As I settled into my seat at the Pennsbury Pub and Grille to watch yesterday’s Game Five clash between the Penguins and Senators, I was hoping against hope the locals would give a good account of themselves. What I witnessed was beyond my wildest dreams.
Easy on the blood pressure, too.
For the better part of a most pleasant afternoon, the Pens swarmed the Ottawa net in never-ending waves. Clad in their home black-and-gold uniforms, our guys fairly resembled announcer Mike Lange’s bees buzzing around a hive as they stung the Sens, 7-0, to snatch a 3-games-to-2 series lead.
Needless to say, there was plenty of offense to go around. Seven different Penguins lit the lamp, including Olli Maatta. For the second-straight game the fuzzy-cheeked assassin opened the scoring, beating Ottawa goalie Craig Anderson with an ice-hugging bullet to the short side. Maatta’s marker touched off a four-goal first period rampage, one that doomed the visitors.
Following an extended sequence of puckhandling wizardry by Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby tipped Trevor Daley’s knuckler past Anderson on the power play at 12:03. Four minutes later Bryan Rust—back in the lineup after missing the past two games with an upper-body injury—deflected a Nick Bonino wrister past Anderson.
The veteran goalie, who’d limited the Pens to a paltry three goals during the first three games of the series, was visibly rattled. His shook his head while remaining on one knee, a posture that no doubt alarmed coach Guy Boucher. The Ottawa skipper promptly summoned Anderson to the bench, replacing him with former Pen Mike Condon.
Condon’s initial stint between the pipes lasted all of 1:28. Anderson returned to the net following a stop in play and was victimized again, this time by Scott Wilson. “Willy” alertly pounced on a carom off the end boards and shoveled it in backhand fashion off the back of Anderson’s left leg and in.
That was all she wrote for the Sens’ starter, who’d been forced to contend with more traffic than Parkway commuters at rush hour.
Refusing to take their foot off the gas pedal, the Pens continued to attack. Sage center Matt Cullen converted on a made-to-order feed from fellow golden oldie Mark Streit at 1:54 of the second period to run the score to 5-0.
Fifty ticks into the third period the Pens upped the ante on an incredible play by Crosby. Taking a pass from Malkin below the right circle, Sid slipped the puck in blind, backhand fashion between the legs of defender Fredrik Claesson and past Condon to the waiting stick of Phil Kessel, who tapped it home.
Daley applied the final flourish with another power play goal—the Pens’ third of the afternoon—at 8:49. Ably filling in as quarterback for the injured Justin Schultz, Trevor drifted to center point, faked a shot, then blasted the puck past Condon, who was screened by Wilson on the play.
They say seven is the number of perfection and completion. So it was for our Penguins this fine Sunday.
Rousing Rowney
Forward Carter Rowney’s done a terrific job for the Pens this postseason. He’s been equal parts physical (a team-leading 45 hits), responsible and reliable, while adding an energetic presence to the bottom six.
Yesterday he provided a little offense, too. Enjoying a breakout game, the 28-year-old rookie from Grande Prairie, Alberta picked up three assists—his first points of the postseason—and finished a plus-4. The unexpected outburst earned Carter star-of-the-game honors.
“He’s a real good player, really underrated…” Pens goalie Matt Murray said. “I think one of his best abilities is his ability to skate for such a big guy, and he can really hit, as well. He can create some energy and some momentum on the forecheck, and he can produce, too.”
Just what the doctor ordered.
Cheap Shot
As is often the case in lopsided games, the Pens didn’t escape unscathed. In the closing seconds, Ottawa forward Tommy Wingels clocked Wilson in the face with a blindside forearm shiver, forcing the scrappy Pens winger to exit the ice.
Neither referee—Wes McCauley or Brad Meier—saw fit to issue a penalty. It remains to be seen if the league will take disciplinary action.
Puckpourri
The Pens held an edge in shots on goal (36-25) and shot attempts (56-47). Ottawa led in faceoffs (36-24) and hits (53-28).
