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Keys to Losing

At a time when the Pittsburgh Penguins were off to a red hot start, hovering at the top of the league with only three losses in their first 14 games, some might wonder critically why the focus here would be on losing. The answer is no more evident than in the back-to-back losses over the weekend on the West Coast, that upped the loss column to 5, and the very recent loss to Boston, bringing the tally to 6.

Lessons are best learned from failure moreso than from success, and it is never too late to look at why, in the midst of so many wins, the now six losses should be examined closely.

Foresight is 20/20. In those few losses, some disturbing patterns have emerged, and while they are disturbing, they are correctible. No doubt, teams around the league are looking just as closely at those keys to the Penguins’ losses as they are analyzing and breaking down what makes the 2008-2009 Stanley Cup team a formidable winner. It could be argued that, particularly from the San Jose game, the Sharks made a special study of it. Of all the teams that handed Pittsburgh a loss thus far, the Sharks lived up to their name, and with cold, methodical, unrelenting precision–and an otherworldly goaltender in Evgeni Nabokov–they were the first team to make Pittsburgh look truly vulnerable.

In the first two losses, Sergei Gonchar, Evgeni Malkin, Tyler Kennedy, and Kris Letang were all present. In the last three losses, those players were out, and the Boston game claimed yet another blueliner in Brooks Orpik who left the game in the 1st period and did not return. The Penguins have dealt with this kind of adversity before with Sidney Crosby and Marc-Andre Fleury sidelined during one season. They have managed to bear down and forge ahead. They are still that deep and have a stable of hungry young guys who are being given golden opportunities to shine. Injuries aside, here are the keys to losing that occur no matter who is on the ice and who is injured because it comes down to basics:

• Allowing the opponent to have the boards. In each of the losses, the Penguins came out flat, and instead of dominating the boards from end to end separating their opponents from the puck, they allowed their opponents to drive them off the puck, winning the puck-possession battles. Likewise, they moved away from using the boards effectively as an “extra man” to advance the puck quickly and accurately either out of the danger of their defensive zone or into the offensive zone. While the stretch pass is a nice addition to their toolbox, the Hal Gill-style of a forceful ricochet is lacking.
• Too many and too poorly-executed passes. Lateral passes instead of the North-South kind, including being too cute up the middle (and in front of one’s own net!), forced unnecessary giveaways. The purpose of the pass is the advantage of speed and the forcing of the opponent to have to awkwardly change direction in the hopes of exposing a weakness that can be just enough to result in a goal. Poor execution also falls to the goalie. When Marc-Andre Fleury is on, he’s a beast. When he’s off, he’s cooked, and it starts with his handling of the puck around his own real estate. Puck-handling has always been something he has had to work at, and in the past season and the beginning of this one, he has looked more confident–not of late. Add to that in the Sharks game the fact that the Sharks would only wait so long for the likes of Alex Goligoski and company to hold the puck behind their net to set up for a break-out before they boldly stormed in and disrupted. On more than one occasion, the Sharks broke up the break-out to the point where the first pass to the second defenseman could not be cleanly executed from behind the net. That leaves Fleury stuck with one D-man still behind the net, and the other on the half-wall harried by a Shark as he tries to collect the pass and get it up ice.
• Lack of communication. The Pens have already been marked as the team that communicates the most on the ice by the hockey pundits. When they don’t, it shows, and never more starkly than in the losses to the L.A. Kings and the San Jose Sharks. In the Kings game, the forwards time and again pulled a criss-cross as they approached the Pens’ defensive end, and the Pens’ blueliners fell all over themselves trying to figure out whether to follow their man or stay at home. It resulted in getting the puck behind the Pens defense, leaving Fleury to fend for himself.
• Befuddled by neutral zone traps. The Pens are fast, but trying to single-handedly carry the puck through a clogged neutral zone is ill-advised whether you are a first-line phenom or a fourth-line role-player. In one of the losses, the opposing team lined four players across their defensive blue line with one defenseman back, breaking up the Pens’ attempts to bust through, sending odd-man breaks the other way. In the New Jersey Devils game, the neutral zone was staked out up the middle and on the boards–hockey’s version of the tar pit is their calling card–boring but very effective. In the San Jose game, the Sharks just came at the Pens before they could get out of their own defensive end–period. Time and time again, it has been discussed that the way to break a trap is to Murphy dump the puck to force the opposing team’s defense to turn around and make a play. Then, the forecheckers come in and battle to win the puck and set-up their cycle. Sometimes a hard shot to the corners will break it, but in the San Jose game, that method was ineffective because the Sharks beat the Penguin forecheckers easily to the puck.
• NOT hitting with their best shot. While the hits from the Pens remain in the mid-20s to mid-30s on the stats sheets, it’s hard to believe they are so “not memorable.” In each of the Pens’ wins, they came out hitting AND winning the puck from the hit as a result of true, forceful, legal separation. In the losses, they did not appear to have their hearts in it, and as a result they were not able to gain the puck as successfully after a hit.
• Running the goaltender. Particularly in the West Coast games, teams were having their lawless way with Marc-Andre Fleury, and quite honestly, he should be spitting nails at his defense for it. Too many runs on Fleury were happening, throwing him horribly out of position. How does one stop that? Make the other team pay on the Pens’ power play, speaking of which…
• The power(less) play. The powerplay continues to be poor under Mike Yeo. One could argue that the loss of Gonchar (and now Letang) is having a deep impact, but Goligoski is a deft set-up man IF he does not waste too much time bringing the puck up. The Sharks, once again, got in the face of the Pens’ set-up guy, not at their blue line, BEYOND the blue line into the Pens’ face-off circles. That shows they have no fear. In the five losses, the Pens have registered 22 shots on 19 power plays! In the Boston game, they had one powerplay and 0 shots. When a power play is as ineffective as the Penguins’ man-advantage, teams will run all day on the goalie and gladly take the penalty because chances are excellent that it won’t cost them the game. That only changes when the Pens get serious about putting pucks on the net. Sid on the half-wall (or occasionally on the point) is a complete waste of time. It gives him entirely too much to think about and second-guess where he wants to place the puck. This often results in him throwing another pass that gets broken up for a short-handed situation, rather than taking a shot. This wastes the efforts of Guerin, Kunitz, and even Jordan Staal who are set up in front of the net creating a ton of traffic. Where should Sid be? Down low, just out of the goalie’s line of peripheral vision. When placed there last year, Sid was able to set up the guys in close on the net, make the opposing goalie twitchy, and even sneak in for his own score. Word on the street (a November 10 discussion between sports talk radio host Mark Madden and hockey writer Rob Rossi) is that everyone wants Sid to play there, but Sid doesn’t want to play there. This seems selfish and out of character for Sid, but hey, if that is the case, then Dan Bylsma could take a page out of Steeler Coach Mike Tomlin’s playbook and pull a Mendenhall…

This may sound harsh, but as Madden pondered, maybe Sid is not built for the power play, that methodical set-up kind of situation. He’s a run and gun, quick direction change in tight spaces kind of player.

Interesting notable: in a delayed penalty situation that brought Fleury out of the net and an extra attacker on, the Pens actually set up and moved the puck incredibly, resulting in a goal. There’s hope. Additionally, the Pens should look at the tape on the Sharks’ power play. They moved the puck with deft authority anywhere they wanted it and peppered the net.

