What's It Going To Take?

Well the answer to that is a Game 7.  The Penguins couldn't close out the Lightning again tonight.  With a 3-1 lead going into Saturday, they were shellacked into submission by a 6 goal deficit.  It wasn't quite as bad tonight but they walk away from Tampa with their tails between their legs once again. 

There really isn't much to talk about on this one.  After pulling out to a 1-0 lead on a very nicely setup play from Max Talbot to Pascal Dupuis, there weren't many highlights. 

Probably the best chance the Pens had to make something happen was when Chris Conner was breaking to the net all alone and was tripped, calling for the enigmatic penalty shot.  There have only been 6 penalty shots in playoff history, one of which came last night and another by former Penguin Evgeni Malkin (I only say former because he might as well be at this point) back in 2008.  At any rate, Conner starts out with a ton of speed as he raced straight to the net.  As he nears the goal mouth, he does a spin-o-rama while simultaneously flipping the puck up in the air and then slaps it into the net like hitting a baseball off a tee.  Or at least, that's what was supposed to happen...

Instead, as he drove up about 10 feet from the net he forgot something...the puck!!  As he skated back and to the left to position himself for a shot, it was too late.  Roloson had already gotten himself in between the net and Conner's extremely obvious shot angle.  I must say, it was by far and away the most embarrassing one-on-one shot attempt by a player I have ever seen in my natural born life.  It was worse than when a player falls down.  It was worse than when a player fans on the puck.  Even worse than when a player shoots it so unbelievable wide it almost hits a taxi parked in front of the stadium.  Dan Bylsma consoled his dejected player on the bench but you could tell that he was never...EVER...going to live that down.

Oh and by the way...Teddy Purcell needs to go away, Steve Downie needs to die, Ryan Malone needs to be run over by a semi without the interior tires on the rims, Dominic Moore should go back to whatever rock he lives under, and Nate Thompson, wait a minute...Nate who?  It isn't Stamkos or Lecavalier that are killing the Pens.  It's the role players.  With the exception of St. Louis who has single-handedly taken this team onto it's back, it's all the role playing guys that are making a difference in this series.  I just wish they were wearing the Vegas Gold and Black.   

In other news, I still don't have my scanner working.  Windows 7 is great but obviously not for scanners.  It has caused my "TBS" pile to become almost a fire hazard on my desk.  Plus, I have been unable to get things into my system for posting on Ebay or other various sites.  Never fear, though.  I will figure this out.

Playoff Update: Pens 3, Lightning 2 (Pens lead 2-1)

Well, once again there was another Pens game that wasn't on TV and I couldn't have been happier with the result.  I didn't get to catch any of the game live since I was at work until almost 9PM but I did see most of the game on fast forward from a recording.  I just wanted to make a few comments about the game.

First, what happened to the famed penalty kill?  The Penguins were near tops in the league when it came to the penalty kill for the year but since the playoffs began, they have gone into hibernation.  The Pens gave up 2 more power play goals in tonight's game, both of which to Marty St. Louis by the way.  I don't think anyone can stay on that guy because he can just skate under you or around you.  He's like a little leprechaun dodging and ducking under toadstools as he travels to the end of the rainbow.  He is certainly good luck for the Bolts so far this post-season.

Second comment...I can't wait for all the negative press regarding the questionable "hits" in tonights game.

The first was Steve Downie launching himself like a missile.  His target, Ben Lovejoy, with his back to the play behind the net.  Luckily, Lovejoy turned around in time to get pulverized into the boards.  The great thing about the play was that it left the Pens on an odd man rush to the other end which immediately led to a goal by Max Talbot.  But at what cost.  Lovejoy got back up and skated off the ice, Downie was headed to the box if not for the score by Maxie.  Suspension worthy?  I don't know.  I don't care.  It looked brutal.  Would I suspend him?  Probably because I am a Pens fan.  I think Ben is fine so whatever.  Plus, after the Raffi Torres debacle, I hardly think Colin Cambell is going to get it right either way. 

