I may need therapy after this one.
In terms of gut-wrenching momentum swings and plot twists, last night’s 5-2 series clincher over Columbus in Game 5 might well have been the most emotionally draining Penguins game I’ve ever witnessed. I’ve seen some doozies over the years, but this one tops ‘em all.
Seated squarely atop a razor’s edge for a solid 60 minutes, I don’t think I’ve ever spent a game alternately cheering and cursing our fates as I did last night. Often in the same sentence.
Heck, we were up 5-2 with 10 minutes to play, and I was still blowing a gasket over our truly horrific defensive play. Members at Wright’s Gym, where I work and viewed the game, were giving the front desk an extremely wide berth. Wisely so.
I must’ve yelled “clear the puck” at the top of my lungs 100 times during the first two periods. Perhaps 50 more times during the last eight minutes, which felt like an interminably long Columbus power play.
Maybe Phil Bourque, the ol’ Two-Niner, will demonstrate how to clear the puck during his next Hockey 101 segment. I’d expect the entire Penguins team to be present. They handled the rubber in their own zone as if it were a live grenade. Or worse, a dirty diaper.
“I think there are a lot of things we can improve on and get better,” said Pens coach Mike Sullivan in what qualifies as the understatement of the millennium.
Enough venting.
Marc-Andre Fleury was magnificent. In perhaps the crowning performance of a career packed with plenty of ebbs and eddies, he stopped 49 shots, including enough prime scoring chances to fill a bushel basket.
How he did it, I’ll never know. “Flower” literally defies the laws of physics at times. A quicksilver bundle of instinct, sheer brilliance and pure athleticism. When he’s on, few can match him.
A lesser goalie might’ve crumbled in the face of the onslaught. Indeed, Marc-Andre would be perfectly within his rights to hire a shyster lawyer and sue his teammates for non-support. Instead, he placed the club on his slender shoulders and backstopped it to victory, in the process surpassing Tom Barrasso as the Pens’ all-time leader in postseason victories.
Fully appreciative of Flower’s supreme efforts, the PPG Paints Arena throng serenaded him with strains of “Fleury, Fleury” in the closing minutes.
Music to their hero’s ears.
“You still get butterflies and goosebumps when the crowd chants your name,” he said, flashing a winner’s smile.
Fleury was the man, no doubt. However, contrary to my earlier rant, he did have help. Phil Kessel lived up to his nickname, thrilling the capacity crowd with the game-opening tally on a rapier-like wrister that I still had trouble tracking on slow-motion replays. Wow, can he shoot the puck.
Bryan Rust continued to display a marvelous knack for rising the occasion with two clutch goals. Evgeni Malkin, runaway postseason scoring leader with 11 points, chipped in with three huge helpers.
Leave it to Sidney Crosby to come up large when his team needed him the most. With the Pens hanging on for dear life in the face of a ferocious Columbus push, our captain beat Blue Jackets goalie Sergei Bobrovsky with a bolt from the lip of the right faceoff circle early in the final frame, courtesy of a pretty feed from Malkin.
Less than a minute later, at 6:22 to be precise, Scott Wilson fooled Bobrovsky with a stunning backhand pirouette worthy of Sid or “Geno.” The no-look flourish provided a much-needed cushion, not to mention the final margin of victory.
Hats off to the vanquished Blue Jackets, a worthy and dangerous foe if there ever was one. Down 3-0 early in the second period, with bruising Josh Anderson in the box to boot, they could’ve packed it in. Instead, the visitors mounted a scalding comeback to close the gap to one, out-shooting their bewildered hosts by a 12-0 margin over the last half of the period.
Although the Jackets’ spirited rally ultimately fell short, they gave the phrase “going out on your shield” a whole new meaning. Warriors all.
Given the intense nature of the series, I viewed the postgame handshake with great interest. Sullivan and Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella–close friends–hugged and shared a few words. The original odd couple, Anderson and Kessel, greeted each other with surprising warmth. Crosby conversed amiably with Jack Johnson, the big Columbus defenseman. I’d bet they bumped shoulders once or twice with malice aforethought during the course of the series.
Then came Brandon Dubinsky. Nobody plays No. 87 tougher, or with more vitriol, than the Blue Jackets’ disturber. They clasped hands in mutual respect, betraying no ill-will or animosity.
As they parted, Sid gave Dubinsky a little pat on the midsection as if to say nice series.
Indeed, it was.
Puckpourri
Columbus dominated Game 5 in shots on goal (51-32) and hits (37-18). For the series, the Blue Jackets outshot the Penguins 194-171, and outhit us by a whopping 197-137.
