Losses aren't all bad

The panic has set in.  Already.  Apparently this town didn't learn anything from the Pens' first round win over the Islanders.  Going into last night's game 3 vs. the Ottawa Senators, the Pens held a 2-0 advantage in the best of 7 series.

The game was hard fought, and, in my opinion, the highest quality game of the playoffs so far.  Basically, here's how it went:  Both teams got a ridiculous amount of scoring chances, and both goaltenders stood on their heads to keep most of them out.  The only difference was, Ottawa goalie Craig Anderson allowed one goal, and Pittsburgh's Tomas Vokoun allowed two.  Neither goaltender deserved to lose.  That being said, Anderson did deserve to win more.  He was barraged all night, especially in both of the overtime periods, by quality scoring chances from the Penguins, who have some serious firepower.  It was a sight to behold, and Anderson turned in a performance you don't see often in the playoffs.

Late in the second overtime, it looked as though both goalies were brick walls.  Thoughts turned to the possibility of a third OT, and an even later Sunday night.  But then, after a shot from the point was stopped by Vokoun, Ottawa's speedy Colin Greening got to the rebound before a Penguins defenseman could, and backhanded home the game winner.  You can't fault Vokoun.  You can only feel sorry for him that his team couldn't do more with an incredible, 47 save performance.

So, heading into Wednesday's game 4 in Ottawa, I think the Penguins, and their fans, have no reason to be worried.  After all, we have a 2-1 series lead.  Experts and fans alike picked the Pens to win the series in five, six, or maybe seven games, so it is absurd to be too upset.  Because after all, you have two lose a game or two to win in five or six.  Nobody expected a sweep.

Here is why we shouldn't be too worried.

Last night's game was probably the Penguins' best performance of the playoffs so far.  Sometimes there are those nights, where you turn in an incredible performance as a team, and the other team slips away with the win.  You have to move on.  The Penguins generated scoring chance after scoring chance, tallying 49 shots over 4+ periods of play.  The first line, of Crosby, Kunitz, and Dupuis, was absolutely flying out there.  Evgeni Malkin looked like he was from another planet.  He looked like his old self again, last seen in 2012 and 2009.  He was flying through the neutral zone, and creating chaos in the zone with his puck movement, passes, and steals.  The fourth line generated some big pressure, which is a good bonus.  Anderson was having one of those nights.  He wouldn't be beaten

I also really liked the Pens' defense.  Ottawa was able to get a reasonable amount of offensive zone time, however, the Penguins seemed to be intercepting all of the cross ice passes and blocking most of the shots from the points.  We saw almost none of the carelessness we saw in round 1.

If they play like this on Wednesday, and beyond, things will be just fine.

Here's a video of Greening's game winner in 2OT:

Ottawa vs. Pittsburgh: After Two Games

The Penguins have taken a commanding 2-0 lead in this Eastern Conference Semi Final series against the Ottawa Senators.  After several years of having home ice in the playoffs, the Penguins were finally able to take advantage by winning the first two at home.

Last night, the Penguins won 4-3.  They played a game about as close to "Pittsburgh Penguins Ice Hockey" (as Dan Bylsma would put it) as we have seen in the playoffs so far.  The win was powered by two things:  goaltending/defense, and Sidney Crosby.

We're in the third period.  The Sens have just scored to pull within one goal of the Pens, with eighteen minutes remaining.  The Pens did not go crazy and try to score eight more goals, which is usually what leads to a collapse in the third.  They played terrific shutdown hockey.  After that goal at the 2:01 mark of the third period, the Penguins allowed just five shots on goal against them.  Goaltender Tomas Vokoun was sure to stop each one of them.  In the Stanley Cup Playoffs, scoring doesn't solve everything.  Putting up a wall on defense will be necessary every so often.  They did exactly that.

The other reason they won last night is that Sidney Crosby did what he does best.  He scored a hat trick (three goals in one game).  The first goal coming less than two minutes into the first period, the third came less than two minutes into the second period.  It wasn't just the number of goals he scored, it was the way he scored them.  He beat the other team both skillfully and intellectually.