Here’s a repeat of a plea made last year: What’s wrong with approaching a man-advantage situation like a 5-on-5 cycle? Why does cycling the puck stop when the power play is on? Jordan Staal’s line could manage it even without Kennedy by using Pascal Depuis, Chris Kunitz (who meshed immediately with Staal upon his arrival last year) or even Craig Adams who can play center or wing and has the energy and quickness to carry it off. If they become the lead power play unit and grind down the PK unit (maybe even getting the odd goal), Bylsma can bring on a second unit of a Crosby, Kunitz, and Guerin (or Mike Rupp) and wreak havoc on some tired bodies.

There are a lot of games left and as injuries heal, the team will re-form. However, every player needs to keep it simple: communication, puck separation from hard hits, quick and clean passes with effective use of the boards, more shots on net with traffic in front, quick dumps and fast forechecks to set up the cycle. All of these things can be achieved by every player on the team regardless of star status or skill.

The Pens are a resilient, tight, proud bunch. Teams are gunning for them, and knowing that, they need to settle down, take a breath, and get back to the keys to winning.

Sharpen Your Skates, It’s Hockey Time!

It’s hard to believe, but hockey season is just a little over 3 weeks away!  Everything is about to shift back into high gear for the Penguins’ organization as 47 players and prospects report to training camp this Saturday, September 12th, when they will undergo physicals and fitness testing.  Practice starts on Sunday at Mellon Arena and is open to the public, free of charge.  Pre-season play kicks-off shortly thereafter with the Penguins hosting the Columbus Bluejackets on September 15th.  On September 17th, the Penguins travel to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for a “Black and Gold” intra-squad game.  Then, they return back to Mellon Arena to host the Toronto Maple Leafs on September 18th before heading out on a 4-game road trip to Montreal (Sept 21) , Toronto (Sept 22), Columbus (Sept 24), and Detroit (Sept 27).  The Penguins’ open the regular season on October 2nd by raising the 2009 Stanley Cup Championship banner to the rafters of historic Mellon Arena before dropping the puck against the New York Rangers.  It will be the last NHL home opener to be played in the long history of Mellon Arena. 

With training camp, pre-season, and regular season play nearly upon us, it is time to start looking at the challenges that face the Penguins in the coming season.  First and foremost in my mind, is the question of fatigue.  The Penguins have played a total of 208-games (164 regular season and 44 playoff games) in just the last 2 seasons.   That averages out to about one game every 3.5 days over the last 2 years.  The price to pay for a successful post-season is a short summer for mental and physical recuperation.  Fortunately for the Penguins, they are a young team and they finished the post season relatively healthy.  The mental recuperation, however, could be more challenging for both the players and the coaching staff as they need to quickly shift gears from the euphoria of being the league champions to being the team that everyone will raise their game against to beat.  Often referred to as the Stanley Cup hangover, the Penguins will have to quickly come to grip with the fact that, while they have climbed to the top of the tallest mountain, they are now back at base camp with everyone else.  It will take a lot of character (and a bit of luck) to battle their way back to the finals for a third straight year.

The next big challenge will be figuring out how to best fill the defensive roles vacated by Hal Gill and Rob Scuderi.  This will take time and evaluation by the coaching staff as training camp and pre-season play unfolds, and will probably continue to play out into the regular season.  Surely the Penguins will look to off-season acquisition Jay McKee, a veteran stay-at-home defenseman with ample shot-blocking prowess.  They will also likely depend on the services of Alex Goligoski on the blueline after the successful call-up role he played during Sergei Gonchar’s time on the injured reserve last season.  But a McKee/Goligoski pairing may not be the right combination, so look for some mixing and matching in the defensive pairings in the early going until the right mix of “shutdown” and “offensive” styles are found.  This challenge will primarily be one for the coaching staff to solve, but will require the defensemen to adapt to new roles and potentially new linemates.   

The third challenge will be figuring out how best address the loss of Petr Sykora and (to a lesser extent) how to bridge the anticipated 2-month gap until Max Talbot returns from off-season surgery.  The most pressing issue to sort out in training camp and pre-season is who to put on wing with Evgeni Malkin in place of Petr Sykora.  While Tyler Kennedy certainly could be an interesting mix with Malkin, I don’t expect the coaching staff to disrupt the exceptional 3rd line chemistry of Kennedy-Staal-Cooke.  Odds are that Pascal Dupuis will be called upon to step into Sykora’s spot, but don’t be surprised to see some different looks coming from the coaching staff through training camp and the pre-season.  I wouldn’t even be surprised to see rookie prospect Eric Tangradi getting a practice or pre-season look with Malkin, but I really don’t expect it to pan out….at least not yet.  A likely candidate to fill out the lower lines would be Luca Caputi, the 6′2″ winger that made the Penguins’ roster for 5-games last season.  The good news is that the Penguins have significant depth to draw upon to fill in the few vacancies at forward, and training camp will be where those fill-ins get sorted out. 

So, as hockey season bears down on us once again, it is time to get out your jersey and get ready for another great season from one of the NHL’s best and brightest young teams.  Be sure to check back with us as the season approaches and gets underway as we will continue blogging about the team we love to watch and cheer for, the Pittsburgh Penguins!

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Penguins’ Mid-Summer Update

It is another short off-season for the Pittsburgh Penguins, although this summer is much better than last for the players and their fans.  A year ago, the team was licking the wounds of a Stanley Cup championship lost and the loss of a not so insignificant portion of their roster to other teams at season’s end.  This summer, the players are enjoying the fruits of their labor as the Stanley Cup Champions and celebrating their day with Lord Stanley’s Cup, reflecting upon their accomplishments with their families, friends and home town fans.  What a difference a year makes!  It will only be a brief pause for celebration, however, as the next season will soon be upon us and the Penguins will have to return to the business of competing for the prize once again.

It has been an eventful summer so far, as Ray Shero has masterfully navigated the challenges of the NHL salary cap with a handful of players who have sacrified pay for the chance to stay with a championship team.  First, Shero retained the services of veteran stalwart Bill Guerin for another year at less than half of his 2008/09 $4.5M  salary.   Guerin agreed to a $2M contract in lieu of testing the free agency market or considering retirement.  It turns out that playing on a line with Sidney Crosby, voted the NHL’s best player for the 3rd year in a row by ESPN fans, is worth the cut in pay.  “I’d be lying if I didn’t say that was one of the big reasons I wanted to stay,” Guerin said of No. 87.  “It’s so much fun to play with him.”  At the same time, Shero pulled the trigger on a 2-year deal with Craig Adams, signing him at $550K per year (slightly below his $600K salary last season).  Shortly after signing Guerin and Adams, Shero again pulled off the seemingly improbable by signing Ruslan Fedotenko to a 1-year contract worth $1.8M, a $400K pay cut over last season.  “I think it says a lot about Bill Guerin, Craig Adams, and Ruslan Fedotenko to want to come back here and be part of this group,” general manager Ray Shero said.  And as a fan of the game, I have to agree.  It says something very special about this team, and even more so about the championship spirit of these players.  These are the kinds of players you want on your team. 