The Pens won 58 percent of the draws last night and controlled the faceoff circle for the series (52.5 %).
William Karlsson and Boone Jenner scored for the Blue Jackets, the second goal of the series for both. Columbus captain Nick Foligno sat out with an undisclosed injury. He was replaced by Scott Hartnell.
Sullivan shifted slumping Conor Sheary to the third line beside Wilson and Nick Bonino. Patric Hornqvist was elevated to the top line with Crosby and Jake Guentzel.
Guentzel’s goal-scoring streak was snapped at three games. Dating back to March 31, Jake has tallied at least one goal in eight of his past 10 games.
Going into tonight’s action, Malkin, Kessel, Crosby and Guentzel occupy the top four spots in the NHL postseason scoring race. The latter leads all skaters with five goals.
Just a random thought while responding to Jim caused me to look at a site that listed team statistics on average age. Along with average age the site listed % of Cap space devoted to the different positions;
Of the top ten teams devoting Cap space to Goalies only 2 remain in the Playoffs, NYR and Bos with NYR the only one who has secured a 2nd round berth. Four teams remain occupying the bottom 10 spaces of Cap space; StL, Edm, Tor, Ott, with Edm and StL making to the 2nd round already and Ott and Tor still looking.
Of the Top ten teams devoting Cap space to Defensemen only 1 remains in the Playoff hunt, Ott, and they have yet to secure their. On the flip side here 3 teams remain in the playoff on the bottom end StL, Tor, and Pgh.
At forward, 4 teams in the top 10 remain; StL, Tor, Pgh, and Was while none remain in the bottom 10.
It would seem that balance is the key, not throwing all of your cap space one way or the other. This discussion may need to be ressurected at the end of the season when decisions have to be made; particularly with Murray getting a raise which would put the Pens in the in the top 5ish, although that cap swing should pull down their top 10 F%
Currently the Pens are devoting ~61% of Cap space to F, ~27% to D and ~ 9% to G, giving them about a 3% cushion.
Hey Rick..
Have you heard…The Rangers are moving on. Just what we needed.They play Boston or Ottawa in round 2.
ST.LOUIS Blues are moving on too. What a difference 2 months make.Jake is now the hero. In Fredericton everybody is so happy for him .The BLUES now face Nashville in round 2.
Edmonton leads by 2 goals starting period 3 and they can eliminate San Jose tonight.
A lot of good teams are going home early.
Cheers
Hey JIm,
It all goes back to something you wrote a little while back, there seems to be a changing of the guard. Edmonton has moved on too. Only Ott-Bos and Was-Tor remain. I am hoping that at least Was-Tor goes 7 to give Murray a chance to heal more before the next round starts. As I wrote below, after looking at road stats, I still have some concerns. Hopefully I am just being overly cautious, but I don’t have a good feel for road games right now.
But back to the changing of the guard point; how many years have teams like Edmonton and Toronto been sucking up top 5 picks, those kids are starting to come of age. Anf teams like Chi, SJ, and LAK (Pgh too) have just been getting older
The interesting thing I find about St Louis is that after they shipped off what everyone considers the best player traded at the trade deadline they started to gel. I am not ready to say anything other than “Hmmm” just yet
Hey Coach,
A mixture of young and older Ottawa players just beat a young and up and coming Boston team. (4 games went to over time I think? )
Only series left to confirm is who we will play…Toronto or Washington.
Just to follow up a bit on the ” changing of the guard ” post I did a while back. It looks a little bit clearer now that we are almost finished Round 1 of the play offs.
There are many power shifts going on now in the NHL. Some are very dramatic like Edmonton,Nashville and St. Louis. Some are second stringers like Boston,Toronto,Ottawa, Calgary, and I hate to say it, Phili and their youth movement.
Then Coach there are teams like Winnipeg,Tampa,Florida,New Jersey, Detroit, who are hot and cold but are trending in the right direction with the youth movement and veterans combined.
What ever you make of it, one fact remains to ring ever true. Eventually all teams must either dismantle their rosters, rebuild with youth through the draft and key quality trades or they simply falter and can go to the bottom 30 % of the league and flounder for years.Not willing to fall to the bottom of the league to get the top 1, 2 or 3 pick which you can rebuild your team again.Pride is a funny thing.