On the first goal, he found himself with the puck in the neutral zone, skating towards the Senators' blue line.  He had plenty of options; he could have dumped it into the offensive zone, and he had passes available.  But he saw something he liked.  He saw Erik Karlsson.  The Senators' star defenseman, clearly not 100% healthy after returning from injury.  Karlsson has stunk defensively this series.  So Crosby went at Karlsson, who stepped up on Sid, who would promptly slide the puck across the defenseman, and speed around him.  He had an open lane to the net, and slipped it through the 5-hole of goaltender Craig Anderson.

The second goal is my personal favorite.  It looked like a bad goal for Anderson to give up, but you have to look closer.  It was a work of art.  Sid had the puck, streaking down the left wing boards.  He had linemate Pascal Dupuis going to the net.  Anderson guessed that Crosby would send a brilliant pass over to Dupuis for the easy goal (as he does very often).  Anderson cheated off the post, and moved to his right ever so slightly, preparing for the pass.  Crosby noticed this, and fired the puck into the space that Anderson vacated.  Brilliant.

The third goal was a thing of beauty, too.  Sid took a pass at the top of the left circle.  He waited for defenseman Phillips to try to block his shot, and in the process, screen his own goaltender.  Now that Anderson couldn't see, Crosby easily blew a slapshot by him for the HT.

Here's some highlights from last night's game, including all three of 87's goals:

Note: Sens' star center Jason Spezza has returned to full practice. Details on when he will return are unknown.  Remember the last time the Pens faced the Sens in the playoffs in 2010?  Crosby enjoys matching up against Spezza, as you can see here:

Have a nice day.

One Down, Three To Go

The Penguins will advance to the second round of the playoffs.  The will advance past the first round for the first time since 2010, which is a ridiculous slump when you consider the talent this team has had.  But, that's all behind us.  The Penguins took care of business against the Islanders, who were trying to force a game 7 on Sunday in Pittsburgh.  Nobody wanted that.  Not even the lucky fans who bought tickets for it.  Nobody wants to see a game 7.  It's too unpredictable.  If there were a game 7 today, the fear would be real.  But that's behind us.  Let's forget about that, and celebrate the Pens' 4-3 overtime win, and 4-2 series win.

Now, let's take a look forward at the next challenge.  The Pens will face the Ottawa Senators.

I don't think the next series will be as frustrating as this one was.  I don't think we will come out of games wondering "how in the world did we play that poorly?".  I think we will see a better team performance by the Pens.

I think the pressure got the them in the first round.  After a series of trades by GM Ray Shero, the Penguins were the mega-favorite to win the Stanley Cup.  That, combined with the fact that they hadn't won a playoff series since 2010, combined for some serious pressure.  That's why the Islanders were able to give the Pens a run for their money.

Another thing is that the Islanders, over the past few years, have had a knack for giving the Pens trouble.  Every so often, the Isles would deal the Pens a disturbing loss on home ice, or something of that nature.  Even when the Islanders were at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, they would find ways to beat the Penguins.  That's why I'm not surprised that this series went six games.  I had a feeling in the back of my mind that they would give us trouble.

The Senators, I think, won't be as worrying.  Over the past several years, the Penguins have gotten them figured out.  Since 2008, we've met them in the Playoffs twice.  In the first one, the Pens coasted to a sweep.  Then, in 2010, the Pens won in 6.  Since then, the Pens have owned them in the regular season.

I think that the fact that the Pens have vanquished all those pressures of the first round, and the fact that we could write a book on how to beat the Senators combine to make an easier ride for round two.  It won't be an easy series, by any means.  But you won't be seeing any of the total nonsense we saw against the Isles.  There'll be fewer sloppy plays.  Tighter defense.  And the Pens getting back to their style of dumping the puck into the offensive zone, skating in, forechecking the opponent into the ground.  If they can do that well, and play some defense, they will take the series.

Why The Pens Will Pull It Out

Penguins 2, Islanders 2.  In the aftermath of a disappointing game 4, I sit here writing this.  A game 4 that saw the Penguins take a 3-2 lead, and later a 4-3 lead.  The final score was 6-4, Islanders.  What happened?

