Game Night: Season hangs in the balance Friday night in Boston


If you’re reading this article, you probably really care about the Penguins and are hoping for a miracle, enjoy playoff hockey regardless of the outcome or are simply bored at work.

Whatever the case may be, thanks for making it this far with me on a Friday.

We’re not going to re-invent the wheel here. There are enough undercurrents floating about this Penguins team to prove the existence of Pittsburgh’s fourth river underneath the point, but we’ll keep things simple.

After all, the Pens are one of just four NHL teams still alive in the chase for Lord Stanley’s Cup.

Twenty-six other organizations would love to be down three games to none in the conference finals, rather than watching (or not watching) on television – read Evander Kane’s Twitter Thursday night timeline for proof (@EKane9JETS).

With that, let’s play arm-chair quarterback to get the Pens a win Friday night.


Sidney Crosby hasn’t registered a point in three straight playoff losses against the Boston Bruins. The only other time Crosby has been held pointless three postseason games in a row was in Games 5-7 of the Stanley Cup Finals against Detroit in 2008-09. I’m not sure what the significance really is, but it’s an interesting statistic, and one which has to change if the Penguins intend to avoid a sweep.

Crosby-turned Tasmanian Devil nearly got his team an elusive “W” moments before Patrice Bergeron scored the Game 3 game-winner. The helmetless Crosby went all out during his last shift. No one can expect him to play that way for an entire game, maintaining a breakneck speed pace, but it would be nice to see him upshift his tempo early on Friday night. Crosby’s overdue like my Visa bill.


Score the first goal!

If you can remember back to the regular season for a moment, the Pens went 25-6 (.806%) in games they scored first and 11-6 (.647%) in games they trailed. Falling behind wasn’t a big deal in the first 48, but it hasn’t worked against the B’s.

Boston, meanwhile, feeds off the first goal. It means more to them than it does to most teams. The Bruins went 19-4-3 (.731%) when scoring first, but only 9-10-3 (.409%) when allowing the first goal.

Apply some pressure, Pens. Tuukka Rask is good, but not this good.

Remember, the Toronto Maple Leafs rallied from a three-games-to-one deficit against Boston in Round 1 and took them to the brink of elimination that only a Maple Leaf epic fail could destroy.

Even the punchless Rangers won their lone game against the Bruins after falling behind three games to none.

Get the first goal.


Shake things up on the power play.

Put Jarome Iginla on the left point. Let him take a chunk out of Rask’s mask the way he did to Nabby’s. Just for fun, try Doug Murray in front of the Boston goal. Take a shot from the point and let Murray clear the traffic for a tap-in. See how easy it can be? Just keep Murray’s shift short – he has a tendency to tire quickly.

Pittsburgh is scoreless on the power play against the Bruins. That’s right, a dastardly 0-for-12. Boston knows they only have to defend the right side of the Pens’ power play. Putting Iginla at the left point would keep Bruins’ defenders honest, open some shooting lanes.


Replace the hard metal goalie nets with a soft synthetic post liner. You know how some basketball hoops with rims that have more give allow for more baskets than other stiffer hoops, well the Pens need a post that allows for more pucks to go into the net. Okay, that was a joke, but how many posts can a team hit in a series? “Posts Hit” is one category in which the Penguins lead the series over Boston.


Just score baby.

The Penguins have scored two goals in nearly 11 full periods of play. No further explanation is needed here.


Have fun.

When’s the last time you saw a Penguin smile? Seriously, when?

Yinz guys are getting a chance to play in a game nearly all of us simply dream about. The world’s still going to spin tomorrow, God willing. Relax, play your game and let the chips fall where they may.


*****

Poll Results

Question: How many times will the Penguins beat the Boston Bruins in the rest of the conference finals?

Fifty percent of voters say the Bruins will be eating cooked Penguin after Game 4. Just 19 percent believe the Pens can rally all the way back to win the series. Eighteen percent feel Pittsburgh can win one game, 10 percent say two games, surprisingly, not one respondent out of over 600 votes cast believes that the Pens will win three straight.

Thanks for voting!


*****


Treasure Life!
JT

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