In the loss column, the Penguins will play next season without the services of Rob Scuderi, Hal Gill and Mathieu Garon.  Scuderi signed a three-year deal worth $13.6 million with the Los Angeles Kings, a price tag that the Penguins couldn’t match under the realities of the current salary cap.  Hal Gill signed a 2-year contract worth $4.5M with the Montreal Canadiens.  Finally, Mathieu Garon signed a two-year contract to back up Columbus goalie Steve Mason for more money.  The Penguins responded to the losses on the blueline by signing free agent Jay McKee to a 1-year, $800K contract.  The Penguins snatched McKee up at a significant bargain after he was bought out of the final year of his $4.5M annual contract with the St Louis Blues.  Earning $2.67M next season from his buyout, McKee could justify the modest salary from the Penguins for a chance to regain his prestige and worth on a championship team.  It was a win-win signing for the Penguins, who see a lot of upside potential in McKee, especially at such a bargain price.  Known for his shot-blocking ability, McKee fell out of favor with the Blues who were in need of a quicker puck-moving defensemen.  A first round pick by the Buffalo Sabres in 1995, McKee anchored the team’s defense in their 1999 run to the Stanley Cup finals.  The Penguins will likely rely on the services of Alex Goligoski and John Curry to pick up the slack left by the Gill and Garon deprtures. 

The Penguins have also picked up rugged forward Mike Rupp from the New Jersey Devils for a 2-year stint.  At 6′ 5″ and 230 pounds, Rupp adds some more grit to a team that already included the services of Eric Godard.  While we don’t expect Godard to be moved, Rupp could unseat him as the team’s most feared enforcer.  Rupp will earn $800K this coming season and $850K in the following year.  The Penguins also signed Dallas Stars right winger Chris Connor to a 1-year deal to add depth to the organization.

The Penguins will open the 2009/10 season on Friday, October 2, against the New York Rangers.  It will be the final NHL season opener for the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Mellon Arena’s 48-year history as they will play the following season in their new arena.  The third Stanley Cup champions banner will be raised to ceiling of the Mellon Arena rafters during the season opener, in what is likely to be a night of mixed emotions in the old igloo. 

 

A Date with Destiny

Hearken back…

Stanley Cup Finals (2008)…

The Pittsburgh Penguins found themselves like Cinderella at the ball, in the Stanley Cup Finals facing the storied and formidable Detroit Red Wings. For me, it might as well have been USA versus USSR in the 1980 Olympics, it was that gut-wrenching.

We all felt the overwhelming crush of the first game and then the second when our boys found themselves slapped around the ice much like they were in the first round against the Senators the previous season. We stood behind them, willing them to fight to stay alive, and out of sheer will they scratched and clawed to make it a brave game.

We stayed up through the multiple overtime sets when Petr Sykora joked during an intermission that he’d score the sudden-death game-winner–and did.

Maybe, like me, you were one of the ones who got an interesting e-mail the next day from a friend with a doctored photo of Babe Ruth calling his shot superimposed by Petr Sykora at the plate, signaling with  his hockey stick. It was inspiring.

Our boys had a chance.

Back in the ‘burgh, home ice, for Game 6 and a chance to even the series at 3 apiece. I never felt sicker than when that final horn blared the death knell of one hell of a season. It was hard to watch them, stunned, drained, shredded, slumped on the ice, backs against the boards. An epic denouement. Lord Stanley’s Cup was in our house but not in our hands. The photo of Evgeni Malkin standing alone near the Stanley Cup Finals ice stamp was a haunting and compelling image. The scene as all those whited-out Penguins faithful, with class, stayed and stood for the victor as the Red Wings relished in holding the Cup. We felt the sting as if we had been in those skates and sweaters, too.

And we vowed we’d be back.

Stanley Cup Finals (2009)

The path this year began in a high-powered, promising way with one of the best starts in franchise history, and then like that, the bottom fell out. Through 82 games of soul-searching, fumbling, struggling, but never saying die, they pulled themselves up by their skate laces. If nothing else can be said about this team (from the first to last guy), it is one seriously cohesive unit.

In the face of critics and nay-sayers and hand-wringers, they have managed to let it all roll off of broad, matured shoulders. Old souls in young bodies.

They had to earn their way into a playoff spot–unlike last season where they shot to second seed in the conference and home ice.

They had to fight and rally through two physically demanding rounds–unlike last season where they sailed through the first three rounds.

They have progressed steadily but quickly under Dan Bylsma who has shown his ability to read his players individually and collectively, leaving them confident and well-prepared–unlike last season when they didn’t really know any better and really hadn’t an idea just what THAT level of hockey was all about. Detroit was only too happy to initiate them and maybe to their own present and future peril.

At last season’s end, fans and pundits worried out loud about the loss of Hossa, Roberts, and Malone, but as Mark Madden pointed out in his radio talk show on Friday, if Hossa stayed, we might be looking at key players with much shorter contracts and the possibility of Malkin going to another team.

Instead, the loss has paid dividends thanks to Ray Shero’s shrewd dealing:

• To join Sidney Crosby (who when his contract was due took less to make room to keep others in the future), contracts of 4 or more years for Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal, and Marc-Andre Fleury completed the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, giving the Pens a solid corps, and defensive insurance in Brooks Orpik.
• Add to that the late season acquisitions of Bill Guerin, Chris Kunitz, and Craig Adams.
• What you find is depth from 1st line to last, especially as the prodigal son Miroslav Satan arose from AHL purgatory to show some of his best work all season in the playoffs.

Let’s not forget that every guy who played this year contributed mightily whether for every game or for a short stint.

• When Gonchar was down, Goligosky answered the bell. Philippe Boucher continues to sniper with a Howitzer.
• Cooke and Kennedy meshed with Jordan Staal to become one of the best shut-down third lines that could generate a spark with their grinding cycle work.
• Max Talbot and Pascal Depuis played anywhere they could be of service, getting time on every one of the four lines and contributing mightily in penalty-kill situations. An unfortunate injury sidelined Mike Zogomanis, but when healthy, he is one of the deadliest in the face-off circle.
• Eric Goddard and Paul Bissonnette enforced when it was needed, but they made skilled contributions as well.
• Ruslan Fedotenko has come on to be a force to be reckoned with in the playoffs and worked throughout the season to try to keep the team sparked and competitive.
• Kris Letang has grown in confidence and skill. He is fearless, and not to be outdone is Mark Eaton whose defensive skill has also morphed into an offensive threat.
• Rob Scuderi and Hal Gill have developed into a strong defensive pairing, facing the likes of Ovechkin and Eric Staal with little difficulty.

It’s scary just how calm and loose this year’s Pittsburgh Penguins team really is. And maybe it’s a little maddening for the reporters who try to get some juicy tidbit out of them in interviews. In the hopes of a spark, they ask about the re-match, feelings about Hossa, the adversity, back-to-back games or too much time between games, and always, they are left a little diappointed. 