First, the Pens continued to play stupid.  The Islanders tied it at 4 in the third period off of a silly turnover by Evgeni Malkin.  The game was filled with other similar mistakes.  But in this one, all eyes are on Marc Andre Fleury.  I am somebody who is usually the biggest Fleury defender.

Not tonight.

Three of the Islanders' six goals were inexcusable.  One was scored from behind the net, banking off of Fleury's leg.  Another was scored in the final two minutes of play, sliding past him so slow you could read the label on the puck.

So, the series is tied at two, with the Pens heading home to play game 5 on Thursday at Consol Energy Center.  I seriously think that the Pens pull this one out.  And not because I'm a homer, or a fan (I am both of those things, but they didn't have any influence over this post).  Here's why.

The Pens are a flat out better team.  When they play smart, they kill the Islanders.  The problem so far is that they haven't been playing smart.  I feel that the Penguins are better equipped to lock in for an impressive game 5/6 than the Islanders.  This is because the Islanders are so inexperienced.  Their star players, John Tavares, Matt Moulson, Kyle Okposo, have never been in the playoffs before.  They don't know the intensity of a game 5, or game 6.  The Penguins have people like Crosby, Malkin, and Letang who have been in deep playoff runs.  They know what it's like, they know what it takes.

That's why I think the Pens will take this one.  If, AND ONLY IF, the Pens can reach down, and focus.  If they can go into a mindset of 2008 or 2009.  If they can regain their Cup winning mentality, they can take two of the next three.  The Pens are by far the better team.  It's all mental.

The same goes for Marc Andre Fleury.  If he can't do that, I'm all for giving Tomas Vokoun the start for game 5.

Clean It Up, Pens

The first three games of the Stanley Cup Playoffs are in the books.  On paper, the Penguins appear to be in good shape.  You see a 5-0 blowout win in game one, a tight 4-3 loss in game two, and a 5-4 overtime win in the third game.  On paper, it appears that we not only took a series lead, but demoralized the Islanders.  They fought back so hard towards the end of the game to force overtime.  After all that, Crosby set up Kunitz for the winner in OT, making it look easy.  All in front of a wild crowd at the ancient Nassau Coliseum, a building that hadn't seen a playoff game in six years.

Sure, the Penguins are in a good position going forward in the series.  But if they hope to get close to a Stanley Cup, or even to get out of this series, things need to change.  The Pens are stocked with talent, we all know that.  The trouble is putting it to good use.  The Penguins need to play smart.  In Sunday's 5-4 win, there were two players who played smart:  Sidney Crosby and Douglas Murray.  Everybody else astounded with their dumb decisions.  Matt Niskanen had two turnovers, both of them costing the Pens a goal. Letang turned the puck over uncharacteristically.  Countless others did the same.  The bottom line is that none of the players need to play as well as Crosby, but they all need to play as smart is him.

They need to stop making blind passes.  They need to stop forcing passes to star players.  They need to stop slinging the puck 80 feet up ice, hoping it will connect with someone (this almost always ends up being a turnover).  They need to stop trying to outskill the Islanders' defense.  Instead of trying to walk right into the offensive zone, try dumping it in and using that fore-checking thing that worked so well in game one.

The Pens had a 15 game win streak this season.  They didn't accomplish that by speeding up the ice, beating the entire team and scoring 10 goals per game.  The played a tough, defensively sound game.  They hit their opponents hard, and lock it down in front of Marc Andre Fleury.  They waited for the other team to give them opportunities to score.  What they are doing now is essentially trying to force goals, and in the process, giving the Islanders opportunities to score.

This needs to stop.

Are You Ready For The Playoffs

It's finally here.  After a brutal four month lockout, and an exciting three month season, it's finally time for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.  I'm planning on writing in the future about why the SCP are so special, because that would take way too long to do right now.