Murray stopped all 25 shots he faced to earn his second career playoff shutout. He was awarded the game’s third star. Number-two star Rust (a goal and an assist) replaced Conor Sheary in the Pens’ lineup. Streit dressed in place of Chad Ruhwedel (concussion).
Malkin collected three assists to maintain his hold on the NHL postseason scoring lead (23 points). Josh Archibald registered six hits in 11:50 of ice time.
Hi Rick
One point I forgot to mention.
Last night Ottawa did not sell out.
There were thousands of empty seats.
HNIC said that Ottawa had to do a special
press blitz to sell extra tickets on Tuesday.
Reason was the Ottaws fans were upset by the poor team effort in game 5. Really blasted them on sports radio shows as well.
Their fans are funny that way. Montreal Fans have
been known to do the same thing from time to time.
HNIC showed the upper decks and it was embarrassing
for a game 6 of a Cup semi finals.??
In Toronto you could have shown old timers game and they would still fill the place at 200 dollars a ticket.
FYI
Nashville wins 6-3…
Advances to the finals.
Let’s Go Pen’s. ..
😀
From the “those who don’t remember history are doomed to repeat it” file, Guy Boucher is the guy who was coaching the Lightning when they came back from a 3-1 series deficit to win over the Pens a few years back. Pens can’t let up.
Agreed Phil. We should try to beat them 8- 0 this time…
Lets go Pen’s…
Hey all,
Sorry to be so out-of-pocket…having a low-energy day and caught a darn springtime cold to boot … 🙁
Excellent observations and comments, as always. Jim, Bonino’s line sure earned their keep yesterday, didn’t they? And I loved the fact that the Pens brought back the Murphy Dump, to great effect.
Phil, great observations regarding the “fullback.” The guys you mentioned have really turned things around with their aggressive forecheck. Nice to be on the other end of things for a change.
Can’t say enough about Sullivan and his staff and the adjustments they’d made. They’ve done a heckuva job.
Same with the players. No matter who’s out, they just close ranks…adapt and adjust…and keep on knockin.’ Talk about character.
Other Rick, I agree with your Fleury-Murray analysis. Absolutely no disrespect to Flower, who you really have to feel for. But the Pens play a (much) more settled game with the kid in goal. He’s just so cool and solid.
Shifting gears, I’m absolutely astounded that the NHL neglected to suspend Wingels. I don’t know what the hell they’re thinking. That wasn’t even a hockey play…Wingels just decided to “set a tone” for Game Six and hammer Wilson in the head with a forearm.
The officiating this year has been mostly dreadful. Tap a guy with your stick, it’s an automatic two minutes (especially if you’re a Penguin). But take a guy’s head off?
I can just see the old NHL guard giving each other a nod and a wink. Boys will be boys …
It’s a [bleeping] travesty.
Rick
Hey Rick,
With regards to a nod and a wink by the NHL brass….. Some day if we all live long enough there will be a class action suit against the NHL and it’s owners and we will see who has the last laugh…..
What the NHL are more concerned about is a “bleeding heart prosecutor in a State where by the prosecutor charges the player with assault and intent to injure or something much stronger and the Team owner and the Rink owner as well for condoning such actions. If that was to happen then that would send shock waves thru out the league. Really there is nothing the NHL can do about that.
Plus as more medical information becomes public about sports related injuries the more the law enforcement officials have to act. They did that to boxing many years ago and cleaned up that sport from where it was.
I know it is a little bit off the topic Rick,but the only way to stop this crap is to prosecute somebody before someone gets killed.
Cheers.
Or Perhaps a Federal investigation like the PED hearings from a couple of years ago in the MLB? Do you need to be a former player with an injury to request congressmen to look into this?
Rest assured Jim, Rick, Phil, had Wilson or any Penguin retaliated they would have drawn a penalty. The league penalizes the person defending themselves not the perpetrator
Ridiculous.
