Power Failure, Pens Eliminated.

Note:  This will be my Game 7 recap, and over the next 2 weeks I'll recap the season, individual players, coaches, and upcoming free agency.



Many non-NHL fans (read: NFL idiots) question why hockey has such a long season.  Game 7 is the reason that hockey has such a long season.  82 games are played out to determine who will have home ice in a game that will potentially determine the rest of the season, and for some players, even their careers or lives.  There were a lot of mixed feelings amongst Pittsburghers going into Game 7.  It was great to have it on home ice, but coming off of 2 straight losses, momentum was an issue.  Add in the lack of a powerplay and some big defensive lapses in the series, and there was certainly cause for concern.  Nothing can top the nervousness/excitement for a Game 7 at home though.

The crowd was roaring right off the bat in support of their Penguins, but you could certainly hear the mumbles when the scratches were shown on the screen.  No Tangradi and Engelland still?  Bylsma opted to be loyal to his playoff lineup since he didn't want to put in a "cold" player in Game 7.  So finally, it was time to play it out, 60 minutes to determine who was going home and who was moving on. 

We'll ignore the fact that you were on for the last regular season
and only playoff PP goals.

The Penguins came out flying with the crowd and controlled the puck for a majority of the 1st period.  It even appeared that the Pens may have gained an early lead, but the goal was called off due to incidental contact as Letang bowled over Roloson while 4 guys were in the crease.  The team outplayed Tampa at even strength, but as usual, officiating was a bit of an issue as was the powerplay.  Early in the period, Max Talbot was sent into the boards headfirst by Mattias Ohlund.  No penalty was called on the play, and Talbot was on the ice for a few minutes before play was called and he was helped back to the bench.  The Penguins did get 2 powerplays in a 5 minute span though, as Eric Brewer and Martin St. Louis both took penalties.  The first powerplay looked great, or at least great compared to what we have come to expect.  Puck movement was solid, shots got to the net, but the Pens couldn't beat Roloson.  The 2nd powerplay was everything we have come to know and hate.  It took 1:45 for the Penguins to get possession in the offensive zone, enough said.  The period ended in a scoreless tie.  It was one of those periods where you are concerned that the team is playing so well, but not scoring, so it's inevitably going to turn the other way.

The second period started off with yet another Penguins powerplay as Steven Stamkos took a tripping penalty.  What more could you ask for?  You could ask for a competent powerplay.  The powerplay had trouble getting the puck into the zone yet again, and couldn't find a way to even challenge Roloson.  The Hockey Gods decided that would be the last straw.  Just minutes after the missed opportunity, Tampa Bay finally struck.  Dominic Moore took the puck behind the Penguins' net in an exact replica of a goal scoring play in Game 6.  The result?  A goal.  Moore passed the puck from behind the net to an uncovered Sean Bergenheim again (this time, Craig Adams missed the coverage), and Bergenheim shot it into a wide open net as Fleury had no chance to get from post to post in time.  Same Tampa line, same play, same result.  1-0 Tampa Bay.

Geez Fleury, why can't you be 6 feet wide for
when we have defensive lapses?!?!

 The Penguins then took 2 penalties in the period, leading to some big chances for Tampa Bay but great efforts on the penalty kill.  If nothing else, the Penguins did adjust their penalty kill to Tampa's style of play and improved as the series came to Game 7.  On both PKs, the team did a great job of blocking shots and getting into passing lanes to hold the Lightning off.  Play went back and forth for the rest of the period, with Fleury making some great saves to keep the Pens in it.  It appeared that Tampa was already content keeping 4 men back and not allowing odd man rushes, so the Penguins faced a massive challenge going into the 3rd.  Especially since they had not won a game yet this season when trailing after 2 periods.

As anyone could have predicted, Tampa Bay came out with every intention of clogging up the neutral zone.  It did not help that the Penguins appeared completely incapable of a) passing around the neutral zone, b) dumping and chasing, or c) putting a good shot on net.  Tampa Bay took a too many men on the ice penalty early in the 3rd period, awakening the crowd and giving the Pens yet another chance to right their series with a powerplay goal.  They wouldn't have any of it though, with another disappointing attempt that led to some in the crowd booing.

More back and forth play took over the majority of the 3rd as Tampa truly just frustrated the Penguins and the crowd.  Pittsburgh got their final chance on a gift of a powerplay with 1:33 left in the game.  It was a fitting end to the series and the season, as the Penguins, with their backs against the wall, still couldn't manage a powerplay goal to save their season.  Dwayne Roloson finished with 36 saves and the shutout to send Tampa Bay to the 2nd round.  Meanwhile, Pittsburgh blew a 3-1 series lead for just the 2nd time in franchise history, and lost Game 7 at home for the 2nd year in a row.

