The Penalty is Declined...Pens lose, Series tied 3-3

I wanted to do this post right after the game...but there was an incredibly high risk of my cell phone going through my laptop screen, which would have then gone through my TV....I'm sure you know the feeling, right?

There we were at the doorstep of Game 6, coming off of a horrific 8-2 loss.  But there was hope!  Fleury and Bylsma have always bounced back well, teams frequently come back with a strong win after getting blown out, and the road team has been dominant in this series.  The Penguins elected to make no changes to the lineup for this game...a troubling notion, but that's the type of play you can make when you are up 3-2 in a series. 

Things started as we all wanted and expected them to.  The Pens were flat out dominant in the first half of the period, intercepting every pass through the neutral zone and not allowing Tampa to get a shot.  Dwayne Roloson even helped the cause, misplaying a puck by the net and allowing Max Talbot to retrieve it behind the net.  Talbot fed it in front to Pascal Dupuis, who easily beat a very flustered Roloson 5 hole.  1-0 Pens!  Going into this game, the team that scored first always scored the next goal and won the game in the end.  We're set, right?


Things slowly unraveled from there.  Alex Kovalev took a hooking penalty midway through the period, and Tampa got their first shot on goal and their offense under control.  Though the Penguins killed the penalty, the Lightning dominated the second half of the period.  Fleury came up with a huge glove save on Martin St. Louis, after the quick Tampa forward skated right past Brooks Orpik.  On the same shift, Letang got caught out of position and took an interference call trying to get back into the zone.  The Penguins killed the penalty again, but all for nothing as Teddy Purcell scored a scramble in front of the net which left Michalek and Fleury flat on the ice.  Tie game. 

"I'm serious Marc, they actually voted me in!"

The second period opened up with a chance for the Penguins to regain momentum as Mattias Ohlund took a penalty 30 seconds into it.  No, actually, it wasn't a chance, because I can never consider a Penguins powerplay to actually be a chance again.  Kris Letang made 2 drop passes at the offensive blue line that kept the Penguins from entering the zone, and then Paul Martin followed suit by doing the same thing and the Penguins never gained possession in the zone.

The latest virus going around...just type in "Penguins Powerplay". 
Drops productivity to 3.3%.

The Lightning drew on the crowd after the penalty kill and put a lot of pressure on the Penguins defense down low.  This resulted in Lovejoy getting tied up with Steve Downie, Niskanen with Dominic Moore behind the net, and Moore passing it to Sean Bergenheim in front who was "covered" by Marc Letestu.  I say "covered" because in reality, I had a better chance of stopping Bergenheim through my TV.  The result was an easy goal as Fleury had no chance to get from post to post to stop him.

The Penguins had 2 more powerplays, neither of which did anything except force me to question why Consol Energy sponsors the team.  I also understand why it's the Powerball powerplay, since the odds of us getting a powerplay goal are about the same as winning the lottery nowadays.

Luckily, Chris Conner took some attention away from the powerplay failures by going in on a breakaway on Roloson at even strength.  Conner was dragged down and awarded a penalty shot.  However, he lost control of the puck half way down the ice and skated back to it to take an awkward, effortless shot.

Sorry Chris, but I'm pretty sure this T-Rex
would have had better puck control.

Ryan Malone then decided to try and kill the only Penguins goal scorer thus far, throwing his shoulder/elbow into Dupuis' head/shoulder.  Malone got 2 for elbowing, and I would not be surprised if he has to sit for Game 7.  It didn't matter though, as the powerplay was worthless as usual.

Despite an incredibly frustrating 2nd period, the Penguins went to the 3rd period only down 2-1.  The issue, of course, being that the Penguins haven't won a game this season when down after 2 periods.  Why not change that now?  Jordan Staal tied the game up 4 minutes into the period with a wrist shot from the slot set up by a nice Matt Niskanen pass.

Thankfully, I still had $4 remaining after Staal scored

The next set of plays would determine the game.  Max Talbot took the puck for a breakaway against Roloson and was stopped on the initial shot AND 2 rebound chances as well.  Tampa then moved the puck right back into the Penguins' zone and Steve Downie found himself alone with Fleury for a couple of chances.  Though Fleury made the initial save, Downie stuffed the rebound under him for a 3-2 Lightning lead just 53 seconds after the Pens had tied it. 

The Penguins still had another "chance" though, as Malone continued his idiotic play and crushed Letestu into Fleury to get a minor for interference.  The Lightning killed the powerplay though and then Malone found himself on a breakaway on account of a perfect outlet pass by Mattias Ohlund.  Malone teed up a slapshot that beat Fleury glove side and it was 4-2 halfway through the 3rd.  Touche Malone, I'm apparently the idiotic one.  At that point, the Lightning held 4 men back at all times, and the Penguins couldn't get anything going.  That was the game.  Final Score, 4-2 Tampa Bay.

3 Stars:
#3 - Moore (1a)
#2 - Thompson
#1 - Downie (1g, 2a)

Notes/Thoughts
- The powerplay is 1-30 (3.3%) in the series and was 0-5 in the game.  If we lose the series, look no further than that statistic.  The only goal was scored with Tangradi screening Roloson, and he hasn't cracked the lineup since.  Even if Bylsma doesn't want to play Tangradi, start putting Asham-Rupp-Adams on the powerplay.  It's not like the unit of our "five best" are doing anything out there.

- The biggest problem with the powerplay is there is no movement.  One guy moves with the puck while 4 stand stationary.  The best powerplays (TB, Buffalo, etc.) have players constantly moving so that the penalty killers have to keep moving as well.  That leads to gaps in coverage and powerplay goals.  Tampa Bay has no respect for the powerplay at this point and for good reason.

- The penalty kill is 17-25 (68%) in the series and was 3-3 in the game.  The penalty kill looked much better in this game, keeping the play to the outside and even getting some chances offensively.  The series number is very skewed by the 8-2 blowout game.

- Lineup changes are imperative at this point.  As I said in my last recap, I think Tangradi should be in, namely for the powerplay.  I would sit Conner or Letestu, though I am leaning to Letestu has he has become a liability in the defensive zone and is not adding anything offensively.

- Speaking of not adding offensively, Kunitz played most of the game with Letestu and Kovalev.  There is no quicker way of rendering Kunitz ineffective.  Letestu is off of his game and Kovalev hasn't added anything to the offense.  This is the wrong place to put your top goal scorer in the lineup.

- Back to the defensive end, it's time to get Engelland back in the lineup,  Tampa Bay is all over the crease and Fleury, and many goals have resulted from scrambles in front of the net.  Engelland's big body presence would help keep the likes of Malone and Downie off of the crease and give Fleury a better chance to survive.  I have no problem sitting either Niskanen or Lovejoy, though I would probably lean towards Niskanen.

- I'm sure the Fleury critics will be out since he let up 4 goals on 21 shots, but the game was not his fault yet again.  1st goal:  Bad bounce, can't blame the defense or goalie on that one.  2nd goal:  Letestu doesn't have his guy, neither defenseman really has control of his either.  3rd goal:  Can't leave Downie alone on the crease, Fleury even made the initial save, but he needs help in that situation.  4th goal:  Breakaway by Malone...can't fault any goalie on that.  For a team that is supposed to be built from its defense up, it certainly isn't showing right now.  There are far too many lapses in coverage.



Game 7 is on Wednesday.  We played an 82 regular season game to get the 4th seed, to get home ice advantage, and to have this Game 7 at Consol.  Let's make it count.  LET'S GO PENS!!!