After making some progress over the past few seasons in terms of protecting the players, the NHL’s taken a giant … and I do mean giant … step backward.
Rick
Remember when Matt Cooke got the huge suspension and things were going to be different after that? It’s going in full reverse.
How about last year when Letang drew a suspension?
Things backslid really quickly!
Great comments guys.
All I can say, (and I do not agree with this statement) is as Cup Champions I guess we are supposed to take this abuse and say nothing because when we do they all call us Whiners !!!
These head shots and concussions are serious business….this is players lives we are talking about. Where is the NHLPA on this ?
I get real upset over this issue. Call me crazy but just maybe these calls should be reviewed in real time from the NHL Office in Toronto and someone be given the authority to call a game misconduct penalty when the infraction occurs? If the ref misses the call, Toronto calls it. No exceptions….I know it will not happen.
Cheers
Good Idea JIm and one that will never see the light of day. 100% hits like that should be reviewed in real time.
I read a really good comment on the NHL website quoting the rule about head shots and asking what part of that rule that the head office doesn’t understand.
Not that it would do any good. Pride would goeth before the fall. The NHL will now be too proud to acknowledge their incompetence, even if they were to be sued over it.
The good news is that Wilson is fine after the craven attack by Wingels and should play game 6 according to the PG.
Hey tOR,
While that is good news about Wilson, the sad state of the so called NHL Department of Player Safety is a joke. They basically said Wilson is a no name and if we suspend a player it will be worse PR than anything that could happen to WIlson. I really hope that all of the players that are having concussion related problems take the NHL for all they are worth. I hope they use Wilson’s video and lack of any concern by the NHL In doing so. I’m with Dejan Kovacevic (DK Sports) in that I would like to see the NHL front office rebuilt without Neanderthals running it after losing all of the money.
If you guy have not seen the movie Concussion yet, I highly recommend it.
Hey Phil,
Believe it or not when I originally posted that comment I deleted out a good news bad news, going down that path of ranting about the see no penalty monkeys. I am sick of it and hoarse from commenting on that type of garbage.
Hey Rick.
There were many things the Pen’s did well yesterday so it is difficult to isolate just one or two .
For me one was the play of Bonino and Rust. They definitely made a difference yesterday. Much like putting Kunitz and Crosby back together in game 4 and continuing in game 5. They had chemistry.The entire line did.
Coach also mentioned the lob “pass” they executed yesterday to break the trap. It worked.
7-0 is the perfect score we needed to send a message to Ottawa and the Western finalists.
Superman is back!!!
Cheers☺
Hey Rick,
Like you, I was worried about a nail biter that would cause cardiovascular distress. I was worried I would have to have an ambulance stand by until the final whistle. Boy, am I glad that the Pens finally put a full effort into one game.
For me the watch word for this game was toughness. For several games this board bristled with discussions of how people thought a heavy forecheck is what the Dr was ordering for the Pens, and in fact Sully must have agreed. Because about three games back, players like Rowney, Wilson, and Kunitz started throwing their weight around and then injuries brought Archibald into the mix.
Jim a couple of games back mentioned he hadn’t seen the Pens really establish a cycle in the O – Zone.
But after punishing check after punishing check Ottawa’s D first started looking over their shoulder when going for loose pucks on the dump and chase, now they are conceding the puck. Did you notice how many times the Ottawa D let the Pens get the Puck first, then hit the Pen rather that allow Rowney and his wrecking crew exact their pound of flesh.
Every series and every game its their own star, not only was Rowney the No 1 star last night but he should be considered the Pens No 1 star of this series.
Now lets look at the reverse of toughness, the dastardly, cowardly attack by Wingel on Wilson. I still haven’t seen anything even resembling that the league is reviewing it. The See no Penalty, Hear no Penalty, Call no Penalty Monkeys appear to be at the top of their useless form.