Remember that feeling boys, because apparently
you didn't from last year's Game 7 loss at home.

 3 Stars:
#3 - Fleury (22 saves, .957 save %)
#2 - Bergenheim (1g)
#1 - Roloson (36 saves, 1.000 save %)

Thoughts/Notes

- Don't let the 36 shots by the Penguins deceive you, many were from the red line and most were weak wristshots.  The Pens really didn't test Roloson much.

- I will never understand why Bylsma was so against making a lineup change going into a Game 7 after 2 losses in a row where the lineup clearly wasn't working

- Kovalev got 2 shifts in the 3rd period.  That is the last we will see of him in a Pens jersey.  At least the conditional 7th rounder does not turn into a 6th since we didn't make it past the 1st round?

- I know a lot of people say the Penguins did admirable for not having Crosby, Malkin, and Cooke.  But, we had a 3-1 series lead without those players too...no excuse for losing it.

- Guy Boucher out-coached Dan Bylsma, plain and simple.

- This series was lost on the powerplay.  Statistics don't lie.  1 for 35, yuck.

In the end, it was a great season, but the end of it will never do justice for everything that was accomplished.  An underachieving end to an overachieving season.  Many posts reflecting on the season and looking to the future are on their way, so don't abandon my blog yet!

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!!!

Home Ice Disadvantage. Bolts win, Pens lead series 3-2.

Legen...wait for it...DARY!

Hmm...where to begin...
Factors in favor of the Pens winning in 5:  Home Ice
Factors against it:  Horrible PP, awful PK, Roloson is amongst the league leaders in playoff goaltending stats, Bylsma has never won a series at home

Oddly enough, the factors against it seemed to outweigh the idea of home ice.

Sergeant Bob started it off with the National Anthem.  Though it was a beauty as always, I think it's time to bring back our veteran Jeff Jimerson.  The playoffs are no time to mess around with a rookie (who is now 1-2).

The first period was essentially 19 minutes of dominant play by the Penguins and 1 minute that would undo everything and give the Lightning an early stranglehold on the game.  Pittsburgh barely allowed Tampa to get past the red line in the first 5 minutes, and then went on the powerplay after Pavel Kubina got called for interference.  The powerplay actually looked fantastic, getting 4 shots on net, but they couldn't put one past Roloson.  The Pens got another great chance as the Dupuis-Talbot-Conner line cycled the puck beautifully and sent it back to Orpik at the point, who rang a slapshot off of the post.  Things seemed to be coming together for the Penguins before going horribly awry in a one minute span.

Teddy Purcell and Vincent Lecavalier came down the ice on a mind numbing rush where they passed the puck back and forth 6 times before Lecavalier rung a shot off of both posts.  The rebound off the post landed right on Simon Gagne's stick as he threw it into a wide open net for a 1-0 lead.  Less than a minute later, Steven Stamkos tipped a shot into Fleury so that he couldn't control it, and Stamkos picked up the rebound and threw it over Fleury's right pad to give the Lightning a quick and stunning 2 goal lead.  It was Stamkos' first career playoff goal after taking a lot of heat for his performances this series.  After the first, the Pens led in shots and scoring chances, but were shocked by the Lightning.

8 Lightning strikes...I think you can see where I'm going with this.

 The second period featured more Penguins failures and opportunistic Lightning goals.  The Penguins started on a powerplay which did absolutely nothing.  The Lightning ended that PK with St. Louis and Stamkos on the ice, and then Lecavalier coming out of the box.  Such a combination spells trouble, and it did as both defenseman followed Stamkos and St. Louis into a corner and Lecavalier was left all alone in front of the net to put a pass from the corner past Fleury.  Letestu should have been the man on Lecavalier, but he also wandered into the corner for no possible reason that I could see.

The Penguins then received another powerplay, and at this point, their last chance to get back into the game.  Again, the powerplay did nothing, and as the Pens made an errant pass out of the zone, Steve Downie came out of the box and got the puck to Dominic Moore in the Penguins zone.  Moore's shot rebounded out, and a shot from the point landed directly at Simon Gagne's feet, who scored his 2nd of the night.  At this point, Fleury was pulled for Brent Johnson.  Fleury stopped 10 of 14 shots, but received absolutely no help.  Can't blame this one on him.

It didn't take long for the Lightning to beat Johnson as Rupp took a penalty for boarding Ryan Malone.  On the ensuing Lightning powerplay, Stamkos found a rebound in front of the net to score his 2nd of the game and of the series.  The Penguins had another powerplay at the end of the period...but you can guess the result.

Anyone in that bottom row want to play?  Anyone?!?

