Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin (71) celebrates with teammates after scoring against the New York Rangers during the third overtime in Game 1 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series, Tuesday, May 3, 2022, in New York. The Penguins won 4-3. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
I don’t know about you. But I was absolutely stunned (stunned!) by the Penguins’ performance in Game 1 on Monday night. Especially after absorbing a physical beating early on and going down 2-0. They displayed incredible resilience, not to mention a boatload of heart and character.
Honestly, I didn’t think they had it in ‘em. Not after watching us roll over in disquieting losses to the Flyers and Oilers the final week of the regular season. To say nothing of our less-than-inspired in-season performances against the Rangers.
However, as our guys emphatically demonstrated on Monday night, it’s a brand-new season. Everybody starts with a clean slate.
Anyway, it got me to thinking. Could our Pens win this series after all?
Maybe. Here are seven keys:
Louie, Louie
Dan Kingerski of Pittsburgh Hockey Now felt all along that Louis Domingue would play an important role. I agree. There’s something about the way he lost an early opportunity to a broken foot, only to re-emerge due to a like injury to Tristan Jarry that has fate stamped all over it.
And Louis is certainly capable. The eight-year NHL vet posted a .924 save percentage with the Baby Pens this season. With the Pens? He’s allowed just four goals on 100 shots over three games, including Monday’s 17-save effort. Good for a .960 save percentage.
Best of all, he seems undaunted by a big stage.
We know all-too-well what it’s like to face a hot goalie. If Louis can get on a run and get inside the Rangers’ collective heads…
SHOOT!
At the opposite end of the rink, the Pens need to keep the blow torch on New York’s all-world goalie Igor Shesterkin. On Monday we attempted a mind boggling 143 shots over 106 minutes of hockey. Eighty-three of ‘em got through. That’s a ton of rubber Shesterkin had to react to, contrasting sharply with the regular season when we averaged around 25 shots on goal a game against him.
Force him to move…force him to react…keep him from getting in a comfort zone. To echo an old refrain from the Civic Arena days…SHOOT!
All Hands on Deck
The Pens played a total team game on Monday. Everyone contributed, from the top line on down. In particular, Evgeni Malkin skated with fire and purpose and his line followed suit. Kasperi Kapanen gave his most dynamic performance since goodness knows when and was downright dangerous at times.
We need an encore effort from Kappy…and everyone else. All hands on deck. No passengers.
Batten Down the Hatches
Sticking with a nautical theme…the Pens yielded a shorthanded goal to the Rangers in Game 1. Not surprising, given that the Blueshirts employ stars like Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad to kill penalties.
Still, shorties are killers. Allow one in a playoff game? Chances are pretty good “you vill lose,” to quote Ivan Drago from Rocky IV.
It isn’t the first time our power-play has sprung a leak. We yielded a bucketful of odd-man breaks during the season finale against Columbus. Better puck management is a must, especially high in the attacking zone.
Sid-Sational
By every conceivable measure, Sidney Crosby’s line was dominant in Game 1. Sid and sidekicks Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust combined for three of our four goals and seven points altogether. From a possession standpoint, the talented trio ate the Rangers alive, to the tune of a 73.33 Corsi.
We’ll need more of the same as the series progresses.
Crime Doesn’t Pay
Led by burly expatriate Ryan Reaves, the Rangers pounded us in Game 1, including some Richter-Scale hits and a handful of others that strayed over the line of good taste and decorum. When the Rangers get caught with their hand in Mike Lange’s proverbial cookie jar, our power play needs to make ‘em pay.
It’s Better to Give Than Receive
Speaking of physical play, while the Pens don’t match up in the muscle department with New York, it’s important we don’t abandon the grittier aspects of the game altogether. Foot soldiers Brian Boyle, Brock McGinn and Teddy Blueger need to stick their noses in and finish their checks whenever possible.
Or as Charlestown Chiefs GM Joe McGrath urged in Slap Shot during a Federal League “big-time grudge match” with Syracuse, “Give some of that back.”