These players are even keeled, unflappable, and take it all in stride. It’s good to get back to the Stanley Cup Finals. They don’t think too much about the rivalry or how Hossa left. The adversity has made them stronger, and they know what they can do and the kind of character that’s in the locker room. Each knows he has a specific role to play and plays it with 110% intensity, stressing time and again the need to “play the right way.” Back-to-backs are the nature of the beast. They faced many during the regular season, faced them in the playoffs already. Not a big deal. And too much time? They’re glad it’s not a 10-day lay-off because, well, they’d rather be playing hockey.

They are a better, healthier, and more psychologically ready team than the Penguins of 2008, but they needed the early play-off spanking in 2007 to prepare them for the 2008 run, and they needed the 2008 finals defeat to prepare them for this run.

Yeah, that’s still hard to say (as a fan), but if we are going to be honest with ourselves as the Penguins have been with themselves, then we have to agree. This is going to be one hell of a series.

Manhandled!! Pens Sweep Series 4-0

The Pittsburgh Penguins did it differently this year in many ways, including allowing themselves to touch the Prince of Wales Cup.

So did Mario Lemieux all those years ago–twice–and they went on to win the big one–Lord Stanley’s Cup.

The Penguins bought into a system and a new coach’s philosophy and with each win, that buy-in rooted deeper into the soul of the team. The Carolina Hurricanes played with a lot of heart and a lot of tenacity, but the Penguins also kept coming like any one of the Terminator movies. It was at once an awesome and frightening thing to behold.

Tuesday night’s game in Raleigh, NC showed the almost bottomless depth of the Penguins and their newfound love of the road, destroying the spirit of opponents on their ice. Malkin and Crosby were double- and at times triple-teamed, and still, scoring came in the forms of Ruslan Fedotenko, Maxime Talbot, Bill Guerin, and Craig Adams. Talbot and Adams both proved that no goal is an ugly goal, and every shot is an opportunity to score. This particular game was frenetic in its pace and bone-crunching in its physicality end to end.

Series Notables that Will Serve Well in the Stanley Cup Finals

• Solid goal-tending–Netminder Marc-Andre Fleury played his most complete game in this series, making the key saves he needed to make, managing the puck well, and staying sharp in his positioning in front of the net. However, he came up big in each of the four games.
• Scoring from 10 of their 18 position players (sans goalies)–Goal contributions came from Malkin (6); Crosby (4); Guerin, Fedotenko, Talbot, and Adams (2 each); and Kunitz, Kennedy, Satan, and Boucher (1 each). It’s hard to account for so many potential scorers, and while the defensive scoring was not as high as it was in earlier series, it exists and could rear up again in the finals.
• Defensemen in on the offense–Pens’ blueliners accounted for 24% of the shots on net, led by Kris Letang who had 11, followed by Hall Gill (6), and Sergei Gonchar and Brooks Orpik (5 shots each).
• Defense with the reflexes–Like a well-oiled machine, the Pens’ blueliners have become sharper and quicker with their feet and with their sticks. None has shined better in the latter category than Rob Scuderi whose poke-checking has been like a hot poker, serving to frustrate rushes into the Pens’ defensive zone. Whether it’s six defensemen or seven in the line-up, these guys work so fluidly in tandem that one would swear they are psychic. This kind of teamwork in the defensive zone makes for a very secure and composed Marc-Andre Fleury, and such sympatico will be critical in the final series.

Brothers’ Keeper: The Staal Tracker

Despite Eric Staal’s best efforts, “little” brother Jordan (all 6′4″, 220 pounds of him) was equally a man possessed, matching Eric’s intensity and surpassing it, attempting to hit everything in sight with a Hurricane logo. Jordan was not without his own scoring opportunities, having had two good chances and a handful of scrums in front of a nervous Cam Ward–just to keep it interesting. Eric was fast and wily, managing the Hurricanes’ lone goal early on a thread-the-needle kind of stuff of the puck between Fleury’s skate and the post on a wrap-around.

For the final time of the season, here’s how the Brothers Staal shaped up in Game 4:

• Goals/Assists/Points–Jordan (0/0/0), Eric (1/0/1)
• Plus/Minus–Jordan (even), Eric (-1)
• Total Ice Time–Jordan (19:33), Eric (22:30)
• Shifts–Jordan (24), Eric (30)
• Average–Jordan (:48 per shift), Eric (:45 per shift)
• Shots–Jordan (2), Eric (5)
• Hits–Jordan (5), Eric (0)–Jordan combined with Chris Kunitz (5 hits) and Brooks Orpik (4) hits for a total of 14 of the team’s 25 hits on the night (56%).
• Giveaways–Jordan (0), Eric (0)
• Takeaways–Jordan (1), Eric (1)
• Blocked Shots–Jordan (1), Eric (0)
• Faceoffs Won/Lost/%–Jordan (6/6/50%), Eric (13/10/57%)

Rumor has it that if the Chicago Blackhawks go gentle into that good night on Wednesday against the Detroit Red Wings, the Stanley Cup Finals Game 1 could start as early as Saturday, May 30.

The “Date with Destiny” draws closer.

Get One for the Sarge

On a high-intesity drama scale, the Eastern Conference Semifinals series between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals continues to thrill. Game 4 saw a determined Penguins team once again at the mercy of  the cruel humor of the Hockey Gods as another weird development put a Caps goal in the net only :36 into the game.

But the Pens seem to like it that way as goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury joked carefully afterward that that was the plan. One hates to put too much focus on the stat for trivia enthusiasts that in this series, the team that scores first loses, but that’s how it’s shaped up so far. It’s that kind of self-deprecating humor that keeps the mood light and the guys loose, and then it’s back to business.

In this game it was not a case of dueling hat-tricks between Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby. Instead, it was a checklist of contributions from goals to helpers in a well-balanced effort. Guys like Pens defenseman Sergei Gonchar, Bill Guerin, Ruslan Fedotenko, and Max Talbot all scored goals. Others like Jordan Staal, Miroslav Satan, Chris Kunitz, and defenseman Rob Scuderi assisted to make it all happen.

Serious Stuff

The jury is still out on the knee-to-knee hit Alex Ovechkin took on Sergei Gonchar that put “Sarge” out of the game. The Penguins are not saying much on the subject–in interviews they said they had only seen the replay of it once, and many of them prefer to leave it up to the league and the refs. As Bill Guerin noted, it’s not up to him. The Capitals, on the other hand, saw it very differently.

In the post-game press conference, a clearly uncomfortable Ovechkin tried to explain it (several times) that the hit was an accident. His coach, Bruce Boudreau, cavalierly and unabashedly stated that if anyone (implying “with a brain”) looked at the tape, they would clearly see that Ovi led with the shoulder, and, in professorial fashion he proceeded with the physics lesson for the “rubes”: where the shoulder goes, the knee will follow. It was a good hit. Still, one would have loved to have been a Russian fly on the wall as Evgeni Malkin’s father was seen in animated conversation with Ovi after the game.

The league and the refs will ultimately decide, but as Jay Caufield from FSN-Pittsburgh pointed out, using the Donald Brashear 6-game suspension for his hit on Blair Betts as an example, it’s got to be consistent.

Taking his argument further, one need only go back to the Philadelphia series when Daniel Carcillo was suspended for a game after hitting Maxime Talbot in the back of the head with the butt end of his stick on a face-off. The Ovechkin hit on Gonchar clearly falls between these two incidents in terms of severity. The hit on Betts caused a concussion and broke occipital bones. The hit on Talbot did not cause injury but was a situation that could have gone badly. In the case of Gonchar, it is not known yet the degree of his injury, but the term ACL has been bandied about.