For our beloved Pen’s this is the Golden years. We are now Cup favorites for 2017, ( I know you are a superstitious man so you will not admit that right now,) but in all reality barring injuries we are the cream of the Crop for 2017 now that Chicago, San Jose, and the Wild have been eliminated in the West. In the East, even if Washington wins against Toronto, as they say “the emperor has no cloths” !! Toronto has exposed the Caps for what they are….A declining hockey power !! This Cap’s team has many weaknesses and the Leaf’s youth and speed has exposed all of them. Everybody forgets that Toronto is NOT supposed to be here. They are 2 years ahead of their own time line !
So I welcome the changing of the guard in the NHL as it is good for our game. I guess the salary Cap really does work. Enjoy these play offs Coach as a lot of teams will have to make big changes in 2017-18 if they wish to compete.
One stat that scares me … Chicago, Pittsburgh, Washington and San Jose are the oldest bunch in the NHL. Not always a good sign for the future…..
Lets get that second Cup while we still can !! Cause next year one of these ” KIDS ” …Edmonton ??, fill in the blank……… may beat us .
Cheers
Hey Jim,
I agree 100%. I am enjoying these playoffs if for no other reason than the new faces.
Next year the Pens do not have to be all that old though. They have a good crop of young players; Guentzle, Sheary, anf Rust, at least on O. Kuhnhacl and Wilson haven’t shown that hey are quite in that league in that league but are no slouches. Last year Sundqvist looked pretty darn good and he had a solid year in WBS, still not sure why he was there this year. And you still have wild cards like Sprong, Aston-Reese, and Archibald that may make a bid next year.
On D, that is another story. Our D just doesn’t seem to get the job done. As I commented the other day, there is some culpability that the forwards have to own up to, but the D do not seem to be able to make crisp – clean passes in their own end, leaving the W to either come back to the puck or wait for the puck to come to them and risk letting it get intercepted.
I do not implicate the Cs in that assessment; Malkin particularly, with Crosby, Bonino, and Cullen all do a good to great job getting back to cover for D who both get trapped out of position or taking it upon themselves to move the puck, getting tired of waiting on the pylons masquarading as NHL calibre D men. At this point only Schultz and Cole, as I mentioned before would be safe from my wrath. Maatta is looking much better but at his $$$ he still has a way to go, same with Letang (all though we can’t do much with him) but paying $7 mil for 40 games just doesn’t cut it in my book. Yes when he playes and is on his game he can be thrown into a Norris discussion, but the Pens aren’t getting bang for the buck. And with the neck surgery who knows what will happen.
So there is a lot of room to trim away some of those years on the Pens roster. They have shown this year that they can win and win big without some of the old timers on the roster. The Pens can commit to a youth movement next year and still be a Cup Favorite.
My only worry is the lack of top 10 picks in the system. I would hope that a block-buster deal could be made in the off-season to pry a top 10 pick away from someone; it doesn’t have to be this coming draft but at least the following. Crosby and Malkin still look like they have many years left in them with several of those years as top guns, but it is time to start thinking about getting a top 10 guy.
Hey Rick
Boston is playing tough and that series is still alive. The old saying about Boston was that they played ” lunch pail ” style hockey, a term I never fully understood to say except they work hard and never quit regardless of the foe. That is certainly true of the 2017 Bruins. They are playing for all their worth and next game should be very interesting.
In the Toronto- Washington game the Caps experience certainly was evident last night. There were stages of the game where by Washington was all over Toronto and it appeared that the Leafs were content to just hang on. It still is unbelievable that in 5 games, 4 of them were decided in overtime and in the other game the Leafs almost overcame a 2 goal deficit in the third period of play. So you can not say that Washington is really dominating the Leafs in the series but there are times where by the experience of the Caps really shows.
A couple of quick points Rick. 1. The play of Matt Niskinen and Kevin Shattenkirk. MN is all over the ice and his play has really surprised me. He is their shut down guy and still gets lots of points. KS is their Kris Letang !
I really wish he was not on their team because watching this past 5 games he definitely makes the Caps a more dangerous foe. In game one I think he had 10 shots on net and many of them were quality shots. He definitely makes their PP a lot more dangerous.
2. The great 8 getting hit last night and the penalty that was not a penalty. HNIC and Don Cherry took that hit apart last night in slow motion during the intermission and it indeed was not a knee on knee hit. Then they showed various hits from the first 4 games where by Ovi, Orpik,and others did a lot worse and no penalty was called.Do you know how many times # 8 charges people and there is no call ? 240 pound and 6’2″ bully running over people.
