Penguins Playoff Update: It’s a Chili Night in Pittsburgh

It was a chili night in the ‘Burgh on Wednesday. No, I’m not referring to the unseasonably cold weather that’s lingered well into spring.

Back in the day, Wendy’s gave out free cups of chili to ticket stub holders when the Penguins scored seven goals. Although the promotion has long since gone by the wayside, it didn’t make the Pens’ 7-0 skewering of archrival Philadelphia in the latest installment of the ‘Battle of Pennsylvania’ any less tasty or satisfying.

Truly, is there a team you’d rather not clobber than the Flyers?

For starters, there were goals galore, including some real head-turners. I thought Evgeni Malkin’s dynamic backhand tally off a dazzling end-to-end rush with six minutes left in the first period was a thing of rare beauty.

Then Sidney Crosby one-upped ‘Geno’ midway through the second frame with another of his physics-defying deflections, flicking his wrists at the last possible millisecond to swat a Brian Dumoulin drive past besieged Philly goalie Brian Elliott. Perhaps the most stunning display of reflexes and hand-eye coordination I’ve ever seen.

While the Pens celebrated, the cameraman panned to the Flyers’ bench and perfectly caught backup goalie Petr Mrazek’s expression of wide-eyed wonder. The terrified look on his face said it all. “Don’t put me in, coach.”

Mrazek didn’t get his wish. While the beleaguered Elliott scurried to the Flyers’ dressing room for treatment of shell-shock and repairs to his damaged psyche, Mrazek yielded two more goals…both to Sid…including another astonishing re-direct. The little Czech goalie stood glumly by his cage…no doubt cursing his fate…as the PPG Paints Arena faithful showered the ice with hats.

Not that anyone expects to defeat a foe so handily, but I was both stunned and impressed by our exemplary effort. As Kelly, our resident expert at the Pennsbury Pub and Grille, had virtually assured only last weekend, the ‘Playoff Penguins’ showed up. Quite a different breed from the indifferent flock that waddled through much of the regular season and down the home stretch.

No more sloppy drop passes in the neutral zone. No more languid backchecking. Everyone dialed in. Everyone contributed, at both ends of the ice. A virtuoso team performance.

“We executed. We capitalized on our chances,” noted Crosby in the understatement of the century. Boy did they ever.

I was particularly impressed with our penalty kill. We snuffed out four Philly power plays…and yielded only two shots on goal in the process…while rendering Penguin-killers Wayne Simmonds and Claude Giroux practically invisible. Overall, we did an outstanding job of keeping the potent Flyers on the outside looking in.

When they did penetrate, goalie Matt Murray was airtight. His sprawling, Fleury-esque glove save on Scott Laughton near the nine-minute mark preserved a then precarious one-goal lead and was arguably the turning point of the game.

I also kept a close watch on our defense…Chad Ruhwedel in particular. PenguinPoop readers are well aware that I’ve bemoaned the deadline deal that sent Ian Cole packing to Ottawa on his way to the archrival Blue Jackets. But Chad was solid and fairly mistake-free. Not only does he skate well, but he was smart and patient with the puck. Despite a less-than-imposing frame, he’s not afraid to bump a guy, either.

Speaking of imposing, how about Jamie Oleksiak’s gruesome smear job of Philly rookie Oskar Lindblom in front of the Pens’ bench. Think anyone wants to venture down the ‘Big Rig’s’ side of the ice? Uh uh.

Maybe we’ll be okay after all.

It’s only one game. You gotta’ win 15 more before all is said and done, and plenty of peaks and valleys lie just ahead…perhaps as soon as Game 2 on Friday night. But so far, I like what I see.

Maybe Columbus and New Jersey got it right by resting their regulars and virtually conceding their regular-season finales. You could almost hear John Tortorella and John Hynes thinking, Whoever we face, we don’t want to play the Penguins.

Bet the Flyers wish they had, too.

Puckpourri

Bryan Rust, Carl Hagelin and Jake Guentzel also scored for the black and gold. Picking up where he left off last spring, Guentzel tallied a game-high four points to earn the No. 2 star. Crosby earned top honors with his third career playoff hat trick.

Murray made 24 saves to capture third-star honors. It was his third consecutive postseason shutout.

The Pens outshot the Flyers, 33-24, and held a wide edge in blocked shots (24-13). Philly piled up a 39-27 advantage in hits and won 52 percent of the faceoffs.