As the Penguins still await the identity of their second round opponent in these 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs, I thought the time was ideal for a short post on what it is the Boys of Winter need to do better in the next round.
Before I get to that, however, there's one additional thing I need to get off my chest about the Penguins/Flyers series.
Kimmo Timonen.
The fans and many in NHL media circles treat this guy as a Norris Trophy Candidate. NBC's coverage personnel -- particularly analyst Pierre McGuire -- praises him at every opportunity.
Last year, in the Eastern Conference Finals between the Penguins and Flyers, all the talk was about how disadvantaged the Flyers were after Timonen developed a blood clot in his leg and missed just about the entire series. The same was said, although to a lesser degree, after defenseman Braydon Coburn took a puck in the face early in the series and missed several games.
Having both of those guys -- especially a two-way stud like Timonen -- in the lineup would have made the difference for the Flyers, everyone said.
How much of a difference did Timonen make this year?
Oh, he made a difference all right.
He was one of the bigger reasons why Philadelphia lost to Pittsburgh.
Timonen was mostly a non-factor in round 1. He had a single assist in the entire six game series.
With all the skilled forwards the Flyers have, one would have thought he could put up more on the board than that.
On top of his sole helper, he was a minus 3 in the series.
So much for his strong two-way play.
Maybe now people will step back and realize that, while he's probably an above-average defenseman with decent two-way skill, Timonen is simply not a #1 defenseman in this league. He's arguably not even a #2, because he doesn't have the size or strength to be a physical force.
I'd like to smack McGuire in his bald head every time he opens up his mouth about Timonen. What he should have done in game 6 was talk about how poorly Timonen played. Maybe he would have except for the fact that, oh yeah, they're giving Darren Pang some screen time now.
Sharpen up the analysis Pierre.
ANYWAY, let's look forward to round 2, shall we?
Here are 3 things the Penguins must improve on in the next round if they want to improve their chances of advancing, regardless of who their opponent is:
1) THE POWER PLAY
The Penguins were a pedestrian 4 for 32 against the Flyers, which works out to about 12%. Not only is that worse than they were under interim coach Dan Bylsma in the regular season, it's worse than their ineffective man-advantage for most of the season under former coach Michel Therrein. More importantly, it's just not good enough. At some point, you will need your power play to win you some games in the post-season. The Penguins were good against Philadelphia early in their round 1 series and arguably won game 2 because of it, but they went cold after that, going just 1-for-19 in the last 4 contests. They can't continually perform at an overall 1-for-8 pace and expect to win.
Pittsburgh still isn't shooting enough, generating enough traffic or working hard enough for the dirty goals on the man-advantage. They aren't making things miserable on the opponent's netminder in front of the crease, either. All of that needs to change in round 2; otherwise, whoever they play is going to continually take liberties in slowing them down at even strength without a fear of being burned on the power play.
2) FOCUS AND INTENSITY
As I have indicated in this space on several occasions, the Penguins were outplayed by the Flyers for meaningful stretches in round 1. Although it's fair to say that Pittsburgh played better in games 1 and 6, I also think it's fair to say that Philadelphia was the better squad in games 2-5. The Penguins managed to win the series because they snatched two of those games -- games 2 and 4 -- even though they probably didn't deserve to win them. Don't get me wrong. Good teams do that. But that's a trend the Penguins should probably look to reverse. And quickly.
The Penguins' overall play in round 1 was not up to the same level it was in their final 25 regular season games under Bylsma. They had lapses in concentration, particularly in their own zone, and struggled at times to clear the puck. They need to be sharper with their coverages and maintain their mental focus without straying from the game plan for large stretches at a time. You simply can't afford those lapses on a consistent basis and expect to win. Simply put, the Penguins need to up their intensity level and bring it more regularly.
3) SUPPLEMENTAL SCORING
Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby current sit 1 and 2 among the playoff scoring leaders with 9 and 8 points, respectively, and there's no question that they led the way for Pittsburgh in the first round. But the Penguins are going to need more support from their other forwards if they're going to continue to make noise in the post-season.
They did get some support. RW Bill Guerin and RW Tyler Kennedy contributed, for example, with 2 goals each. However, Guerin's goals were both in the same game, and he only added 1 helper in the other 5 games. And the Penguins didn't get meaningful scoresheet contributions from several other players that need to step up in round 2.
Mainly, I'm talking about guys like, LW Chris Kunitz, LW Ruslan Fedotenko, LW Matt Cooke and even center Jordan Staal. Kunitz is the main guy that has to lend a hand. He doesn't have the greatest history of being a goal-scorer in the postseason (1 goal in his last 20+ games) and that has to change if Crosby's line is going to be an impact at even-strength. While he contributed physically in round 1 and the Penguins will continue to need that from him, he has to get on the board occasionally, too. The checking is tighter in the playoffs and Kunitz has to find a way to break through that and score.
Fedotenko's production also will be critical because it doesn't appear that Malkin is going to get any help from the right side of his line anytime soon, whether Petr Sykora gets back in the lineup, or whether Miroslav Satan or even Pascal Dupuis or Max Talbot gets time there. Fedotenko scored his first goal of round 1, finally, in game 6. It was his first playoff goal since scoring the Stanley Cup winning tally in game 7 of the finals in 2004 as a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning. He needs to keep driving to the net and working the corners for Malkin to be successful out there.
It also would be nice if Staal put a few in, but I'm not going to be that critical of him because he had a strong first round overall. In fact, his line may have been the best and most consistent one the Penguins trotted out all series. He and linemates Kennedy and Matt Cooke frequently maintained the puck and generated good scoring chances. Kennedy managed to get the 2 goals that line generated in round 1, but if they keep doing what they're doing, Staal will get a few. Cooke, too. Cooke doesn't need to score a lot, but it would be nice to see him pop on, help the team, and get rewarded for his great work out there on the ice.
Those are the 3 things most pressing for the Penguins to improve upon in round 2.
After tonight's two 7th games involving the New York Rangers and Washington Capitals, and the New Jersey Devils and Carolina Hurricanes, we'll finally know who the Penguins will match up against.
Once that happens, I'll be able to get up a series preview -- likely Thursday morning.
Let's Go Pens.
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