The only reason that penalty gets called last night was because he was # 8 and playing in Washington. Any body else and the play goes on. Ovi should have kept his head up ! Denis Potivin and Brooks Orpik made a career out of similar hip checks. Enough ranting, sorry….I am not an Ovi fan.
So the game on Sunday in Toronto should be a good one and the Leafs do have the talent to beat the Caps, …I just do not know if they are experienced enough yet. As Scotty Bowman said….”Champions have to learn how to lose before they become winner’s.”
At any rate, the Caps know that these kids are for real and if Toronto had one more seasoned d man, like a Kris Letang and another solid leader up front to play with the kids, this series would be over by now.
This series shows us that it is not that the Caps are playing badly but the upstart, young Leafs are indeed that good to play them to 4 overtime games and a 1 goal difference in game 4. I still believe that the Leafs can push this series to a game 7 and that is good for us.
Cheers.
PS: What are you guys doing to my weather? I woke up this morning to 3 inches of snow on April 22nd ?? I like winter but enough is enough.
Hey Jim,
I am right there with you about Ovi, He is one of teh dirtier players in the league and gets dirtier as the pressure builds.
Just some interesting facts to consider while watching this series and trying to decide who to root for, if the Caps win;
MAF against the
Caps had a GAA of 4.02 and a Sv% of 0.884
Leafs had a GAA of 3.32 and a Sv% of 0.917
during the regular season.
Also during the regular season MAFs stats were
at Home GAA 2.52 and SV% 0.928
Awat GAA 3.58 and Sv% 0.887
Now during the Playoffs
at home GAA 1.33 and Sv% 0.967
Away GAA 4.15 and Sv% 0.873
If the Caps win, not only do the Caps own MAF, but they get home ice.
If the Leafs win, they still had a fair regular season against him, but the Pens get home ice.
With the number of Shots they give up, they need to give MAF all the help he can get.
At the Pens current Shots Against per Game times MAFs composite Sv% and a road game against the Caps will likely yield about 5 GA. The Pens O is hot and they did break the Odds on favorite to win the Vezina but this thought scares me.
Hey Coach
Great research! Very enlightened comments.
I too think the Pen’s Leaf match up favors us as well.
If that were to happen the media coverage would be insane up here. Especially the Crosby local hero from Nova Scotia angle. Alot of Canadian hockey fans will cheer for anybody but Toronto. They just do not like the City….nothing to do with the hockey team.
From what I read I think you have a similar situation with New York, the City not the sports teams.
Problem Coach is deep down at the pit of my stomach I believe Ovi will win.I do not want that to happen.
Great technical information Coach. That is why this site is so unique in Rick, you, Phil and all the others bring a tremendous amount of unfettered information to all the readers and do NOT simply be a cheer leading squad for the Pen’s. ☺
Let’s go Pen’s!
Hey Jim,
Check out the post on Pens Labyrinth ” The Pittsburgh Penguins need Fleury to be Murray. It goes to everything I have said. It is a solid look at the Pens goal situation.
Thanks for the heads up coach !
The only thing I don’t quite agree with is the discussion that MAF has a quicker glove hand. Unless someone where to use some type of video tracking of exactly the same shot on both goalies no one can really know this. Perception and reality can diverge here because Murray rarely does the splits when making a glove save and Fleury rarely stays up, but does the splits so the save can be perceived as quicker since it looks more spectacular that way. I have seen Murray stone a lot of shooters with his glove.
MAFs big advantages to me over Murray is his poke check, which can be lethal and block centering passes, and his athleticism, he gets back up on his skates faster than Murray.
However, since Murray doesn’t drop to the ice as often as MAF, the speed difference in getting back on his skates is somewhat attenuated.
Hey Guys
FYI ..WATCHING the pre game show on HNIC and they mention Oilers beating the Sharks last night in over time after losing 7 to 0 in the previous game.
Last night the Oilers out chanced the Sharks over 2 to 1
…112 to 50 something they said. Real dominant play.
That is just a crazy Stat.
Jim
Hey Jim,
Aside from the Preds’ shocking upset of the Hawks (never saw that coming), I haven’t been as plugged into the West.
I was pulling for Calgary–another up-and-comer–against Anaheim. Rooting for the Oilers, too. I don’t see how anyone stops McDavid. He skates so fast, he’s practically a blur.
I’m surprised that Minnesota’s unraveled. They looked really strong, midseason.
Rick
In fairness still not as gut wrenching as the way the sharks played in OT … not surprised they lost just surprised they dint get scored on in the first 10 min. Not a sharks fan and even i was having a heart attack for them.