The Lightning received 2 powerplay chances early in the period, and Pavel Kubina finished both off with goals to give Tampa a touchdown and a 7-0 lead.  But wait a minute, with Pittsburgh being a football town, the touchdown must have sparked something.  Just minutes after Kubina's 2nd powerplay goal of the game, Mike Rupp broke Roloson's shutout by putting in a rebound from Alex Kovalev's shot.  The assist to Kovalev was his 100th career playoff point.  The Penguins weren't done yet though, as Chris Conner scored his first career playoff goal on a beautiful feed from Talbot that left Roloson sprawling in front.

The Lightning weren't done yet though, after the Penguins killed off one of their powerplays, Talbot took a boarding call that resulted in a Dominic Moore powerplay goal on a beautiful cross crease feed from Sean Bergenheim.  Letang proceeded to take a penalty as the goal was being scored to put Tampa right back on the powerplay, but the Penguins killed that one before failing to score on one last powerplay to end the game.

Final Score: 8-2 Lightning
3 Stars:
#3 - Kubina (2g)
#2 - Gagne (2g)
#1 - Stamkos (2g, 1a)

Notes/Thoughts:
- We can stop wondering where Stamkos is now

- First team to score is 5-0 in this series (30-6 in the playoffs this year)

- Pens powerplay was 0 for 6 in the game, and is now 0 for 20 at home and 1 for 25 in the series (4%)

- Pens PK allowed 4 goals on 7 chances in the game.  The PK has only stopped 14 of 22 chances so far (63.6%)

- Fleury let up 4 goals on 14 shots, Johnson let up 4 goals on 11 shots, the Penguins were pretty much awful defensively / on the penalty kill, so don't blame either goalie.

- I said it after last game, I want Tangradi in the lineup.  He made a big difference on the powerplay in Game 5.  Who would I sit?  Probably Conner still, even though he did score today.

- Rupp and Talbot both managed to be +1's in this game, the only plus players for the Penguins.

- Michalek led the team with 26 minutes of ice time.  Letang played only 19 minutes, which is the least we've seen in a while from him.

- I'm starting to think that first line is just a clusterf*ck of players (Neal-Letestu-Kovalev).  Letestu's game has been off since his last injury of the season, and these 3 don't have styles that mesh well together to set each other up.

Game 6 on Monday in Tampa Bay.  Bylsma may have never won a series at home, but he has always clinched the series in the next road game when he's had the chance.  LET'S GO PENS!!!
*Fleury is 5-1 with a 2.46 GAA in his 2nd chance to close a series out.

Kennedy! Asham! Neal! OH MY! Pens lead series 3-1.

It may have taken some extra time, but could you have asked for a more perfect game?  Quick, list your complaints about the Penguins in the playoffs so far heading into this game:  1) Powerplay has been awful, 2) Penalty Kill hasn't been so great, 3) James Neal can't score.  Here's an offer, how about we solve all of these issues in one game...deal?  Stellar!

18 cases...1 says powerplay goal...good luck!

The game started with the Tampa crowd roaring yet again, and this time trying to support their team by using thunderstix.  Apparently, southern teams aren't all about the old clap your hands method.  Tampa certainly had the table set for a good start as Arron Asham got called for cross-checking 2 minutes into the game.  The Penguins PK was up to the task though as the Lightning never got a strong chance (which would be the trend for every Tampa PP in this game).  Vincent Lecavalier then got called for holding 3 minutes later and everyone went to take a bathroom break because a Penguins powerplay is the most opportune time.  NOT THIS TIME THOUGH!  Tyler Kennedy received the puck on the left side boards and ripped a shot past Dwayne Roloson's blocker.  A POWERPLAY GOAL!!!  Though he did not get a point on the play, enormous props go to Eric Tangradi for that goal.  Tangradi went directly to the net off of the faceoff and screened Roloson the whole way on Kennedy's shot.  The rest of the period went scoreless, as the Penguins received another powerplay, but we weren't asking for miracles here.

Yep, this is the man that changed our powerplay's fate.

The Penguins came out flying in the 2nd period and were quickly rewarded for their play and efforts to get more shots on net.  Ben Lovejoy took a shot from the point which Dwayne Roloson kicked directly out to the slot for an awful rebound (for Lightning fans).  The puck landed right on Arron Asham's stick who half-fanned on the shot but put it 5-hole to beat Roloson and give the Penguins a 2-0 lead.  It wasn't the prettiest of plays, but it's the type of play that will keep a team playing in May. 

Your leading playoff goal scorer...still has no clue how to celebrate a goal.

Pittsburgh received another powerplay as Ryan Malone decided to skate through Marc-Andre Fleury in his seemingly never ending quest to get the Penguins to the 2nd round.  It was a nice thought that Pens could use this to take a 3-0 lead, but instead the powerplay looked listless and gave Tampa momentum off of the kill.  A few minutes later, Martin St. Louis (not that any other Lightning player has shown up) brought the lead down to a goal on a fantastic individual effort.  St. Louis crossed center ice with 2 defenders to beat and promptly skated right past Ben Lovejoy and Matt Niskanen to go in by himself and beat Fleury.  James Neal took a late penalty for goalie interference, but the Penguins would kill it off without a problem.