The Pens were a bit dazed upon that incident, but they played through it and maybe in spite of it–those band of brothers rallied so that Gonch’s loss would not be in vain. Tonight could easily be a carry-over of that spirit because it’s events like that which can galvanize a team, particularly one that seems to be improving and gathering strength with each period of play in this series. Game 4 was crucial and pivotal. The Caps are on their heels, and Varlamov may have spent Friday night sleeplessly replaying his performance on his second loss in a row.

Penguin Notables

• Coaching–There are many theories floating around about the idea of coaching face-offs. They are hard to accurately emulate in practice, so often, it is not something that is worked on to any major degree. However, Pens coach Dan Bylsma was seen working with Crosby in face-off style scenarios, giving Sid an idea of how to approach an opponent’s stance and positioning. The biggest difference between Michel Therrien and Dan Bylsma behind the bench is communication. Bylsma stays engaged with his players individually but not intrusively. One of the most maddening things about Therrien was that during times when he should have been in the ear of players, he was standing back, arms crossed, gazing out over the ice like a first row season ticket-holder. Bylsma has a talent for teaching on multiple levels.
• Face-offs–To piggy back on the previous comment about face-offs, in game 4 it was not always about winning the face-off. In one draw that Evgeni Malkin took, he intentionally deferred the win to his Caps opponent in favor of exploding past him to follow the puck, which he successfully gathered up after some jostling in the corner. This an excellent stratgey, showing once again that there is more than one way (the conventional way) to skin a cat even if it means sacrificing a stat. Whether this was an idea derived from a coach, a player, or both, it shows that these guys are becoming advanced students of the game–they are thinking out of the box and getting positive results.
• Hitting–When the Penguins control puck possession, whether in their defensive end or in the offensive zone, it all starts with physical play. The more Pens who hit a Cap off the puck, the more pucks come into the Pens’ possession. They have proven it time and again. This style of play disrupts the Caps’ flow and makes for tired, frustrated bodies. As soon as the Pens lay off the hits, the Caps come back and reset their speed game.
• Defensive Play–Given the way these guys played for much of the first 3/4 of the season, if anyone said that Rob Scuderi, Mark Eaton, and Hal Gill would be forces to be reckoned with this year, it would not have been believed. Their often sloppy and lacklustre play during that time was hard to watch, but these guys to a man have dug deep within themselves and found new life–in a huge way. Scuderi and Gill have been tasked with accoutning for Ovechkin, and Game 4’s performance showed that they are equal to the challenge, holding Ovi to only 2 shots in the entire game. To cap it off, Scuderi also figured in the scoring with 2 assists. The 3rd line looked more like themselves, and it is only a matter of time before they get on the scoreboard. Staal chipped in on the Fedotenko goal with some hard jabbing on the boards to break the puck free in the right direction. Marc-Andre proved solid once he got the fluke goal out of the way early in the game.

Keys to Game

It’s simple. Keep the pressure on. keep the hits legal but keep them coming hard and fast. The Caps are starting to hear big steps behind them every time they go to the boards for the puck. Keep up not only the profusion of shots, but follow on for the rebounds. Varlamov is brilliant up to two whacks at the puck, but as the numbers climb to three and four hits at it, he breaks down. Keep drawing strength from each other and take care of individual assignments. Basically, do the things that have translated into success, and do it for 60 minutes.

The Devil is in the Details: Pens 2–Caps 3

In Saturday afternoon’s opening salvo between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, the thing that seemed to worry the NBC commentators most in the first period was the fact that the sponsors wouldn’t get to plug their products. Meanwhile, the rest of Hockey Nation was transfixed by the rattling pace that ebbed and flowed end to end on the ice. It was a battle that might not have matched the sports prognosticators’ prophecies the way they had foreseen.

Literally, it was a game that hung in the balance from beginning to end, and it was so tight that there was absolutely no room for error. Interesting notables:

Shots

• 15 of 18 Penguins registered shots on net versus 11 of 18 for Capitals.
• Of the total 36 shots on net by the Penguins, 5 players registered 3 or more shots: Sidney Crosby (6), Sergei Gonchar (5), Jordan Staal (4), Tyler Kennedy (3), and Kris Letang (3). Production, then, came from the 1st line center, the 3rd line center and wing, and two defensemen, a nice smattering.
• Of the 26 shots registered by the Capitals, only three players registered 3 or more shots: wing Alex Ovechkin (9), wing Matt Bradley (3), and center David Steckel (3). Only defenseman Milan Jurcina registered more than one shot on goal among Caps defensemen with 2. For the Caps, they relied heavily on Ovi’s profusion of volleys at the net with production falling off dramatically to two other forwards and not much offense from the defense.
• Penguins defensemen registered 11 of 36 shots (31%) more than doubling Capitals defensemen who registered 4 of 26 (15%).

Spreading out the shots through the offensive lines and getting production from the defense as well plays in Pittsburgh’s favor. It’s easier to plan for and key in on a few guys known to be the primary shot takers. While Evgeni Malkin was harrassed and kept to two shots, there were others that were getting good opportunities, making it harder to defend. The Caps had to be cognizant not just of Penguins forwards but the blueliners as well. Eventually, the Caps will have to consider just about every player in a Penguins jersey an offensive threat, and not just from the location of the blue line on the ice. Gonchar, Hal Gill, Mark Eaton, Letang, and Brooks Orpik were all seen strong and deep in the offensive zone. Greenhorn goalie Simeon Varlamov can be shaken and looked shaken in a couple of instances; however, he recovered and stayed solid. To keep him rattled, the Penguins must continue to increase shot-production and get in Varlamov’s face in front of the net. He needs to feel the constant claustrophobia of rush-hour traffic.

Hits

• 13 of 20 hits for the Penguins came from the usual suspects: Kris Letang (5), Brooks Orpik (3), Maxime Talbot (2), Chris Kunitz (2), and Matt Cooke (1).
• 8 of 24 hits for the Caps came from defenseman John Erskine alone, then D-man Mike Green (3), followed by four forwards and one defensemen each with 2 hits, including Ovechkin.

While the Penguins are also spreading out the hitting, Orpik as the main man needs to keep the heat on. He does not necessarily need to bring 14 hits a night, but 14 would be a nice number in game 2 just to give the Caps something to think about on their ice. Matt Cooke also needs to step it up and do so smartly, particularly if Bylsma continues to match the Staal line against the Ovechkin line, which means that Cooke and Ovi will be seeing a lot of each other. If Ovi can’t have Sid to torment, he’s shown he’ll settle for Cooke. Now that he knows this, Cooke needs to be the brighter lightbulb.