First, here's what I think the Pens' lines should be/ probably will be for game 1 on Wednesday

F1 Iginla-Crosby-Dupuis
F2 Kunitz-Malkin-Neal
F3 Cooke-Sutter-Morrow
F4 Glass-Jokinen-Adams

D1 Letang-Despres
D2 Orpik-Martin
D3 Niskanen-Murray

F1 Iginla and Crosby seem perfect to play alongside each other, as we saw in the 2010 Olympics.  Dupuis is also very productive alongside Crosby, with whom he has played for much of his career in Pittsburgh
F2 Another benefit of bumping Iginla up to F1 is that it enables the Pens to reunite the 14-71-18 line, which dominated the NHL last year
F3 This figures to be a terrific checking line, with Cooke and Morrow who have tough reputations, and also contains Sutter who can score clutch goals.
F4 Jokinen deserves to be a top-9 player.  That just shows how deep this team is.

D1 Simon Despres hasn't played every game this year, thanks to what I think is a foolish thought by Dan Bylsma.  When he has played, he played alongside Letang.  And played well.  Let's see what he can do in the playoffs
D2 Orpik is a playoff hit machine, terrorizing opposing forwards (look out John Tavares). Martin has had a terrific year defensively
D3 I'm excited for this line.  The defensively sound Niskanen with the wrecking ball Murray.

Prediction:  I know, I know, this won't be an easy series.  But that doesn't mean the Pens can't dominate it.  The Islanders' key players have no playoff experience.  Their defense is questionable. That, combined with the Penguins ridiculous talent at forward, leads me to predict a 5 game series win for Pittsburgh.

The Good and Bad of the Pirates' Pitching

The Pirates currently sit at 11-9, one game back from the lead of the NL Central.  Not a bad position to be in, nearly a month into the season.  Almost all of the wins were due to a pitcher, starter or reliever, coming up with an amazing performance.  Similarly, a fair amount of the losses can be traced back to a pitcher not doing his job.  Here's a look at how some of the pitchers have been doing this year, and how things could look in the future.



AJ Burnett-  AJ has, as expected been the Pirates' best starter so far.  In his first two starts, he allowed three runs and recorded sixteen strikeouts.  Both were spoiled by the fact that the Bucs' offense was struggling mightily at the time.  He has continued to put up solid numbers, and has improved to 2-2 on the season (the Pirates' 6-5 win over the Reds went down as a no-decision for AJ).  Burnett seems to be the Bucs' most reliable pitcher for the duration of this season.

Wandy Rodriguez-  Wandy has been sensational so far in 2013.  In his first start, he shut down the Cubs through six innings, which would turn out to be the Pirates' first win of 2013.  In his next start, he injured his hamstring in only the second inning, and was forced to leave the game.  He missed his next start (Phil Irwin got the spot start, which turned out to be a thrilling comeback win over Cincinnati), and returned on the 19th vs. Atlanta.  He pitched a 2-hit shutout through 7 innings.  The Pirates closed out the game having faced the minimum 27 batters for the first time in decades.  As terrific as he has been, it is a very small sample size, plus the hamstring could come back to bother him.  Things look cautiously optimistic for Wandy.

James McDonald-  JMac, JMac, JMac.... Truly an impossible puzzle to solve.  Lights-out one day, lit-up the next.  Shut down the Cubs in his first start of the season, gets lit up for 10 runs in the 2nd inning against the Cardinals.  His most recent start against Atlanta was the epitome of inconsistency.  He struck out the first three batters he faced.  In the second inning, he loaded the bases, and proceeded to walk home the leading run.  Directly thereafter, he struck out three batters to end the inning.  Frustrating for fans.  I'm not going to venture a guess on JMac.  The potential for success is certainly there.

Jeff Locke-  Jeff Locke has been quietly mediocre.  He was unimpressive in his first few outings.  He had a good start on Tuesday vs. Philadelphia.  Personally, I don't think he will remain in the rotation very long.  Charlie Morton and Francisco Liriano are returning soon.  Later on, Jeff Karstens will be ready.  Gerrit Cole will be called up.  No space for Locke.

Jonathan Sanchez-  Similar story for Sanchez.  He's been remarkably mediocre thus far, including a 10 run torching by the Arizona Diamondbacks.  I would be shocked if he is in the rotation in June.