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.