Important Miscellany

• Interesting Match-up–Putting Jordan Staal’s line against Alex Ovechkin is an interesting and compelling match-up. First, it keeps Ovi out of Sid’s hair, and if Cooke can manage to stay disciplined, both he and linemate Tyler Kennedy can work him over to tire and frustrate him.
• Penalties–The Penguins managed to stay out of the box EXCEPT twice, and the fact that the two penalties happened in overlapping fashion set up the first error that cost in a tight game. Both penalties were mental mistakes. Gonchar’s delay of game penalty is avoidable if he takes the extra step across his blue line. Cooke’s hooking retaliation for Ovechkin’s hit on him moments earlier is avoidable if he refrains from using the can-opener, waiting for a more opportune time to separate Ovi from the puck. Cooke has to know that Ovechkin draws the ire of opposing players, and his own reputation as well adds to the magnetic pull of a ref’s vision when these two come together. As a result of heightened scrutiny, sneaky, dirty infractions will not exist for Matt Cooke in this series, so he needs to cut that tactic out of his repertoire.
• Power Play–While analysis of the Penguins power play has been done ad nauseum, it bears mentioning a couple of promising things. The second power play centered by Staal is getting out there for between :57 and 1:00 left in a 2:00 opportunity. This is up from the usual :35 to :42 range. Interim Coach Dan Bylsma also tried this unit with Malkin and Bill Guerin flanking him, which makes for a big, strong line, and they seemed to move the puck better than the first unit. There is still too much playing with the puck, in general, and too many attempts from above the circles resulting in 0-6, ouch. More shots need to be fired across Varlamov’s crease from the goal line. On occasion when reinstated Petr Sykora found himself on the power play with Staal, they were trying to work it that way. The off wing needs to troll down toward the net when he sees these two trying to set it up. Either that or bring defenseman Letang who has shown he can score by creeping in that way.
• Face-offs–Among all players who entered into a draw situation, Pittsburgh came away with 53% to Washington’s 47%, a 6% advantage. However, when looking at the center position, which is the one that takes the majority of the face-offs by design, the analysis reveals a different picture. Penguins centers took 58 of the 60 face-offs in the game (97%); Caps centers took 56 of the 60 (93%). Of Pittsburgh’s four centers: Crosby (50%), Malkin (63%), Staal (59%), and Talbot (56%), they won 32 of the 58 (55%) face-offs they took versus Washington’s five listed centers: Boyd Gordon, Niklas Backstrom, Brooks Laich, David Steckel, and Sergei Federov who won 25 of the 56 (45%) face-offs they took. The advantage widens to 10% in the Penguins’ favor.
• Goaltending–In any game, but especially in the playoffs, the goal tender has to the best defender, the best penalty-killer. Both Marc-Andre Fleury for the Penguins and Simeon Varlamov for the Capitals kept their respective teams in the game, preventing a score-fest that would have looked like the Fourth of July. Of particular note is young Varlamov’s incredible robbery of Sidney Crosby in which the heel of his paddle somehow managed to keep the puck from crossing the goal-line, preventing a goal that would have brought the Pens even at 3, likely forcing overtime.

All in all, it was an electrifying game. Players, fans, and pundits alike have come away from it with a lot to think about. If this first game is any indicator, then every game in this series will be a chess match of cosmic proportions. Neglecting one small detail could blow a game wide open. The powder keg has been lit. The only remaining question is: How long is the fuse?

The “Shhhh” of Death

For all those Christopher Walken fans who remember him as the angel of death in Prophecy, watching Penguin Mad Max Talbot put an index finger to his lips, with a little knowing smile to the Philly fans as he said “shhhhhhh” was the the kiss of death for the Flyers.

On the heels of a fight with Flyers’ tough guy, Dan Carcillo, Talbot’s atonement for a goal-costing mistake earlier in the game proved to be the wake-up call for a team that had played hard, but found themselves down 3-0 barely five minutes into the 2nd period. Coach Dan Bylsma said of the fight, “I think Max Talbot really changed the momentum with that,” referring to the fact that the Philly fans were really into the game and extemely loud. Defenseman Sergei Gonchar concurred, “Yeah, it’s one of those things. Fight starts and things start going your way.”

Entering the first intermission, the Penguins were down 2-0 and having to start the 2nd period on the penalty kill. Danny Briere found the back of the Penguin net as Evgeni Malkin looked on from the sin bin to make it 3-0. Enough was enough. If Penguins fans were scanning their team’s bench looking for a hero, Mad Max might not have been their first choice, but here’s a guy who has a lot of heart, a lot of drive, and he lays it out, all out, on the ice every game in any way he can. Carcillo was due anyway. He was the one who received the 1-game suspension earlier in the series on a shot to Talbot’s head in the final seconds of that game.

When asked about the timing of the fight, Talbot replied, “I think it was the right time. The crowd was into it. Sometimes it’s gonna work. Sometimes you lose momentum. This time it gave it a little bit of momentum.” The momentum started with Ruslan Fedotenko breaking out of his 5-year playoff goal-scoring slump with his net presence on some hard work by linemate Malkin.

Not to be outdone, just a shade under two minutes later, Mark Eaton scored on a screamer of a shot through a collectively strong shift, joining the rush with linemates of the moment Tyler Kennedy and Fedotenko during a 4-on-4 situation that happened as a result of the earlier goal and a melee in front of Biron’s net. The crowd was no longer into it. All the energy was coming from the Penguins bench, and they were cyphoning it off the Flyers bench.

Captain Sidney Crosby evened it up, and it was clear that the Penguins were steam-rolling. Coach Bylsma’s mantra to his team throughout the game was an admonishment of patience, “Keep playing the right way. Stay focused for 60 minutes.” For Sergei Gonchar, he got the monkey off his back, scoring what would end up being the game-winner, his first goal in 29 playoff games. The collective sigh of relief could be felt on the Penguins bench comingled with the rejuvenation of the team.

Crosby’s empty-netter after Philly pulled Biron to add the extra attacker was a thing of beauty. His first attempt did not go as he was in hot pursuit by a back-checking Flyer, but the puck bounced his way as he buzzed around the net and laid it in on the second chance, leaving 28 seconds on the clock.

The biggest element–character. That’s according to Max Talbot, “a lot of character.” It’s no surprise to Penguins fans, particularly in the last two seasons. Last year, they battled through an unbelievable number of injuries, including lengthy ones to Crosby and Fleury around mid-season. The talking heads said the team would be lucky if they could manage to stay around.500. In Malkin’s mind, that was unacceptable because he literally took the team on his shoulders, and his drive was infectious. The team pulled together and put themselves high in the playoff rankings. And then they battled the Giant Detroit Red Wings. No one expected them to be there.

The character of that group of guys, their never-say-die attitude even when things look bad is a testament to their heart. There’s no quit in them. Certainly not in Philadelphia on Saturday as they came roaring back with 5 unanswered goals. Coach Bylsma said of this series and of his team, “Huge test. Huge character for our team. Down 3-0 in this building. I think that says a lot about our group…When the team plays the right way, it gives different guys an opportunity to score.”