Doesn't he give out shots at Caseys on the weekends?

Heading into the 3rd period up 2-1, you had to feel nervous but good.  Tampa was one of the worst 3rd period teams this season, and the Penguins were no strangers to 1 goal leads.  The play went back and forth as the Penguins didn't stop attacking but slowed down as Tampa started bringing pressure.  James Neal took another penalty, this time for high sticking, but that was killed off as well.  Then finally, the Lovejoy-Niskanen pairing struck again.  With less than 4 minutes left in the 3rd, Martin St. Louis brought the puck to the net which caused a massive scramble by Fleury, the defenseman, and all 3 Tampa forwards.  The puck came loose and Sean Bergenheim was there to tap it into the net to tie the game up.



Just as you're thinking, we're going to overtime, Craig Adams gets called for a tripping penalty 45 seconds later.  We're going to overtime turned into please let's get to overtime.  The Penguins were masterful in this kill though, even without Adams, and then the game headed to overtime.  The first overtime gave you a chance to get your heart pumping, strain your nerves, and hold your breath, but nothing came of it.  The Penguins had a sizable advantage in chances, as they had all night, but couldn't find a way to finish it.  Then came the 2nd overtime.


It didn't take long, and the whole play happened in a blur.  Jordan Staal threw the puck down the boards from the point, and James Neal one-timed it off of the boards on a seeming ill-advised and downright retarded shot.  Sorry James Neal, I am the one that is retarded.  Dwayne Roloson was out of position and caught completely by surprise on Neal's incredibly accurate shot.  Neal beat Roloson high on his glove side and as Mike Lange said for all to hear, Elvis, had just left the building.  PENS WIN, 3-2!

The ritual gang raping of whoever scores the OT winner.

3 Stars:
#3 - Asham (1g)
#2 - St. Louis (1g, 1a)
#1 - Neal (1g)


Notes/Thoughts:

- Congrats to Martin St. Louis for showing up this series, but the rest of his team really hasn't done anything of note against the Penguins thus far.

- The Pens outshot the Lightning 53-31 in this game, and pretty much out-chanced Tampa Bay all night because of throwing pucks at the net and getting the rebounds from them.

- The Lovejoy/Niskanen pairing played 2:30 against the St. Louis line.  Oh, and managed to let up 2 goals in that 2:30.  It'll be nice to have last line change in Game 5 as that is a matchup Tampa will want to exploit badly.

- For that matter, Lovejoy received just under 10 minutes of icetime and Niskanen had just over 11.  In a game that goes to double OT and featured 83 minutes of hockey, wow.  Think Bylsma has any confidence in that pairing?  (Related - good thing we have 2 days off so the other 4 dmen can rest, Orpik led with 40 minutes).

- Say bye bye to the 3 monkeys leaving the backs of the powerplay, penalty kill, and James Neal.

- Rupp led the team with 6 shots on goal while Orpik and Niskanen were the only 2 to not records shots.

- No word on who will lose their spot due to Kunitz's return in Game 5, but I certainly hope it isn't Tangradi.  He played a great overall game and was largely responsible for that ever elusive powerplay goal.  My pick would be Conner.

- Crosby didn't skate with the team today, I'm starting to think his season is over.

Game 5 in Pittsburgh on Saturday, 12pm start!  Let's close this out!  3 down, 13 to go, LET'S GO PENS!!!

Do Penguins Strike Twice? YES! Lead Series 2-1

Pens nation was quite worried going into Tampa Bay.  Was this going to be another series where every Marc-Andre Fleury mistake would cost us a game?  How would Fleury react to the first shot?  Would we ever be able to score enough goals to keep up with Tampa Bay?  Is the powerplay going to be worthless all series? (yes, yes it will be)  Can the penalty kill handle the Lightning without Cooke still? (no, apparently not)

All expectations were that the Penguins would have to weather the storm (ha ha) going into Tampa Bay for the first 10 minutes or so before they would be able to get to their game.  Lightning fans filtered into the arena, receiving rally drums (what the hell is a rally drum?) to send their team to victory.  It was the Penguins though, who were ready to rally.

You've been rally drummed.

The first period started with a roaring Tampa Bay crowd and an even more forceful Penguins team.  Pittsburgh came out flying, clearly trying to impose their will and hush the crowd.  Both teams were throwing the body with reckless abandon, which favored the Penguins heavily.  Six minutes into the first period, Steve Downie leveled Ben Lovejoy behind the Penguins net, but Lovejoy got the outlet pass up the boards to Max Talbot before getting crushed.  Talbot skated in with a 2 on 1 and wristed a shot past Roloson to give the Pens an early 1-0 lead.  Big hit on one end, goal on the other, point Penguins.

