The Saturday column takes a decidedly different approach toward declaring Matt Cooke triumphant over the Senators with all that went on this season.

Here’s video of Cooke addressing the subject at hand …

And here’s video of a few other guys afterward …

Our full team coverage of the Penguins reaching the Eastern Conference final …

>> Penguins get the TKO, by Rob Rossi.

>> Kris Letang puts on the assists, by Josh Yohe.

>> Daniel Alfredsson sounds like he’s done, by Jerry DiPaola.

>> Tickets for Eastern final go on sale today, by Yohe.

>> Complete Trib photo gallery, by Chaz Palla.

>> Official game highlights, from NHL.com.

And our Trib sports cover for the morning …

The Penguins will not practice today, and I will not have a Sunday column in an attempt to convince my children that I am, in fact, their father. The column will return Monday.

Looking ahead to faceoff …

Game 5: Penguins vs. Ottawa Senators, Stanley Cup playoffs, second round

Series: Penguins, 3-1.

Time: 7:40 p.m.

Site: Consol Energy Center

TV, radio: NBC Sports Network, CBC (Canada), RDS (Quebec), WXDX-FM 105.9

Here is the official live box score.

Here is TribLIVE’s Penguins page. Rob Rossi, Josh Yohe and I are covering.

Looking ahead to first pitch …

Game: Pirates (29-18) vs. Milwaukee Brewers (18-27)

Starters: RHP A.J. Burnett vs. RHP Marco Estrada

Time: 8:10 p.m.

Site: Miller Park, Milwaukee

TV, radio: Root Sports, 93.7 The Fan

Here’s the official live box score.

Here’s the Pirates’ lineup …

1. Starling Marte, LF
2. Travis Snider, RF
3. Andrew McCutchen, CF
4. Gaby Sanchez, 1B
5. Russell Martin, C
6. Neil Walker, 2B
7. Brandon Inge, 3B
8. Clint Barmes, SS
9. Burnett, RHP

Here’s TribLIVE’s Pirates page.

Looking ahead to kickoff …

Game: Riverhounds (1-4-4) vs. Antigua Barracuda FC (0-7)

Time: 7:02 p.m.

Site: Highmark Stadium

Live video feed: USLsoccer.com

Here’s the official live match information. Matt Grubba is covering.

UPDATE 1:22 a.m.: Some postgame reaction after the shutout …

Here’s today’s chat transcript covering the Penguins going for the kill tonight in Game 5, the Pirates’ amazing start and the Steelers’ OTAs.

Thanks to all for participating.

Morning, Lunatics …

>> No column today because of the Stanley Cup playoffs forcing us to flip schedules because I’ve been assigned to the Penguins throughout the run.

>> We will, however, have the weekly chat that was pushed back from yesterday. It’ll be at noon right here on the blog. Hope to see you in there.

>> The Pirates will never lose again.

At least that’s how they’re performing at the moment, despite an offense that ranks 19th in runs, 20th in OPS (the vital on-base plus slugging percentage stat), and a defense that ranks 17th in UZR (the equally vital Ultimate Zone Rating).

None of those should lead to one of the National League’s three best records.

But that’s why they say pitching is the name of the game, right?

The starting pitchers haven’t gone deep but have been mostly fine while on the mound, with a 3.61 ERA that ranks 10th. That’s largely to the credit of A.J. Burnett, Wandy Rodriguez and, of late, Jeff Locke, Francisco Liriano and even Jeanmar Gomez.

And yet, all of the above pales next to the bullpen, which ranks No. 1 in just about every category, notably a 1.14 WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) and 161 strikeouts. That, of course, is mostly due to nothing less than brilliance from Jason Grilli and Mark Melancon.

The relievers have been superlative beyond adjectives, and that’s a credit not only to the pitchers but also to all who acquired (Neal Huntington et al) and are instructing them (Ray Searage et al). Going above and beyond to this degree is never a player-only operation.

Beyond the tangibles, they’ve also shown a team toughness with all the comebacks and close victories, a credit not only to Clint Hurdle but also to the clubhouse leaders.

This team, basically, is A.J. in that regard …

I obviously haven’t seen much of the Pirates directly because of the hockey duty, but I continue to have grave concerns about the sustainability of any of what we’re seeing, and I think that’s perfectly reasonable given the above. I’m especially worried about the heavy usage of Grilli and Melancon. And I’d note, too, that including the rain-caused short start yesterday, the Pirates are now 13-11 when the starter goes less than six innings.

That’s just nuts.

For one, they’ve now had more starts of less than six innings (24) than with six or more (23). No team wins like that over a full summer. None. Even the 2012 Pirates were far better in this area, with 117 games of six-plus, 65 games of less than six.

For another, almost every team’s record is bad in games where the starter goes less than six innings. The 2012 Pirates were 22-43 in those games, 57-40 when they went six-plus. And the bullpen was pretty good last year, too.

All of this sounds like a comeuppance is due, in some form or other. The advanced statistical site FanGraphs does projected standings based on a variety of factors, and right now it’s got the Pirates going pretty much .500 the rest of the way (58-57). I’m having even a hard time with something that promising, if only because this team basically has yet to have a meaningful injury other than Neil Walker’s couple weeks out and the loss of James McDonald, who probably wasn’t long for the rotation, anyway.