What worked:

1. The right fight at the right time. Something like that in a high-stakes game is always a gamble, but for those supporters of taking fighting out of the game, if they are honest in their assessment of how the game subsequently unfolded, they would be hard-pressed to disagree with it.
2. The Staal line. While their offensive numbers are not earth-shattering in this series (2G, 4A collectively), they have become a forechecking nightmare. Consistently throughout this series, with the exception of Game 3, they have kept the Flyers in their end for seemingly interminable chunks of time, wearing players down. These three have accounted for 58 shots (29% of the team’s shots) and 33 hits (20% of the team’s hits). Jordan Staal remains strong on the face-off averaging 57% in this series, ranging from 50%-79% for five of the six games. More consistently than the other lines, they have been able to start and sustain cycles. On special teams, Cooke and Staal have been solid on the primary penalty kill, and Staal is overdue for a few short-handed goals.
3. Other intangibles that boost a team. Gonchar and Fedotenko breaking out of their slump. Rob Scuderi’s gutsy continued play on a PK with what at first looked like a useless left arm, later determined to be a shot taken to the body with the left arm protecting. Goals from two defensemen. A power play that had a pulse and some chances on the net.
4. Defensive Corps. Really, with a few exceptions in this series, the Penguins defensive corps of Brooks Orpik, Sergei Gonchar, Hal Gill, Rob Scuderi, Mark Eaton, and Kris Letang has been about as solid, unit for unit, as they have been all year. They have improved greatly from early to mid-season play when they looked slow, out of sync, and at times, uninterested. Orpik has always been a solid hitter, but he’s found another gear and the “pounding” per square inch is well nigh incalculable. Scuderi thinks nothing of giving up the body to block a shot, and the others have followed suit, particularly Letang and Eaton. Scuderi also shines as the lone defenseman in 5-on-3 situations. Gill has shown more speed and is gaining offensive confidence.

What Still Needs to Happen–Lessons for Round 2:

1. Consistency. 60 minutes of focused play that “sticks to the plan.”
2. Score First and Score Often. The Penguins do themselves no favors by getting behind in a game even if they are one of the top teams in the number of come-from-behind wins. Those kinds of games are psychologically as well as physically draining. The Flyers proved to be tough to beat when they get a lead, and other teams in the playoffs will be just as tough if not tougher. With a lead, teams will lock down in their zone with very agressive “outriders” in the neutral zone as the Flyers showed in this series. The Penguins need to keep the pedal to the metal no matter how many goals they score. They themselves proved that no lead is safe.
3. Keep the Hits Coming. The Penguins are as physical a team as any when they decide to be, and when they knock bodies off the puck, they do so effectively, winning the majority of the battles on the boards. Another thing they started to do in the playoffs but got away from again are good, clean, crunching open-ice hits. They are not known for it, but they are good at it. If the opportunity presents itself, they should take it. Hits are just as exhausting to receive as they are to give, and the receiver usually finds himself hesitating a little too long, expecting a hit to come. Hits get in a guy’s head. This provides the perfect opportunity to win the puck and further punish the opponent through extended cycles.
4. Drop-pass Sparingly. The Penguins became too predictable with the drop-pass. It wouldn’t hurt to fake a drop and then deke around a defender, and the Penguins have enough stick-skill to do this. Not only should the drop-pass be used sparingly, but it can’t happen high, dead-center inside the offensive blue line because it’s off to the races for the other team. If it has to happen there, the forward dropping the pass needs to linger on angle just long enough to screen without interfering, thus deterring a pick-off.
5. More Net Presence. Of course, this requires someone to shoot on net in order to be effective. Net presence should come in any combination of standing up and screening the goalie, to buzzing around the net, to criss-crossing in front of it, all of this with shots, shots, shots.
6. Power Play, Please. If the power-play does not improve, the Penguins will not get far. Given their strong cycling at even strength, it would be interesting to see what Jordan Staal and Tyler Kennedy could do with Geno, or even Guerin or Kunitz coming out as the first unit. This would give a different look and throw teams off. Keep the defensive pairing of Gonchar and Letang. Bring Crosby out with Kunitz and either Talbot, who can manage a winger spot, or Satan, who looked better in Game 6.

Finally, a word needs to be said about the Philadelphia Flyers. While Pittsburgh and Philadelphia fans love to hate each other and their respective teams, it cannot be disputed that any time these teams match up, people will get their money’s worth. Biron is a tough customer between the pipes. The likes of Mike Richards, Jeff Carter, the up-and-coming Claude Giroux, and tough guys Scott Hartnell and Dan Carcillo provide a gritty, hard-hitting force to be reckoned with. They should be commended for giving the Penguins early adversity, something they did not have to face in last year’s playoffs until the finals, showing that they truly are one of the top teams in the East.

Lucky Number 13

Fridays and the number 13 are traditionally viewed as a very unlucky combination, but it was a Friday night, and it was Number 13, Bill Guerin, who brought the luck to the team in game 2 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals match-up against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Game 2 had a decidedly different feel to it than Game 1, which saw the Penguins dominate their opponent in every aspect of the game, making it look easy.  The Flyers recovered in the off-day, made adjustments, and were bound and determined to prove that they, too, could be a disciplined team.  And for a while, it seemed to be working.  The Flyers drew first blood barely seven seconds into their power play against the second PK unit of Maxime Talbot and Pascal Dupuis on a weird tip in from a shot at the blue line.  In the first period, the Broad Street Bullies de jour only had one offender in the sin bin versus two from the Pens.  This was a vast improvement from game 1, which saw four Flyers caught for penalties in the first period.

The Penguins continued a steady pace though, and Marc-Andre Fleury did his part to keep the game close, facing a total of 14 shots in the first frame.  His team was rewarded as #13 Bill Guerin hitched a ride on a shift with the original 2-Headed Monster of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.  Even strength at 16:38 in the second period, a 3-on-2 rush initiated by a great Gonchar poke-check in their defensive end sent the puck to a waiting Malkin on the right boards, and they were off.  A smart and sassy wrister from Guerin notched the equalizer.

The newly minted, disciplined Flyers team started to tarnish a little as the third period saw them taking the only penalty in the period on a Jeff Carter hook, and it would prove costly.  Guerin quarterbacked a play from the left side of Martin Biron who had to be mindful of Malkin behind him in the trapezoid.  Crosby was perched in the right circle.  Guerin surveyed the scene and made a shift a little higher in the left circle.  Crosby shifted up as well, allowing Guerin to send him a crisp pass across the front of the goal.  Crosby quickly turned the puck to Sergei Gonchar, who sent it back left again to Kris Letang cheating in on the left circle.  As this was happening, both Guerin and Malkin converged, and Letang’s slapper was fed into the net by Malkin.

That was with 3:47 left in regulation.  The Penguins had life, and the Flyers were seething.  OT was spectacular as Fleury turned away 10 shots and Biron faced 11.  The Flyers slung off their sheep’s clothing starting at 16:55 when the first wolf Mike Knuble reared his ugly head on a cross-checking penalty, which had him and an already-penalized Hal Gill for the Pens hanging out in the sin bin as their teams moved through a 4-on-4 situation.  Twenty-five seconds later at 17:25, one second before Gill was to be let loose, a second wolf emerged as Claude Giroux of the Flyers took a 2-minute slashing penalty and went to join his teammate, Knuble.

This created the perfect 5-on-3 the Pens needed.  Coach Dan Bylsma elected to insert Chris Kunitz in the power play this time, which slid Malkin to the right point with Gonchar on the left.  Guerin and Crosby took the left and right circles.  As Malkin shifted the puck along the blue line to Gonchar, the Sarge made for what looked like a slap shot that instead was slap-passed to a waiting Guerin perched just to Biron’s right off the left post.  The goal was the nail in the Flyers’ coffin as all discipline was thrown out the door, ending with a frustrated Kimmo Timonen taking a 10-minute misconduct penalty.