Clearly didn't leave his feet, not sure what all you Pens fans are talking about.

Less than a minute later, Letang outlet-passed to Rupp.  As Rupp crossed the blue line, a Lightning defender went for the body instead of the puck and Rupp got past the hit with the puck.  This led to another 2 on 1 and Rupp made the perfect pass to elude Pavel Kubina and land on the stick of Arron Asham, who one-timed it in for a 2-0 lead.  Timeout Tampa Bay.

The game settled down a bit after the timeout and then Chris Kunitz took one of the dumbest penalties I've ever seen him take.  Kunitz was skating back into the Penguins zone and elbowed Simon Gagne in the head, clear as day.  That hit, along with Downie's, is being reviewed by the NHL today.  The Penguins killed that penalty, and then promptly got called for one that never happened.  While buzzing in the offensive zone, Alex Kovalev was cross-checked into Roloson (we'll ignore that Neal promptly missed an empty net, because it wouldn't have counted) and given 2 minutes for interference.  The Lightning wouldn't be denied on this chance as Martin St. Louis scored his 2nd goal of the series.  Both have been on the powerplay.

Shredder addresses the media about Krang's plan for world domination via Special Teams.

The Penguins started the 2nd period on the powerplay.  I'll let you guess the result.  Most of the 2nd period continued on with frantic back and forth play, great goaltending on both ends, and just fun hockey to watch.  Late in the 2nd period, the Penguins received another powerplay chance.  Can you guess the result again?  Pittsburgh is now 0 for 15 on the powerplay in this series.  Neal missed another golden chance on this one as Roloson gave him the top half of the net and he shot it directly into Roloson's leg pads.

Going into the 3rd period with a 1 goal lead, you had to feel antsy and yet confident.  The Penguins are no strangers to 1 goal games, and they know how to finish them.  Well, if this was your thought process, you got sucker punched a minute into the 3rd period.  Paul Martin took an interference call and St. Louis promptly scored his 2nd goal of the game and 3rd of the series, all on the powerplay.  Tampa Bay is now 4 for 11 on the powerplay in this series.

Luckily, Tyler Kennedy wasted all of 35 seconds before recovering the lead for good as Staal won a big faceoff back to Letang, who passed it to Orpik, who got it to Kennedy to finish off the goal.  The rest of the period went penalty free and goal free as Tampa frantically attacked but Fleury and the defense were up to the challenge.  Michalek and Adams both came up with big shot blocks late in the game and the Penguins preserved the win to go up 2-1 in the series.

3 Stars:
#3 - Fleury (25 saves, .926 save %)
#2 - St. Louis (2g)
#1 - Letang (2a)


Notes/Thoughts:

- I expect 1-2 games for Kunitz and 2-3 for Downie for their hits.  Honestly, Kunitz deserves more, but will not get it because he is not a "repeat offender" and Downie deserves less, but will get more because his name is Steve Downie.  (Update - Each got 1 game and will miss Game 4)

- Arron Asham is your leading Penguins goal scorer in the playoffs....3 cheers for Ray Shero!

- Big bounce back games from Letang and Michalek in this game after a lackluster Game 2.  Martin played better as well, but Letang and Michalek were both fantastic in this one.

- Jordan Staal looks overmatched right now.  I'm not sure if it's the minutes he's logging, or the stress of playing against the top D pairings now, but he is definitely out of sorts.  Staal has been on the ice or in the box for 5 of the 7 Lightning goals this series.

- Can we drop Kovalev off of the top line yet?  I would rather see Kunitz move up to that line to give Neal more help.  Neal clearly needs a spark to get his goal scoring game back, and Kovalev certainly isn't going to provide that.  Also, Neal should be kidney punched for every chance he misses, because this is getting absurd.

- Nick Johnson is close to returning from injury, though don't expect him to crack the lineup.

- Crosby skated with the team today after taking the last 2 days off of the ice.  Still no prognosis.  But I must say, it looks bleaker and bleaker the longer he does not take contact.

- Game 5's start time on Saturday will be 12pm.

Game 4 coming up on Wednesday at 7pm.  LET'S GO PENS!!!  2 down, 14 to go!!

A, B, C, E? No D - Series Tied 1-1.

In all fairness, I could have attacked all 3 facets of the game (offense, defense, goaltending) in the title, but I decided to go with the Defense because they affected all 3.  Also, don't forget to hit the tabs to check out what's going on in every other series.

So recap, here we go. UGH.  Does that suffice as a recap?  18,507 people got together for a Consol Energy Center record crowd on a beautiful Friday for playoff hockey.  18,507 people were subsequently part of the largest disappointed crowd in Consol history. 