Hey Rick,
MAF did play a whale of a game. He redeemed himself from game 4 and a few questionable ones that got by him. This series with the play of MAF definitely helps our team in many ways. If he continues his brilliance in the next round, and he should, nobody will question what he is worth on the open trade market this summer.
There are a lot of big name teams being eliminated in round 1 and more in round 2 and all will be looking for a proven winner in goal.
Case in point. Calgary. Maybe now they are thinking that they should have given up that 1st round pick last year, instead of offering an insulting 2nd rounder for his services ?
So it is all good…except we all know 50 + shots in a game 5 in a play off series is nothing to brag about. There are other serious pressing issues to look at besides the fact that your goalie stopped twice as many shots in a single game as he should have .
Good news is we were both wrong in that the Pens did in fact survive the physical onslaught of a very physical team with no serious injuries. That was a real concern of both of us. Glad it is over.
Jim
Hey Jim,
I had the same thoughts about MAF, I am hoping he can continue to play this well at least until Murray is ready to come back. My only concern is that he is playing fantastic at home but below average on the road and if the Caps should win, then they just might have a shot at throwing that monkey off of their backs. If MAF plays as bad as he played in Columbus, in DC, then the Pens may not make it out of the Division. And he will hurt his market value.
Now that I think of it, I may to root for the Leafs both from my heart (seeing them get a little deeper in the Play-offs) and in my head (getting home ice advantage where MAF has played much, much better). Given the keystone kop imitation our defense does trying to clear the zone, the Pens either need all the home games they can get or Murray to get healthy.
Also to your point about trade value, if MAF can play maximum number of home games to mask his weaknesses, that will be a huge plus.
And Lord Stanley just might get back to the ‘burgh.
Hey Guys,
I’m not sure our woes can be pinned strictly on the defense. The forwards play a part in the equation, too. I’d noted a while back that they appear to be less effective along the wall, especially in our zone.
To my admittedly untrained eye, it seemed as if the Blue Jackets were fronting our defensemen with a forechecker, especially when we tried to move the puck up the boards.
A second Columbus forward would move in to disrupt the pass and/or check our breakout forward before he got started. Then they’d shove the puck into the corner and begin the cycle all over again. A very effective tactic…must’ve exhausted our poor d-men.
While I’m confident Sullivan and his staff can make the proper adjustments, winning puck battles is huge. We don’t seem to be doing that consistently unless we’re attacking.
Hence, the extreme momentum swings in our games.
Rick
Hey Rick,
I am not going to argue with you on that point. It really isn’t just work along the boards, it is a general malaise. Passes are very weak, slow passes in which the forwards wait for, half of the time, rather than going to get the pass.
However, the D (as well as the Fs) make bad decisions as to where to pass the puck, often looking like they are holding a hot potatoe that they want to get rid of but more than likely soreness of the body and looking to dump the puck before they get hit.
I have seen a lot of I got it you take plays as well, where players are waiting for someone else to step up rather than willing to do it themselves.
Of course I also have seen the Pens try some of those cute little plays that look really good on highlight reels but more often than not end up going back the other way, instead of securely getting the puck out first.
In the end it comes back to our D is just too small!!! Yes I like them all, but they are all pretty much the same, either literally small in physical stature or small in the way they play. They need physically larger D men who also play large.
It also doesn’t help when MAF mishandles the puck or has problems controlling the rebound. I know a lot of people are mesmerized by his stellar play at home right now, and for good reason. However, a lot of the extra shots he faces is all on him.
Well noted Rick.
It is indeed an entire 5 man unit that needs to execute as 1 to achieve maximum results.
What I noticed in this first round series as opposed to last year was the tacit of dumping the puck to open ice and then beat the opposing player to it and thus creating a ” 6 th” forward almost.
Hagelin and the HBK line executed that move often last year and set up a lot of 2 man breaks and scoring chances.
I do not see that as often in 2017 so far.
What none of us have said is…We miss Letang !!! I thought last game in Columbus especially he was missed.
But we all agree we need size !!
Come on Leafs…
Jim
Hey Guys,
Great points. Other Rick, I’ve noticed the hitch in the Pens’ giddyup, too, primarily in our own end.
Jim, spot-on about Letang…we really miss him on the transitions.
We won this series primarily because of our edge in offensive talent, and Fleury’s (mostly) outstanding play. Columbus just couldn’t finish their chances. We could.
If they’d had another bona fide scorer or two? I shudder to think of the outcome.
Anyway, thank goodness we won. Four down … 🙂
Rick