So what is it about Bill Guerin?  Last season, the cult of Gary Roberts applauded his role as the veteran in the locker room who could guide a young captain in Crosby and a young team in the Penguins to victory.  With Roberts, though, you never knew what you were going to get.  The cold look of a crocodile and the hit of a freight train, Roberts commanded notice.  He scored some key goals, but was seen more as an enigma–something simultaneously awed and feared.

Bill Guerin, by stark contrast, appears to be one of those veterans who fits the category of “still waters run deep.”  He’s not flashy, but he’s reliable.  He doesn’t do anything to command notice in the ways Roberts did, but that makes Guerin even more dangerous than Roberts.  Guerin skillfully flies under the radar of opposing teams, and by the time his presence is realized, it’s too late–kind of like a Stealth bomber.  His body of work in game 2 is a classic example of this.  He only posted two hits and a blocked shot, but he had his finger on the trigger for 8 shots on net, two of which were fatal blows to the Flyers.

From watching interviews, Guerin possesses the same kind of quiet, even-keeled, contemplative personality that Sidney Crosby does, and in that, Sid has a perfect mentor.  Unlike Roberts, Guerin is also one of those two puzzle pieces the Pens have been looking for to complete the Crosby line and end the saga of “Who Can Play with Sid?”  Marian Hossa was not the solution either, truth be told.

It is doubtful that there will be any WWBGD?  like the WWGRD? (What Would Gary Roberts Do?) slogans that seemed to show up everywhere in Pittsburgh last year.  It’s not necessary.  Guerin, now and in the long run, is a better suited veteran (and Crosby linemate) for the Penguins in terms of his poise and his skill.  The Pens are lucky to have Number 13.

Turning Up the Heat in a Hot Kitchen

by Chaiwoman
Pittsburgh Penguins’ radio color analyst Mike Lange is fond of saying “…to take the heat out of a hot kitchen” during harrowing defensive stands, but he may have to amend that slightly as the Pens and their opponents are fighting fire with fire.

Penguins 6–Devils 1: The Pens cranked up the heat on the New Jersey Devils, and while one would think they could take it, it was no April Fool’s joke. The Devils clearly did not look like themselves that night, and the Pens, by contrast, looked possessed. Six guys figured in the goal scoring: Matt Cooke (11), Bill Guerin (20), Evgeni Malkin (34), Sidney Crosby (30), Jordan Staal (21), and Chris Kunitz (23). On top of that, 12 players assisted in those tallies with defensemen Sergei Gonchar and Hal Gill leading the way by contributing two assists each. Not to be outdone, even netminder Marc-Andre Fleury had an assist, his first of the year, on the Guerin goal.

The confidence of the defensive corps of the Penguins is evidenced in their plus/minus rating. The tandem of Gill and Rob Scuderi posted a +4. This is an outstanding improvement for the pair considering that in days of yore (pre-Bylsma), at the best of times they looked mediocre and at the worst of times shell-shocked. Many were the games when plays in front of Fleury by those two created incredible anxiety for the fans and heart failure for their netminder whose own confidence was shaky. The insecurity was palpable and hard to watch. Fast-forward to present day, and Gill and Scuderi have been reborn. They are as in sync as Siamese twins, playing the way many believed they could play, and Fleury has felt the effects translate to his own crisp game.

Penguins 2–Hurricanes 3 (OT): “Kickin’ it up a notch,” the Pens went into Carolina Saturday night. From the first puck-drop to the goal horn in the OT frame, it was such a firestorm of speed, shots, hits, and break-aways that FSN’s Paul Steigerwald and Bob Errey never had a chance to talk about anything anecdotal except during commercial breaks and intermissions. They were nearly out of breath as they tried to match their play-by-play calling with the speed of the game.

Crosby and Malkin were picking pockets like Fagin’s street urchins, generating chances. Tyler Kennedy had yet another solid game, which at least merits an honorable mention to the 3 stars of the game–all Hurricanes. Malkin’s failing to score on the penalty shot he was awarded was a bad break. However, Guerin’s disallowed goal was a result of a bad Kunitz penalty, which hearkens back to what Bylsma said days ago. It’s not so much about how many penalties they take, but the kind they are and when they occur. This was not a good penalty as without it, Guerin’s goal would have counted, and Jordan Staal’s goal, then, would have been the game winner.

A Hurricanes-Pens playoff round match-up would make for an exciting, heart-stopping, nail-biting, teeth-gnashing series. These two teams are about as evenly matched as any two could be, including their season-long ups and downs and the fact that each possesses an outstanding young goalie in Fleury and Cam Ward, energizing stars, and, oh yes, a Staal brother. Pens fans seem to travel well as the crowd appeared to cheer just as loudly for the Penguin goals as the home team crowd did for the ‘canes, showing some Pittsburgh faithful in attendance.

Penguins 2–Panthers 4: After a strong first period, notching a hefty 19 shots on netminder Tomas Vokoun, the second period saw the Pens experiencing fatigue. No doubt this was a result of the supercharged, all-out slug fest in Carolina just 20 hours earlier. It did not help that a flukey goal came off a misplayed puck by Hal Gill that popped up strangely and could not be cleared out. Add to this the fact that neither Crosby nor Malkin registered a point in this game or in the Carolina game, and both were a -2 at Carolina and -1 at Florida.

However, Coach Dan Bylsma has recognized the power of the Staal-Kennedy duo, putting just about every winger he could think of on the line to try to generate something. It worked for Pascal Depuis, and Staal was also part of the unit that netted Eaton’s power play goal.

While rest can renew tired legs and focus weary minds, it is still unacceptable that the power play produces so few chances on net.  The Pens had 4 power play chances and registered only 3 shots with Mark Eaton scoring the sole power play goal. If they are not putting at least 5 shots on net per power play, then it is powerless. If not correctly quickly, such a situation will not bode well for a deep playoff run, let alone a Stanley Cup final. It cannot be stressed enough that Crosby is best working the end boards behind the goalie, forcing the goalie to split his attention to account for him. As soon as he is slides up on the half wall, he has much too much ice to play around with, and 99% of the time, he elects to pass.

The Therrien-era power play reared its ugly head in this game: the passing was excrutiatingly slow, and the player in possession of the puck held it entirely too long. The Panthers’ PK unit loved this because they hardly had to move. They could have killed a 10 minute penalty without a line change at that rate. So few shots on net leaves guys like Kunitz and Guerin with nothing to do, negating one of the biggest reasons they were acquired. Bottom line: Sid, more than any of them, must shoot.

All is not lost though. This team has proven time and again over the past three seasons that it has the collective intestinal fortitude to grind it out and push through a new growing pain. They are in position to have a date with destiny, to get back to where they were last season–maybe to avenge some unfinished business. The road is long and hard, and it will be a test for them and for their new coach, but as Bylsma said, going into the Hurricanes game, he put to them this question: “What mindset do we want to have going into the game?” How they respond 60 minutes at a time will determine their outcome.

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