The Penguins thank you for attending, even though they did not show up.

Tampa started off the scoring 2 minutes into the game, as Kris Letang made an ill-advised pinch at the offensive blue line, leaving Orpik to defend a 2 on 1 with Eric Brewer coming down the left side.  Rather than passing it, Brewer decided to just fire the puck and beat Fleury glove side to give Tampa a 1-0 lead.  The Pens received a powerplay shortly thereafter, but I don't need to recap that as we all know they didn't score and seemingly never will score a powerplay goal.  Jordan Staal took a boarding penalty about a minute later, and the Lightning scored on their powerplay as Vincent Lecavalier put one past Fleury during a scramble in front of the crease.

Down 2-0, the Penguins knew there was no margin for error.  This team hasn't been able to score many goals, and a 3-0 deficit would surely be too big of a mountain to climb.  And yet, there was the defense making ill-advised mistakes again.  With 3 minutes left in the first, Paul Martin decided to get caught pinching, sending the Lightning on another 2 on 1.  Steve Downie took a shot, which Fleury made the initial pad save on, but the rebound went directly to Nate Thompson who fired it into a wide open net.  It was a bad rebound to give up and even worse that there was no defender in sight to help out.

Damn you Mother nature

There was pretty much nothing positive to say at the end of the first.  The Penguins looked terrible, barely testing Roloson, the defense couldn't play defense or offense, and Fleury looked shaky in giving up 3 (though you have to factor in the two 2 on 1s).  The second period was a completely different story for 19:46 of play.

The Penguins came out in the 2nd period as a completely different team, led by the line of Asham-Adams-Rupp.  The team was winning every puck battle, wearing down Tampa deep in the offensive zone, and controlled the puck for the most of the period.  There were a couple of powerplay chances, but those were a couple of failures as usual.  Finally, Craig Adams put the Pens on the board as Dwayne Roloson went out to play a puck that ended up in the no-play zone.  Roloson was handcuffed and Asham got the puck to the front of the net.  The puck bounced to an open Adams in the slot, who buried it to make it 3-1.

I bet his kid cures cancer.

The crowd was back into it, the Penguins believed, and the team moved into an even more dominating style of play.  The biggest issue was they could not finish (or even get many shots) off of their puck possession.  Letang, Martin, and Michalek all failed to control passes at the blue line with no pressure on them, inevitably slowing down the Penguins' attack.  Orpik then took a cross-checking penalty with 20 seconds left in the period.  After a period of domination, the Lightning put a dagger into the Penguins on the powerplay.  Martin St. Louis shot the puck across the goal line as Fleury left his post, and the puck banked in off of Fleury to give Tampa a 4-1 lead.  The goal was a back breaker and took the crowd and team completely out of the game.

The third period was clearly for show only.  The Penguins failed on another pair of powerplays and never managed to get the spark of the 2nd period back.  Mattias Ohlund capped off the scoring when the Penguins pulled Fleury with 3 minutes left, while on the powerplay.  Ohlund sent a wrister from his own blue line to score a short handed empty netter and make it 5-1 Tampa.  Game over.

3 Stars:
#3 - St. Louis (1g, 1a)
#2 - Gagne (0g, 3a)
#1 - Brewer (1g, 2a)

Notes/Thoughts:

- The powerplay is now 0 for 13 in the series.  A powerplay goal at any point in any game for the Penguins will be game changing and maybe series changing.  I'd honestly rather they practice that for a full session rather than any other drill, especially with Tampa's style of standing 4 at the blue line to stop them.

- James Neal continues to draw penalties, play great in the defensive end, and pretty much do everything right...except for put the puck in the net.  Neal came over for his finishing ability, not the rest of his game.  He's going to have to score (on the powerplay maybe?) for the Penguins to go anywhere in the playoffs.

- A bad game for Fleury, but I refuse to place all of the blame on him.  A horrible game for the defense trumps it.  At no point should I be thinking that Lovejoy and Niskanen are the best 2 defensemen in a game, and yet that's what happened.

- Letang and Martin both played the worst games I have seen them play in months, since the very start of the season.  Not the time for one of them to do that, let alone both.  Their cold streaks hurt the powerplay as much as anything, along with the defense.

Game 3 on Monday.  Expect something very low scoring as defense and low risk plays will be the focus going to Tampa Bay.  LET'S GO PENS!!

Mid-April Fleuries: Pens lead series 1-0

The puck never had a chance.

The city of Pittsburgh was antsy all day today with everyone anxiously awaiting the first game of the playoffs against the Tampa Bay Lightning.  In a mere 5 years, Penguins fans have learned to enjoy mid-April hockey as a right and an annual ritual (in all fairness, we learned that as a ritual 2 decades ago, but there was a little break in the dark years).  Tampa Bay came into this game with a much different feel.  This would be the first playoff game they played in 4 years, with less than half of their roster making it to the playoffs before.  So where would this take us?

