Hockey is a game of inches. That saying was especially true during the Senators’ 2-1 triumph over our Penguins in Game Six last night, which knotted the Eastern Conference Final at 3-3 and set up a deciding Game Seven in the ‘Burgh on Thursday.
Pens goalie Matt Murray missed closing off the far post by inches, enabling Bobby Ryan to beat him for a momentum-swaying 5-on-3 goal. The Pens narrowly missed beating Craig Anderson on numerous occasions, most notably on a Scott Wilson drive that skimmed off the goalie’s right pad and clipped the post with three minutes left in the first period.
You get the picture. A fortuitous bounce here and there, and we’d be prepping for a Stanley Cup Final clash with Nashville, instead of facing potential elimination.
That’s the way the ol’ puck bounces. Sometimes you get ‘em, sometimes you don’t.
Personally, I thought we had this one. Following a fairly even start, the ice began to tilt in the Pens’ favor. At the top of his game, postseason scoring leader Evgeni Malkin looked as though he’d carry us to victory.
“Geno” nearly did, too, striking for the game-opening goal at 4:51 of the second period. Refusing to be denied, the big center fought through a Zack Smith check in the corner, bulled his way past the Sens’ forward to the side of the net and fired point-blank on Anderson. The veteran goalie made the initial save, but was helpless to stop Malkin’s deft forehand-to-backhand follow-up.
This after the Pens had been jobbed out of an apparent goal only moments earlier, when Trevor Daley beat Anderson with an unconscious effort from a goal-mouth scramble. Ottawa coach Guy Boucher issued a challenge, contending Daley had interfered with his netminder. Showing an unflinching ability to make the wrong call—especially concerning our Pens—the refs disallowed the goal following a video review.
“Nothing we can do about it,” Daley said afterward. “I thought he was squirming in the net. I didn’t think I really pushed him in. I thought he was back in there already. But I didn’t get to call it. It wasn’t my call.”
Still, the Pens appeared to be rolling until a pair of unfortunate penalties to defensemen Ron Hainsey and Ian Cole left them two-men short just past the midway point. Ryan capitalized to knot the score at 1-1 and give his team some much-needed traction.
Credit Anderson, too. Forty-eight hours after being chased from the net, he rebounded in heroic fashion to stop 45 of 46 shots. With 22 saves, the Illinois native was especially tough in the second period, when the Pens dominated play. In particular, his glove save on Sidney Crosby near the eight-minute mark kept the Sens from going down by a pair.
Catching the locals in the midst of a line change early in the third period, Ottawa took full advantage. Defenseman Fredrik Claesson drove the net and laid a beautiful drop pass onto the waiting stick of Mike Hoffman. With Claesson and Hainsey providing a screen in front, Hoffman beat Murray with a booming slap shot high to the stick side.
The goal took the starch out of the black and gold, while inspiring the home team to greater efforts. While his teammates circled the wagons, Anderson made 12 saves over the final 20 minutes to nail down the victory and earn the game’s third star.
“Obviously, we’re disappointed in the result, but I don’t think we can get discouraged by that,” said Pens coach Mike Sullivan. “I think we’ve got to take the positives from it, and we’ve got to build on it, and we’ve got to become a more determined team for Game Seven.”
Crosby echoed his skipper’s sentiments.
“We played a good game,” Sid said. “It happens sometimes in the playoffs. We’ve got to regroup but we did a lot of good things. We probably deserved better tonight.”
Puckpourri
The Penguins dominated a number of statistical categories, including shot attempts (75-46), shots on goal (46-30) and faceoffs (48-34). Malkin won 72 percent of his draws; Crosby won 61 percent.
The Sens held an edge in hits (34-29) and blocked shots (17-8).
Murray made 28 saves in a losing effort. Since returning to the net in Game Three, “Muzz” has stopped 96 of 101 shots for a sparkling .950 save percentage.
Cole and Wilson assisted on Malkin’s goal. Brian Dumoulin (24:15) led the Pens in ice time. The fourth line of Josh Archibald, Matt Cullen and Carl Hagelin combined for 24:03 of ice time.
Hey Rick,
As if anyone cared about my opinion, I am going to give it.
First, as I wrote elsewhere, the Refs deserved at least second star last night in helping force a game 7. Anderson played well no denying that but the Refs really did decide the outcome. It wasn’t just the pathetic call on the coaches challenge but the mugging Crosby got all night. Since they couldn’t stop him legally, Ottawa decided to hold him all game. They tried it with Malkin to, watch the replay of Malkin’s goal Smith has a death grip on Malkin’s stick for the start of the play. Fortunately for the Pens Malkin was too strong for him and he shook the penalty off to score a goal. All in all Kudos to the Refs if you are a Senators fan.
As I said give Anderson credit too, he made tons of great saves.
Finally, fault the Pens O. What? Yes fault the Pens O, yes they squeezed off tons of shots but they played soft. Noticeably, painfully, noticeably gone from the Pens tactics where the heavy, booming hits that had the Sens D desparately afraid to touch the puck. The lack of that heavy, thundering forecheck gave the Sens enough respite to organize their defense. Archibald, Rowney, Kunitz, and Wilson have to get back to punishing the Sens D. Had they pummeled their D then the Pens just may have been able to keep the Refs from stealing that game.
You know the Refs were bad and blew the call when Penguin hater Milbury said he thought the goal was a good goal and the refs made a bad call.
Hey Other Rick,
Funny, but I felt really good about our chances last night. Even when we were down in the third period, I thought we’d find a way to tie the game and pull it out.
