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Game 7 Puts Penguins Franchise At a Crossroads |
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The New York Rangers with their backs against the wall once again defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins soundly. This time it was a 3-1 victory in Game 6 on home ice.
The Rangers have by far been the better hockey team the past two games and the game results match up with the flow of play.
In each of the past two games the a Penguins have spotted Henrik Lundqvist a 2 goal lead. That is asking for trouble. The Penguins have only scored 2 goals in these past two games. One goal was from the insane effort by Evgeni Malkin doing things that perhaps only he is capable of doing and the other goal was as lucky as they come with Brandon Sutter's seeing eye shot pin balling its way into the net.
The problem with spotting Henrik Lundqvist a 2 goal lead? He has a history of playing his best when his back against the wall
Lost in the shuffle of Game 6 is the fact Lundqvist stopped not one, but two shorthanded breakaways to keep the game 2-1 in the Rangers favor. He has answered the bell and has kept his team afloat.
On the flip side Fleury has not kept pace with Lundqvist. He has made some really nice saves (like the one on Kreider to keep it 2-0) but he can't give away goals like the 2nd Ranger goal last night. It needs to be stopped 100 times out of 100.
The concern I have in Game 7 is that I don't feel as though King Henrik will give the Penguins anything, I have literally no idea what kind of game Fleury will have.
And that in a nutshell is why you reap what you sow in Game 7s. The uncertainty of goaltender play combined with puck luck makes for an uneasy feeling. Puck luck is a huge factor and it doesn't always reward the team who is playing better on that particular night. Winning in the playoffs has a large degree of luck and on any given night that luck can do anything. The better team may win tomorrow, or they may not. Losing Games 5 and 6 has exposed the Penguins to this dynamic. It is their own fault.
The things the Rangers were doing poorly have turned into things that they are doing well, namely possession. The Penguins were controlling the flow of the hockey games but that has ceased to be true. In the past two games in a close game state the a Rangers own 55.3% of the shot attempts. This is a vast improvement over the first 4 games of the series where the Penguins owned 59.5% of close game state shot attempts.
The Rangers want it more, it is evident in the races for the puck and physical success in their battles for the puck.
What changed?
I think two factors play into this, the first being that the Rangers have probably gained some of their legs back after their grueling 6 games in 9 nights stretch.
The other change was the life event that happened to Martin St. Louis.
Hockey teams at any skill level and at any age level are families, and the death of Mrs. St. Louis has no doubt inspired the Rangers team. When a teammate is down, especially when it is family related, his/her teammates will make sure they pick up that player. This is the human element of sport and why it is so fascinating to watch.
Martin St. Louis scoring last night night was an incredibly great moment. The Rangers and Martin St. Louis have been able to take something horrifically bad and channel it into something great on the ice.
Game 6 had plenty of extracurricular drama and most of it centered around Sidney Crosby.
Shenanigans went both ways, it's a heated playoff series between divisional rivals. Only real problem I had was the Crosby slew foot. Sid is frustrated and quite frankly it is understandable, but he can't do the slew foot.
People will make a big deal about Crosby lifting up his stick in between Moore's legs but Moore isn't innocent in that sequence as he decided to hold onto Crosby's stick to bait him into a reaction. I certainly don't advocate for how Crosby handled that interaction but I'm also not going to act like its a crime against hockey or Dominic Moore. Crosby has been on the receiving end of similar plays multiple times this postseason.
Crosby takes a lot of crap on the ice and he eventually at times has an emotional response. He isn't a robot, he is human and has natural human reactions to high intensity adversity.
Henrik Lundqvist had a little fun of his own when he doused Crosby with water from his water bottle. I thought it was funny just like when Sid poked Voracek's glove away from him in the 2012 series versus the Flyers. It didn't inflict personal harm and it wasn't during game action, it was the perfect way to troll the other team.
Crosby's frustration did not go unnoticed. He was paid a visit by his boss after the game
Very few hockey superstars can empathize with the physical abuse Crosby takes on a game by game basis, but Mario Lemieux is certainly one of them. Mario rarely interjects with the on ice product but when he does it seems well timed. I would like to think Crosby will have the best game of the series on Tuesday night.
The Penguins power play has not been good. Bylsma made the right call to replace Letang with Niskanen, but it has only resulted in lots of passing around for Niskanen to take bad angle one timers.
Even with the Penguins poor play at even strength the past 2 games they have still had chances to stay in the games on the PP. The 5 on 3 in Game 5 was a perfect opportunity to get back into the game but was thrown away. Last night a power play goal would have gone a long way into how the game would have played out, instead it was more lost opportunity. The Penguins just haven't cashed in and it has killed them. They are 0 for last 12 and have been just as bad as the Rangers on the PP this series.
Another part of the PP that needs to change is their best player needs to shoot the puck
James Neal has been a complete non factor and that is a big reason why the Penguins can't score goals. He needs assistance, he is what he is, a sniper who can find soft spots that his center creates for him.
Bylsma tried to get him a shift with Crosby and Malkin at even strength but he immediately took an offensive zone stick penalty. Neal's discipline and ability to create on his own make him a prime target to be a scape goat in any potential off season roster moves.
If the Penguins do move Malkin back to the Neal line it will have a trickle down effect and could potentially get guys like Beau Bennett going as well. Bennett has not been as much of a positive difference maker since the switch and last night he took two bad penalties.
The Penguins need all hands on deck and the roster moves/line combinations have to get as many of their players in a position to succeed as they can, not just the star players.
In the broken record department Rob Scuderi is still drowning when he is on the ice
No matter what happens on Tuesday night it will be fascinating to watch unfold. Either the Penguins punch their ticket to a 2nd consecutive Conference Finals or a loss that will mark the beginning of some major changes.
Tune in, it will be must see TV.
Thanks for reading!
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