It doesn’t take toughness only cowardice to forearm an unsuspecting player.
For McCauley and Meier’s sake I hope they never have to experience the same level of apathy for the rules that they show.
Hey Rick, Wow is that first goal huge when going against the trap!
Anyway, Sullivan seems to have put in a two part plan to open up the offense.
One, It would seem Sullivan created a new, “Fullback” if you will, position on each line. A guy that goes and clears the way using speed and checks. The last two games were won by Archibald, Rowney, Wilson, Rust & believe it or not Kunitz.
The other change of is the new defense shoot first ask questions later mentality. All of the sudden Ottawa can’t ball up in front of the net and keep Penguins players from attacking. Great plan and great execution. Maatta is looking like he did as a rookie.
Also, I noticed no mention of Murray’s shut-out. Not just here, I haven’t seen seen written mention of it anywhere. I’m not really sure what that means, but at the same time I also realize he didn’t have to do much in net. Maybe it means Pittsburgh Hockey writers are actually following the sport now?
Oh BTW, good call on Archibald!
Hey Phil,
As a former goalie I think I have to disagree with you here. To me it appears that you are minimalizing Murray’s efforts. And if so, that goes to the basis of why I like Murray better than Fleury. (I am not saying I dislike Fleury, just that I like Murray better.)
Fleury makes the mundane save look like he had to work hard while Murray makes the spectacular look easy.
I believe it was Barry Melrose who suggested that the Pens offense is benefiting from Murray in net and I agree.
Even when MAF is on his game and a lights out goalie, all plays in the D zone are chaotic; players skating around with no idea of who, what where, or why they are there. When Murray is in there is a palpable calm that allows the D to simply execute and gett he puck moving the other way so the O can then attack. And this all comes down to the different approaches of these 2 goalies; Fleury the athletic/reaction goalie allows the game to play him, so things are chaotic, Murray the positional goalie dictates play and calms the team.
Let’s face it, a shut out is a shut out and he did face 25 shots stoppong them all and Ottawa did have some good opportunities just no extended opportunities wrought from chaos in the defensive zone. And even last game the 2 goalies he gave up were on deflections. The second one changed directions 3 times in true pinball fashion.
There is a reason why Murray won over 70% of his games this past regular season behind the same team Fleury won only about 60%.
I would not have made the switch but since Sully did, Murray is earning his paycheck.
Hey tOR,
This is all kinds of funny! I was the one saying make the change to Murray, you were saying no.
While I do not subscribe to your Fleury creating chaos in the Pens defensive end theory, I do believe that the book on Fleury might say you need to send more guys to the net (and top right glove side, ahem).
Murray did have a shutout. Murray did not face many quality scoring chances at all. After a few minutes in the first, maybe he faced a tough three shot flurry in the third. There really wasn’t much else at all.
I like Murray and he definitely makes ME calmer while watching the games, but Sullivan protects him. If you don’t believe me, look at the schedule.
Murray was #1 goaltender all year, but when it came to back to back games with one against a team in another division and one against the Penguins biggest division rival, Sullivan had Fleury start in net against the Capitals. Why did he do it? Because the Capitals can exploit Murray’s biggest weakness.
The one game Murray played against the Caps and didn’t get pulled he let in 7 goals. The Pens won in overtime.
If Fleury didn’t play the Columbus series and get his groove back, i truly believe the Penguins are golfing right now and the Capitals are moving on. Yes, Murray did it last year, but with the full compliment of healthy Pens defense men who blocked the passes across the slot.
I can truly say that Fleury has won many games for the Penguins this post season. That all being said, Sullivan changed the whole team dynamic by going on the offensive 2 games ago. Murray got the win, but did not win the game for the Penguins. That is the only reason he is not getting acknowledged.
My comment was more about the writers knowing that and that they are possibly actually following and knowing hockey (something new for around here) rather than how Murray actually did. Which was to have a solid shutout.