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Hey all,
I just saw that we activated defenseman Nathan Beaulieu from injured reserve. Mike Sullivan had this to say about the physical defenseman:
“Without a doubt, he’s a guy that will be an option for us we would anticipate here in the playoffs. We think Nathan is a good solid defenseman. (He) brings a different dimension to our defense core than what we have. He brings a little bit of an abrasiveness, he’s a physical player, he can help us on the penalty kill, he’s a good shot blocker. He’s strong in the battle areas. So he brings a little bit of a different dimension than I think the makeup of the rest of our group.
“That’s something that we’ll take into consideration when we’re making lineup decisions. Without a doubt, he is an option for us. We’ll just have to see how it goes and we’ll make decisions game to game accordingly.”
Sully-speak for, "He'll never touch the ice"...lol.
Rick
Hey Buddy,
I Like Nathan Beaulieu from his early years up here and also being able to play in the pressure cooker known as the Montreal French press.Man are they tough on their own if you do not give your best. This is great news.
Nathan may not win a Norris trophy, but don't tell him that to his face. He plays with an edge and Letang will enjoy having him watching his back. Interesting development Rick.
Please Sully play him tonight.
Cheers
JIM.
Don't get me wrong...I love what Beaulieu brings to the table. But given Sullivan's aversion to players with a physical edge, I don't see it happening. Plus, being a left-handed shot, the only guy Nathan might replace is Pettersson, who works well with Marino. So I don't see him coming out of the lineup.
Rick
Rick.
Tonight the weakness of the Pen's will be shown. We are using a mediocre AHL level Goalie,Louie and the only reason we got him was he was CHEAP because we have no Cap Space to afford a quality replacement..No other NHL team wanted him so that says a lot Rick. We really are trusting our fate to an unproven commodity. Of the other 15 Teams in the2022 play offs, they all have much better Goal tending than we do by using Louie tonight. This is a problem my friend.
I hope I am wrong.
Secondly the Rangers have knocked Rakell out of the series and he could be gone for longer than just 1 game.He got banged up pretty good and he may not be back for a while. If so that is a huge loss.
As Mike said G. Gallant the Ranger's Coach, who has roots all the way back to his Coaching days at University of New Brunswick stated today, "we will not play 25 minutes and back off like we did in game 1...we will play a full 60 minutes of in your face Hockey." Our local media has been pulling for the Rangers because of his UNB connection.
Their strategy sounds pretty clear to me Rick. Check the smaller Penguins especially on the Crosby line and screen the untested AHL Goalie and smaller Pen's Dmen. How many more Pen's will we lose tonight ?
This is real play off hockey...You don't get points for playing nice.
Let's Go Pen's...We need another Miracle tonight.
JIM
I hear ya, my friend.
Logic dictates the Rangers are going to come out loaded for bear. I guess I just want to ride the feel-good wave and hold onto hope for a series upset for as long as possible.
I'm not as pessimistic about Domingue. I know his career numbers aren't dazzling, but there's an indescribable something about this guy (and his story) that tells me he's going to do a good job for us. I like the fact that he's big, hangs on to the puck and catches with his right hand. Just might throw the Rangers off.
Regarding Gallant, I've read he's not super big on systematic play or adjustments. Just kind of turns his guys loose and let's 'em play. Might be a chink in the Rangers' armor we can exploit.
Rick
Rick
Well stated - I to was surprised by the Pens inspiring effort Tuesday night but I'm still pessimistic about our chances
of holding up under a barrage of physical abuse for 7 games. After reading the comments from the Rangers Head
Coach Gallant that you can't play a certain way for 25min then basically disappear for the rest of the game. My
guess is he's planting a seed and the Rangers will come out tonight and try to physically pound us for 60min.
I read on another blog how they were questioning the effectiveness of Revo and the Rangers 4th line by throwing
out a bunch of meaningless stats - they clearly don't understand the psychological affect it has on both teams.
Rick like you I'm old school - when the game starts tonight we need to see a Maxim Talbot type of mind set and
drop the gloves with Reaves in the first 5min of the game. IMO we win the series. Who has the marbles to sacrifice
for the good of the team?????
Quick observation
*Kappy and McGinn are key players in this series.
*Disappointed that Friedman's still not in the lineup for game 2 - Sullivan again appears to me in denial.
*It looks like Zucker will play tonight. Good news.
*Pens need a quick return to the lineup by Rakell.
*Louie, Louie, Louie "love him" he doesn't seem fazed at all by the bright lights.
GO PENS