Second hit wasn't really a hit.  More of an elbow.  Chris Kunitz, a normally mild mannered, well adjusted player took out some pent up aggression, obviously built up from the Downie hit, and put an elbow right into the back of Simon Gagne's head.  Clearly a dick move by Kunitz, it drew him a penalty and I'm not so sure he is going to get by with just the 2 minutes.  Again, I'm done commenting on this crap because that's what it is...CRAP!  There is no winning an argument because someone is always going to play the victim so I'm done talking about it.  If Kuny sits, fine by me.  If not, still, fine by me.

So despite the potential controversy and water cooler talk (at least in Canada because no one talks hockey around these parts, especially with the Blackhawks riding a train out of playoff town) there was a somewhat decent game that was played tonight.

Fleury, once again, stopped 25 shots, despite seemingly being under pressure way more than in the 5-1 game the other night.  As I said earlier, Talbot got on the board with a rush into the Tampa Bay zone mid 1st period after Downie destroyed Lovejoy.  45 seconds later, Arron Asham made it 2-0.  Tyler Kennedy put Pittsburgh over the top with the game winner just 31 seconds after Tampa tied it in the third.  The Pens take a 2-1 lead in the series as it stays in Tampa for game 4 on Wednesday.

Going forward, if there is any hope whatsoever for the Pens to hang onto this series, they are going to have to fix special teams.  They need to get their mojo back for the penalty kill and for pete's sake, stay out of the stinkin' sin bin.  If you don't give the Bolts the opportunity to screw you with their freakish speed with a man up, you will be much better off when playing at full strength.  As for the power play, or lack thereof, the Pens are now 0 for 15 in the series.  I really don't know what the problem is, other than the obvious absence of Crosby and Malkin.  If that is the only thing keeping them from being at least an average PP team then I guess there is nothing they can do about it.  But something tells me that a re-shuffling of a few lines during the power play could give them the boost they need.

In other news, for all you hockey card prospectors that have been hoarding these for a couple years, Stamkos finally got his first playoff points of his career with an assist on St. Louis first goal.  Also, it was brought to my attention that no one ever got better at hockey by bowling.

Oh, and for the biggest Penguin fan (other than myself) that I know...if you ever read this; Whatever the heck is wrong with you, other than the obvious mental deficiencies I have always claimed you possess, get well soon, little bro'.  Tonight's win was for you (if I was a player, that would have more of an impact I think).

Playoff Update: Pens 1, Lightning 5

Well apparently the mojo has moseyed on down the road.  Let's just hope it's temporary.

Last night, Game 2 of the playoff matchup between the Pens and Lightning was a far cry from what we witnessed in Game 1.

It's almost better for me when these games are not nationally televised because at least I can wake up the next morning knowing that most of America probably didn't see the performance I unfortunately witnessed by Pittsburgh.  The Lightning came out swinging, putting up a 3 goal first period.  I think I have mentioned it before that the Lightning offense is scary good and they wasted no time getting back into peak form.

Despite missing a few teeth from an accidental stick to the face in Game 1 by Zbynek Michalek, Martin St. Louis led the charge with a goal and an assist but his bigger role was team leader.  Marty has such a passion for the game that it becomes infectious for the rest of his teammates and it's almost like they instantly are fitted with turbo boosters.  Let's just say I knew Game 1 was a fluke and all they needed was time to shake off the playoff rust.

The Pens just looked flat all night.  They were missing routine passes, seeming playing from their own end the entire night, tripping over themselves on defense, and could barely get the puck through the neutral zone.  The only goal came from Craig Adams as the rest of the role players seemed to have lost their way.  The Power Play was non existent once again as they went 0 for 7 and are now 0 for 13 in the series.  But the biggest problem of the night was my playoff x-factor, Marc-Andre Fleury. 

When he is on, he is brilliant like in Game 1.  He has some of the quickest reflexes and most flexibility of any goaltender in the NHL.  The problem is that when he faces situations where there are routine type saves to be made, I think he tries to get too cute.  I'm not placing all the blame here on MAF because his defense certainly left him out to dry on a few of those goals but the first goal of the game...come on!  That, to me, was a pretty soft goal.  He should have been able to stop that in his sleep.  After that one went in, I knew things were not going to bode well for the rest of the evening and I was right.