But we’ll see.

And again, that shouldn’t take a sliver of credit away from this team being 11 games over .500 on the 23rd of May. It’s impressive, to say the least.

Next up are the Brewers, Reds, Angels, Tigers, Braves, teams a lot tougher than what the Pirates just faced, and it should be a telling stretch in terms of sustainability.

>> Let’s clear this up: Liriano is not pitching for a guaranteed $1 million this season, as I’ve been reading and hearing a lot lately. There was a $1 million risk to his signing, but only if one operates under the absurd assumption that his broken non-pitching arm never would have healed.

Here are all contract details as reported on the team’s official site, confirmed elsewhere.

Put simply, the moment Liriano joined the rotation — three starts ago — every single aspect of the full contract kicked because the broken non-pitching arm, the only injury specified in the deal, has healed.

Thus, he’ll earn roughly $4 million this year guaranteed, and what’s more, he’ll vest an option for next year at anywhere between $5 million-$8 million. For those who don’t know, vesting means the contract kicks in automatically. Yes, there is a club option to the terms, but that’s overridden by the vesting.

Liriano’s been incredible through three starts, and his performance, if sustained, would very much warrant the above money. But let’s not make it out to be some $1 million bargain. It isn’t. Liriano is now assured of making about $12 million over the next two seasons.

>> Joe Starkey’s column, moved to today, looks at the Penguins’ historic offense in advance of Game 5 tonight. Much more on the club on this morning, too, including this Gary Bettman interview by our Rob Rossi.

>> The Steelers sounded excited about their new blocking scheme, according to Mark Kaboly, who loves to write about the trenches.

>> Hope to have you in the chat!

Looking ahead to first pitch …

Game: Pirates (28-18) vs. Chicago Cubs (18-27)

Starters: RHP Jeanmar Gomez vs. RHP Edwin Jackson

Time: 12:35 p.m.

Site: PNC Park

TV, radio: Root Sports, 93.7 The Fan

Here’s the official live box score.

Here’s the Pirates’ lineup …

1. Starling Marte, CF
2. Travis Snider, LF
3. Andrew McCutchen, CF
4. Garrett Jones, 1B
5. Neil Walker, 2B
6. Michael McKenry, C
7. Pedro Alvarez, 3B
8. Clint Barmes, SS
9. Gomez, RHP

Here’s TribLIVE’s Pirates page. Rob Biertempfel is covering.

OTTAWA — Morning, Lunatics …

>> The Thursday column off Game 4 asserts that the Penguins maybe, just maybe asserted themselves at long last in these playoffs.

Here’s video of some of my conversation with Kris Letang afterward, including the column’s money quote that pretty much wrote the ending …

And here are Tomas Vokoun, Jarome Iginla, James Neal and Sidney Crosby all in one …

Here’s our full team coverage, by Rob Rossi and Josh Yohe.

And here’s the full highlights package from NHL.com.

>> There will be no chat today. I’d never pull off an hour of wi-fi during the drive home from Syracuse, which was our overnight stop last night on the trek home.

Anyway, the chat will be Friday at noon.

Your understanding is appreciated.

>> If you haven’t seen Paul MacLean’s press conference last night on the Senators’ side, be sure to set aside 22 seconds of your day for it. Tremendous.

>> LaMarr Woodley piped up for the first time since … well, it’s been a while.

I could spend this entire blog entry and the next dissecting all that he said and how it doesn’t sound as if his nothing’s-wrong attitude has changed, but I’ll instead applaud him for apparently reporting for the Steelers’ OTAs a little lighter and in quality shape.

Although that’s kind of what’s expected.

>> The Pirates got another superlative start from Francisco Liriano.

>> Mostly out of commission today because of the drive, which actually will begin shortly after this very filed is shut down for the night!

OTTAWA — Looking ahead to faceoff …

Game 4: Penguins vs. Ottawa Senators, Stanley Cup playoffs, second round

Series: Penguins, 2-1.

Time: 7:40 p.m.

Site: Scotiabank Place, Ottawa

TV, radio: NBC Sports Network, CBC (Canada), RDS (Quebec), WXDX-FM 105.9

Here is the official live box score.

Here is TribLIVE’s Penguins page. Rob Rossi, Josh Yohe and I are covering.

Looking ahead to first pitch …

Game: Pirates (27-18) vs. Chicago Cubs (18-26)

Starters: LHP Francisco Liriano vs. RHP Jeff Samardzija

Time: 7:05 p.m.

Site: PNC Park

TV, radio: Root Sports, 93.7 The Fan

Here’s the official live box score.

Here’s the Pirates’ lineup …

1. Starling Marte, LF
2. Travis Snider, RF
3. Andrew McCutchen, CF
4. Garrett Jones, 1B
5. Neil Walker, 2B
6. Russell Martin, C
7. Pedro Alvarez, 3B
8. Jordy Mercer, SS
9. Liriano, LHP

Here’s TribLIVE’s Pirates page. Rob Biertempfel is covering.w