderi’s class made four trips to the Frozen Four and won a National Championship in 2001. So in a do-or-die game, Scuderi might not know the Stanley Cup finals yet, but he knows about the pressure and the atmosphere the Penguins will encounter over the next two games.

“I’m always proud of my career at Boston College,” Scuderi said. “My lifelong friends are there. I still talk to guys in my class and guys who are on the team. So that is something that will always be a part of my hockey career.”

“But I feel the same way about the guys in here. You get to know each other and you want to play for each other and that’s a big reason you want to win, because you want to do anything you can to have your team win the Stanley Cup.”

One of those guys is Orpik, who shared the ice with Scuderi for three of those seasons at BC, including the team’s National Title run in 2001. The elder Orpik still has strong ties to the school where his younger brother Andrew was a part of Boston College’s 2008 National Championship team.

“I have a good relationship with a lot of the kids who workout there and play there now,” Orpik said. “I think if you look at the overall success of the program, I think Jerry York obviously gets good hockey players. But I also think he does a good job recruiting good people. It’s a program where if there are any bad guys that find their way in there, they’re gone pretty quickly. I think that goes a long way.”

One of those guys York couldn’t get a hold of was Ryan Whitney, who ended up at arch-nemesis Boston University under head coach Jack Parker. But before it was all about Eagles and Terriers, Whitney and Orpik were linemates at Thayer Academy under Jack Foley.

“It’s pretty cool,” Whitney said. “I never thought I would be playing on the same NHL team with him, let alone playing for the Stanley Cup.”

“I remember that he was a senior and I was a freshman, it was a fun year and it’s cool we’re still together now.”

Orpik’s memory, being a senior, was a little clearer.

“I think we picked on him more than we hung out with him,” Orpik joked. “He was so young. I think he was the only freshman on the team. So, he took it hard for a couple of years.”

“He was about the same height as he is now, but he weighed about 150 pounds, so it’s funny looking back at those years. But you could see it early on; he was going to be a good one. It’s great to see how raw he was back then and the polished player he is now.”

So with their backs against the wall and a few hundred miles away from an adopted home, four defenseman suit up together, only degrees of separation apart.

“It’s kind of come full circle,” Orpik said. “I guess if you asked me back then you’d never imagine yourself in this position, especially together."