Two days rest and off to Florida.  Here's every goal from Friday night while we wait.

Playoff Update: Pens 3, Lightning 0

It's Playoff Time!!!

This is my favorite time of year.  Forget the NFL playoffs.  Forget March Madness.  I'll take April/May/June Madness any day of the week.  So, yeah.  I was a little psyched about today.  I figured I would do a bit of a game recap in case anyone didn't get to see this defensive battle.

The Penguins, despite losing half their team at one point or another during the season, losing their best scoring threat in Evgeni Malkin, and losing their captain, Sidney Crosby, they were still in the mix.  In fact, they went on a run at the end of the season that put them tied in points for the division lead and essentially half a point out of 2nd place in the conference.  Because of second and third tier scoring, they ended second in the division behind Philadelphia and fourth in the conference.  That gave them home ice advantage, at least for the first round.

And that's where it began tonight.  Consol Energy Center played host in it's first of many playoff games against the always scary Tampa Bay Lightning.  I will admit, I didn't think the Pens matched up well with a healthy Tampa Bay team.  The Bolts are fast, very good on the power play, and have that ridiculous 1-3-1 formation that always seems to confuse Pittsburgh.  In order to win this series, the Pens are going to have to rely on what they did best all season...kill penalties with precision and play defense as if the Cosacks are storming the Kremlin.

Tonight was a good warm up.  Fleury was a beast in goal.  It's not often that I will give the guy the credit he deserves but tonight he stood on his head.  Spectacular save after spectacular save kept the game's lack of scoring an afterthought.  He shut down everything that was thrown at him for his fifth playoff shutout.  Not to be outdone, Dwayne Roloson stopped 37 shots from the Penguins as they unloaded on net every chance they had.  But I'm not here to talk about Lightning players that should or shouldn't have retired 5 years ago.

Fleury stopped Ryan Malone early on in the first period during a mad scramble in front of the net.  About 8 minutes later, Brett Clark blasted a shot from the point that was deflected by Dominic Moore.  Fleury twisted in an inhuman fashion, stopping the puck.  Moore was already celebrating the goal before he realized it didn't go in.  A couple seconds later, Fleury was behind the play, turned around backwards and did a pinwheel roll through the crease to stop Malone again.  It was completely insane.  The CEC crowd when crazy and the "Fleury" chants began.

A few seconds into the second, Stamkos blasted a shot from the point which Fleury stopped again but the rebound came off right to Vinny Lecavalier.  In typical fashion he razzle-dazzled a pass between his legs to himself that Fleury somehow stopped again with his blocker hand.  In all, MAF stopped 32 shots in a brilliant effort.  But that's the kind of play they have been getting from him over the second half of the season.  As much as I hate to give these to a goalie, he is by far and away the team MVP. 

As for the offense, Kovalev made good on his trade deadline signing by scoring the first playoff goal.  He got dumped in the corner by Pavel Kubina and was on his knees as the crowd was desperate for a penalty call.  None came but James Neal broke up a play by the Lightning, feeding the stranded Kovalev with a laser pass that was subsequently put into the back of the net.  Less than twenty seconds later, Arron Asham took off down the ice, faked a shot, cut around the back of the goal, and dumped one on a wrap around.  He was stuffed by the post but the rebound came back to him and he put it in behind Roloson who was still trying to get back to the crease after being burned by the wrap around attempt.  The final goal was an empty net tally by Chris Kunitz.

So far, so good.  I was impressed with the Pens defensive play and their surprisingly restrained physical play.  It seems like when they focus on protecting their own zone and forcing play to center ice, they get the opportunities they need to allow some of their role players to get shots on goal.  If they can keep that kind of play consistent, this series may be over quickly.  Once it goes back to Tampa, though, I think the superstars on the Bolts will wake up in front of the home crowd.  Until then, it's good to be a Penguin fan. 

Here are some highlights, if they actually work...