The first period started as you would expect for the home team.  The crowd was electric, undoubtedly the loudest it has ever been at Consol.  The Kovalev-Letestu-Neal line got off to a quick start with Neal getting a quick shot on Roloson.  Coming back the other way, Brooks Orpik absolutely leveled Steven Stamkos to set the tone...or at least we thought it would set the tone.  Tampa fought through a tough first minute and then threw an onslaught on the Penguins.  Pittsburgh chose to throw the body and Tampa Bay chose to throw the puck.  The Lightning got off to a quick 7-1 lead in shots half way through the period despite Pittsburgh hitting everything that moved.

The period was pretty much back and forth hockey with Tampa Bay holding an offensive edge.  The big story of the 1st period was the...sigh...failure of the Penguins powerplay.   The Pens went 0 for 3 on the powerplay, getting a measly 1 shot.  Tampa was lining up all 4 guys on the blue line and forcing the Penguins to dump it in, where they would proceed to lose the race to the puck and watch it get cleared.  Tied at 0 after a period.

"Oh, we'll get them in the shootout...wait, there's no shootout anymore?!"

The Lightning came out with half of a powerplay left to go to start the 2nd.  Vincent Lecavalier found himself on the doorstep and took a nifty shot that was flat out robbed by Marc-Andre Fleury.  The Penguins had the opportunity to go on the powerplay a few minutes later, and actually made it look like they cared for once.  They managed 6 shots on the chance, but Dwayne Roloson was playing tremendously in net.  The rest of the period saw an increase in hitting and an even bigger shot total with the Penguins leading that 28-21.  But both goalies stood tough, finishing the 2nd period tied at 0.

Alex Kovalev...formerly Alexei, but was too lazy
to sign beyond Alex

The 3rd period started much more tentatively than the first 2, but the Penguins continued to have a decided edge in play.  Finally, Roloson was broken on a flat out lazy play by Alex Kovalev.  Kovalev was tripped (a non-call) by the net and proceeded to get up slower than Bob Dole pre-Viagra.  Luckily, Pavel Kubina's stick was stuck in Kovalev's legs, so Kubina could not clear the puck.  The puck ended up getting to Paul Martin, who made a nifty tip pass to James Neal, who fired a pass across the slot to Kovalev, who had not moved at all.  Kovalev fired the puck into a wide open net to make it 1-0.

Just 18 seconds later, Arron Asham made it 2-0 as he drew Roloson out of the net and wrapped it around the other side for an easy empty net goal.  From this day on, it will be deemed that Roloson learned his technique from watching the goalies in NHL '94.  The Penguins had a chance to pile it on, but failed to score on a 5 on 3 powerplay in which the Lightning put Lecavalier and St. Louis on the penalty kill to create an offensive break.  The final tally was scored with less than a minute left as Chris Kunitz put in an empty netter to finish the game.

Final score:  3-0 Pens
Goals:  Kovalev (1), Asham (1), Kunitz (1)

3 Stars:
#3 - Staal (1 A)
#2 - Kovalev (1 G)
#1 - Fleury (32 saves)

Notes/Thoughts:

- If the Penguins could make their powerplay look even somewhat formidable, this series would end incredibly fast.  However, Tampa Bay still has no reason to fear taking penalties.

- Similarly, Lightning coach Guy Boucher wasn't exactly happy that Tampa had 6 penalties and Pittsburgh had 1.  A lot of the strategy in playoff hockey is to get into the ref's heads as well, so don't expect a similar difference in Game 2.

- Jordan Staal played a solid game, but missed 3 wide open one-time chances.  It didn't matter so much at the end of this game, but he's gotta make contact with those in close games.

- Marc-Andre Fleury's shutout was his 5th career playoff shutout, one shy of Tom Barrasso's team record of 6.  Good thing Ray Shero was "crazy" and didn't trade him in October, right?

- Orpik and Letang did an absolutely fantastic job of going against Ryan Malone in front of the net as neither defensemen gave up body position and both were physical on Malone.  That will be a big key in keeping the path clear for Fleury to make saves.

- Dan Bylsma passed Scotty Bowman for playoff wins with his 24th of his career.

- Martin St. Louis had a double root canal after the game for the "high stick" from Michalek that wasn't called.  Just when you thought a 3-0 loss couldn't get any worse...

Game 2 on Friday, LET'S GO PENS!!!

Eastern Conference Quarterfinals: Pens vs. Lightning Series Preview

(Note:  I plan on using this page for all of the Pens games, and hit the bar up top for updates on each different series.)

