When one thinks of the Pittsburgh Penguins, talent is typically the first attribute that comes to mind. Boasting a lineup of skilled players that consistently evoked comparisons to Wayne Gretzky’s Edmonton Oilers of the 1980s, the Penguins are arguably the most talented team in the National Hockey League today. But what’s differentiated them in these playoffs, much more so than their playmaking ability, has been their surprising toughness.

Throughout these playoffs, the Pens’ willingness to toss their bodies in harm’s way has defined them, and in Monday’s 3OT win over the Red Wings, they three themselves in front of another 31 shots. Their Rocky-like propensity to take a beating and keep on standing is a testament to the leadership of mercurial head coach Michel Therien. For while he might not be a master of chalkboard X’s and O’s, he is one of the game’s most effective motivators.

Pittsburgh native Ryan Malone took a puck to the face and came back soon thereafter, looking he’d gone 15 hard rounds with Kimbo Slice but still prepared to take a regular, punishing shift. Sergei Gonchar crashed headfirst into the boards late in the second period, suffering an undisclosed injury that forced him off the ice for over an hour of hockey time, but he somehow summoned the strength to join his teammates for what turned out to be the game-winning power play. And Sykora is playing in this series despite being severely hampered by a serious “upper body injury.”

Across the board, the Penguins are demonstrated uncommon toughness, and that, more than anything, is what’s differentiating them from the similarly talented Edmonton Oilers team they’re oft compared to, that was swept in the 1983 Finals by the dynastic New York Islanders.

In his autobiography, Wayne Gretzky recalled walking past the Islanders’ locker room at the conclusion of that series expecting to see the players raucously celebrating with the Cup. Instead, he saw the Isles’ stars nursing their wounds, “limping around with black eyes and bloody mouths. It looked more like a morgue in there than a champion’s locker room. And here we were perfectly fine and healthy.”

Teammate Kevin Lowe walked beside Gretzky that night and sagely observed, “That’s how you win championships.” Perhaps more than anything else they went through, that experience outside the Isles’ locker room paved the way for the youthful Oilers to go on to win five Stanley Cups, beginning the following spring when they ended the Islanders’ four-year run as champions.

Regardless of the outcome of this series, no such allegations can be levied against these Penguins. They are literally leaving everything on the ice—blood, sweat, and tears—and have made it abundantly clear that they belong on hockey’s brightest stage. Scrappy and resilient, they’ve grown up very quickly this spring, and should they buck the odds and come from 3-1 down to win the Cup, it will not be because of their immense talent; the Red Wings are plenty talented, too. It will be because they’re proving to uncommonly tough.