While the waiting game continues for the Pittsburgh Penguins before they learn the identity of their second round opponent (more on this below), I thought this would be a good time to take a little deeper of a look back into the team's round 1 victory over the Ottawa Senators and offer 5 thoughts on the series.
First of all, I said before the series --- before the playoffs even started, actually --- that the Senators might be a good opening round opponent for the Penguins because they would provide the test Pittsburgh needed to change the ho-hum way they played during the final six weeks of the regular season.
After seeing the challenge the Senators provided in 6 tough games, it would seem my perspective was validated.
Ottawa was a physical opponent that forced the Penguins to elevate their game to levels they hadn't reached in weeks -- levels that are necessary to win in the post-season. Sure, the Senators had their weaknesses in their game, and those weaknesses showed up in the series, but they certainly didn't let Pittsburgh skate by them easily.
The 6-game tilt the Pens just finished with Ottawa should serve them well as the playoffs go on.
Second, is there any surprise the Penguins took the series on the road?
Pittsburgh didn't clinch a single series at home in last year's playoffs either and, while it would be nice to see them walk the handshake line on the right side of victory in front of the home fans, I don't really care where they win, as long as they do.
Still, it's hard not to be impressed by what the Pens do on the road. They won all 3 games in Ottawa in the series, making it 6 straight playoff contests since the lockout in which they've beaten the Senators in their barn.
On the other hand, the Penguins won only 1 of 3 games at Mellon Arena in the series. That's not consistent with the dominance they've had at home against the Eastern Conference in the last 2 playoff years, and is something they need to change going forward.
Third, I thought the Penguins prevailing in a game where Sidney Crosby went pointless for the first time in the round was ironic.
Crosby was absolutely dominant against the Senators, scoring more points in six (five, really) games (14) than he did in the epic performance he gave in the seven contests of last year's second round series against the Washington Capitals (13).
The upside of Crosby not contributing in game 6 was that it gave an opportunity to the 3rd line to shine for the first time in the series.
Jordan Staal's line hadn't been that good for the first 5 games. Staal and his mates had little offensive impact up to that point and were a combined minus 10 going into the final series' contest. For as good as Crosby was -- and Malkin, too, for that matter -- it was time for the 3rd line to do their part.
And do their part they did.
Cooke had 2 huge goals in the final game and Staal made a dominant play down low to set up linemate Pascal Dupuis' series winner.
The Pens will need their 3rd line to better their play in the next round if they are going to improve their chances of advancing.
Fourth -- and speaking of the need for improved play -- Pittsburgh needs more from goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury.
Fleury's save percentage is below .900 after round 1, and while statistics obviously aren't everything, it's clear to me that Fleury can still play a lot better.
Undoubtedly, Fleury was not the reason the Penguins advanced to round 2. Now, it's also true that he didn't have to be, but it's hard to think the Pens are going to continue to average 4 goals per game (as they have through round 1) as the playoffs go on. Fleury is going to have to step up his game and start to be the reason the Pens win from time to time. He's one of the few Penguins that I don't believe raised his level of play from the regular season to round 1 against the Senators. That needs to change.
Fifth -- and finally -- I'll be curious to see whether one other Penguin trend continues to play out in the next round.
Pittsburgh fell behind on the scoreboard early in almost every game against Ottawa, no thanks to the them consistently -- and unexplainably -- coming out of the gate flat. They can't continue to do that on a consistent basis if they are going to win. On the other hand, how can you not apprecaite their character and ability to come back in games? Their opponent in round 2 needs to be on notice that, despite a two or even three goal lead, Pittsburgh isn't out of it.
Those are my 5 first round thoughts, and speaking of the Pens' opponent in round 2, all we know at this point is that it will either be the 6th seeded Boston Bruins or the 8th seeded Montreal Canadiens.
Boston dispatched the Buffalo Sabres in 6 games after a 4-3 home victory last night, while Montreal beat Washington last night, 4-1, to draw that series even at 3 games each after being down 3 games to 1 just a few days ago.
Habs' goaltender Jaroslav Halak was fantastic last night, making more than 50 stops and shutting down Washington's vaunted attack left and right.
(While I hope the Penguins won't start allowing that many shots, that's the type of game the team needs to start seeing from Fleury, by the way).
I still don't think Montreal wins the series, but there's certainly no question which team squarely has all the pressure going into game 7 on Wednesday night in DC. If the Canadiens are somehow able to prevail in that one, it will be one of the biggest upsets in NHL playoff history.
And it will send the Canadiens to Pittsburgh for the second round.
If the Capitals win, the Bruins will come to town.
Either way, the series won't begin until Friday at the earliest, and is probably more likely to start on Saturday since the other Eastern Conference team waiting for an opponent -- the Philadelphia Flyers -- has been waiting on the sidelines even longer (since last Thursday) and probably will get the first Eastern Conference playoff game.
That would give the Penguins a solid 7 days of rest, which might be enough to allow injured players Tyler Kennedy and Jordan Leopold to either return to the lineup or get a whole lot closer to doing it.
TK is more likely to be ready. He's expected to practice with the team when they resume scheduled on-ice work today after two days off.
Leopold, on the other hand, is doing some light skating, but hasn't been cleared for contact yet after suffering concussion-like symptoms after a hit to the head from Senators' defenseman Andy Sutton in game 2.
Leopold is improving, though, and while it's probably more unlikely than not that he'd be ready for the start of the round, it wouldn't be unreasonable at all to see him rejoin the lineup at some point in the series.
More later this week once the Pens know who their 2nd round foe is.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment