Confident Penguins Prepare for Game 2

Sitting in mostly unfamiliar territory in recent seasons, down 1 game to none in a playoff series, the Penguins did not mope around on their off day searching for their confidence after the opening stanza of their Eastern Conference Semifinal against the Washington Capitals.

Instead, the Penguins skated aggressively in practice and felt upbeat about their chances in this series, including in game 2 tonight at the Verizon Center in Washington (7 PM EST), if they continue to play the way they did in game 1.

And rightfully so.

The Penguins put the Capitals on their heels early and had the better of the play overall in game 1.

If they keep doing that, and add just a thing or two to the mix -- anything of getting a nice game from Evgeni Malkin to upgrading the power play to getting a scoring contribution from a guy like Chris Kunitz or Bill Guerin -- their chances of winning game 2 and returning to Pittsburgh with home-ice advantage will go up dramatically.

Here's more on how the Penguins are feeling going into game 2:

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/penguins/s_623500.html

As it stands, the biggest news to come out of Penguins practice yesterday was putting Guerin out on the first power play unit to try and get more of a presence in the slot and in front of Washington rookie netminder Simeon Varlamov.

In addition to increasing the traffic, the Penguins will look to put more shots on the net on the man advantage tonight, and even to move in a little closer from the point and boards when doing so.

Sidney Crosby spent some time working on his missed scoring opportunities, and that included working on empty net chances like the one Varlamov robbed him of in game 1.

While some in the media are making a story out of that, Crosby always goes over the chances he missed in practice after a game -- no matter the circumstances.

Speaking of Varlamov, his theivery on #87 continued to be the main media story on the series' off-day:

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Hockey/NHL/Playoffs/Washington/2009/05/02/9327046-sun.html

Penguins' Hall of Fame radio play-by-play man Mike Lange would probably say that Varlamov should have gotten 5-to-10 for his stop on Crosby.

But might the shot have crossed the line?

Not many are picking up on this nationally, but there is some picture evidence that suggests Crosby's shot may indeed have crossed the goal line.

Proof? Here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/clydeorama/3495284608/sizes/o/

That picture is an enlarged version of the play and, at least from that angle, a fair question can be raised as to whether the puck actually crossed the line -- while on its edge -- before Varlamov got his stick on it.

Even Varlamov said in the aftermath of game 1 that he thought it may actually have crossed the line before he got his stick on it.

Now, this isn't sour grapes. All of the other angles I saw, including the overhead view, seemed to show that the puck didn't cross the line.

And surely, NHL brass in Toronto took a good look at the replay on the play as the action continued on the ice.

But to me, a fair question can be raised as to whether the puck may have actually gone in after all.

By all counts, Crosby and the Penguins haven't dwelled on that, and are ready to move on, and that's the proper mindset.

Tonight is their night to man-up, work even harder and show the Capitals that they're fortunate to be tied after 2 games heading to what will be a Washington-hating Mellon Arena on Wednesday night for game 3.

If the Penguins go out of their way to bring the energy tonight right off the bat, and not just think that they'll automatically play as well overall as they did in game 1, they should be fine.

Recap tomorrow.

Let's Go Pens.