Perhaps our 7-0 shellacking of the Sens on Sunday made me a bit overconfident.
My only complaints–I thought the Pens reverted back to their shot patterns from early in the series, i.e. shooting glove side and center mass on Anderson. Would like to see more traffic and short-side stuff, where Anderson seems vulnerable. But all in all, it’s tough for me to gripe about 75 shot attempts.
Several other people have mentioned the rough treatment afforded Crosby. That somehow escaped my radar when I was watching the game (must be losing my edge). But it goes without saying that I wish we had a physical presence who could provide a little screening and protection for Sid.
Along those lines, I got tired of watching big bad Bobby Ryan run his yap. Hopefully, someone will close it for him on Thursday night.
Maybe we bring back Gary Roberts for Game 7…or sneak Rick Tocchet into the lineup for a few shifts.
Kidding, but only sort of …
Rick
Hey Rick,
I had a similar feel that the Pens could score any minute. Yes, their shot choices weren’t always thought out but they had plenty of them.
My point is that had Archibald, Kunitz, Rowney, and Wilson, laid a shellacking on the Sens D, they would have turned more pucks over in critical areas, but more important, they would not have had the energy to to attempt obstruction penalties on Crosby and Malkin. The More times they hit Karlsson they more chances he doesn’t get back on the ice and they have to play with a short bench.
I am sorry but any player who comes out and publicly admits he is hurt is soft and looking for an out. I had the misfortune of coaching a player like that; Always coming down with a mysterious injury in a big game so no one would blame them. Yes there was talent there, but I have no time for those type of players.
According to the Trib, Hornqvist and Schultz may be back for game 7.
Hey Coach,
You know it. Everybody will be available tomorrow.
I think tomorrow will be game 106 or 107 played this season.
1. 5 pre season…. do they play 5 or 6 pre season games ?
2. 82 reg. season
3. 5 Columbus
4. 7 Washington
5. 7 Ottawa
106 games to date.That is a lot of hockey in one season !
A lot of bruises too.
Lets go Pen’s and as I said earlier before game five, just
HIT SOMEBODY, every shift, HIT SOMEBODY.
Especially their d corps. ( You know who I am talking about. )
Cheers
Seems like you and I are on the same page Jim; punish their D every shift!
Hi Other Rick. I couldn’t agree more about the pathetic officiating. And while we’re on the subject, let’s remember that it was the call on Hainsey (followed by the one on Cole) that set up the first Ottawa goal. What exactly was the call, anyway – excessive nudging?
Also, at one point there was a scrum behind the Ottawa net, and Methot tried to gouge Sid in the eyes with his fingers. I guess that’s acceptable NHL play these days.
I hate to sound like I’m making excuses, but I know I’ve got several pairs of sympathetic ears here. I’m looking forward to some sweet revenge tomorrow night, even if it will have to be by “playing the right way.”
Although … Rick’s idea of suiting up Tocchet does bring a smile to my anxious and anguished face. 😉
GO PENS!
Jayelene
Hey Jayelene,
Yes, in their frenzy to deliver an even-up call, the refs invented a brand-new penalty for Hainsey … 🙁
Truth be told, it was borderline interference. Of course, that gets called while Methot’s attempted eye gouge goes unpunished.
The refs have definitely been calling light, obstruction-type infractions (“Penguin” penalties) while turning a blind eye to the more brutal stuff. Gee … I wonder who that favors?
How I wish we had a modern-day version of Tocchet on the team. He wasn’t the greatest skater, but when he went into the corner he almost always emerged with the puck. Great scoring touch in traffic, and man could he fight…with both hands. A real warrior.
Rick
I agree, Rick … a player or two in the Tocchet-mold would be perfect for the Pens going forward. For what it’s worth, I think the best way to make a statement now, going into this game 7, is to beat them with speed, grace, and precision – playing “the right way,” as Sully would put it. But if the league is going to condone the sort of play we’re seeing in the playoffs, I think in the future, the Pens owe it to their more vulnerable players to have other players – those with more physical approaches to the game – available to neutralize the nasty stuff. The kind of liberties the league is allowing teams to take with Sidney Crosby is more than a little disturbing.
Hey Jayelene,
I here you. As a player, no matter how bad the officiating was, or I perceived it, I never said anything to the officials. As a coach, I picked my spots. As a fan, I still try and bite my tongue, if the calls are at least consistent.
The funny thing is, the Officiating is so bad I have heard the national commentators and analysts talking about it very often this post season. One would think that the NHL suits are watching and hearing their name getting smeared on national TV and yet they haven’t done a thing. They just bury their heads.
Did you hear the discussion early last game about game 6 having the lowest audience of any conference final game? Jim mentions all the time about the business side of hockey. Has their arrogance blinded them that much that they do not see the lost revenue?
As for Tocchet suiting up, that is why I have argued that Sestito should have been playing more often in different situations so that he could be inserted into the line up to take care of Methot or Phenuef or cry baby Ryan. Sestito falls way short of Tocchet’s scoring ability but he has tons more skill than Caufield had.
Hey Other Rick … It really does seem like the league is burying its head in the sand. I sure hope it doesn’t take a career-ending injury to a star player to force them to see the light of day.
And I agree with you about Sestito. I don’t think that now’s the time for him to suit up, but it would have been nice to have given him the playing time during the season that would have allowed that as an option here in the post-season. The only way teams will stop taking liberties is if they think there’s a price to pay. Obviously, they don’t fear any repercussions from the officials.