So here were are, the NHL's second season has begun, and it's time for:

#4 Pittsburgh Penguins



vs.

#5 Tampa Bay Lightning





A quick look at the season series:
Oct 27:  Tampa Bay 5  Pittsburgh 3
Nov 12:  Pittsburgh 5  Tampa Bay 1
Jan 5:  Pittsburgh 8  Tampa Bay 1
Mar 31:  Tampa Bay 2  Pittsburgh 1

Note:  Each team won both of their home games in this series.  Also, Jan 5th's 8-1 blowout was one of only two games this season in which the Penguins had Crosby, Malkin, and Staal in the lineup.


Playoff schedule:
Wed, 4/13 @ Pit, 7pm
Fri, 4/15 @ Pit, 7pm
Mon, 4/18 @ TB, 7:30pm
Wed, 4/20 @ TB, 7pm
Sat, 4/23 @ Pit, TBD*
Mon, 4/25 @ TB, TBD*
Wed, 4/27 @ Pit, TBD*
*if necessary


Keys To the Series for Pittsburgh

1.  A Series Without Crosby.  As the media will speak of incessantly throughout the next 2 weeks, this is the first time the post-lockout Penguins enter the playoffs without Sidney Crosby to lead them.  Add Evgeni Malkin to that list, and you have to wonder if this team has enough firepower and focus to get past this series.  Credit Dan Bylsma and Ray Shero for creating a defense first team because those signings of Zbynek Michalek and Paul Martin in the offseason look like pure genius now.  Pittsburgh will have to play flawless defensively and find scoring from every body in the lineup to survive.

2.  Introducing Consol to the Playoffs.  This might seem like a weird one, and there are many arguments about the pros/cons to home ice advantage (see: the Pens have lost five Game 7's on home ice), but I believe home ice in general has been valuable to the Penguins.  If you want to doubt that, please youtube Brooks Oprik's infamous 4 hit shift against Detroit and just listen to the crowd.  If you look up the Red Wings' post-game comments, they all spoke of how the arena had taken over the game and they couldn't hear themselves on the bench.  Consol has not had the close and loud atmosphere that Mellon had through the regular season, but hopefully it will come through in the playoffs.  Ask any player in Phoenix, a quiet arena is a bad arena for playoff hockey.

I'm either going to love or hate this building in 2 months.

3.  Special Teams.  The Penguins finished the season with the best penalty kill in the league and a horrible powerplay (though it showed signs of life at the end).  These 2 factors become even more important against a Lightning team that can dominate a powerplay and has a decided advantage in offense.  The Penguins will have to continue this series without the services of Matt Cooke, a 2nd line penalty killer and the top forward on the 3 man PK unit.  Expect Michalek to be keeping a close eye on Steven Stamkos when the Lightning have the advantage.  On the other side, now that the Penguins have turned into a low scoring team, every powerplay makes a massive difference.  Kris Letang has not played his best hockey as of late, and Paul Martin doesn't seem to have an urge to quarterback the powerplay unit.  The Penguins will need Alex Kovalev and James Neal to start producing heavily on the powerplay, especially since their shootout contributions no longer matter.


Keys to the Series for Tampa Bay

1.  Get Stamkos the Puck.  Steven Stamkos and Sidney Crosby paced the league in goals for the first half of the season by a tremendous margin.  Since the half way point, Crosby got hurt and Stamkos went into a major slump.  Stamkos scored 2 goals in his last 13 games that saw Tampa go through a mini-losing streak, but then turn it around with the play of Martin St. Louis.  If the Lightning can attack the Penguins penalty kill, utilizing the hard, quick shot of Stamkos, this series may end far quicker for Pens fans than they realize.  The key for Tampa is going to be stretching out the penalty kill unit of the Penguins on the perimeter and then looking for an open Stamkos on the back door of the net.

2.  Protect Roloson.  When the Penguins lost in 7 to the Canadiens in last year's Semifinals, much of the credit went to Jaroslav Halak, a young unproven goalie.  Not nearly enough credit was given to the Canadiens defense, a bunch of no-name guys who dropped in front of every shot to protect Halak to the end.  The Lightning will need a similar effort to move forward in the playoffs.  Goalie Dwayne Roloson is 41 years old and has had trouble with the Penguins in his career.  Tampa Bay will need a significant effort from their defense to keep the workload light on him.  Expect Montreal to provide the blue print.

Is that the face of leadership?  No, it's not Mike Richards, my bad.

3.  Lecavalier.  The Lightning won the Cup back in 03-04 before the NHL lockout occurred.  Their captain at the time? - Vincent Lecavalier.  Lecavalier has had a decent season, fighting through some injuries, but will be more valuable in the locker room than on the scoreboard, regardless of his production.  This is a younger team, with an even younger coach.  Lecavalier is going to have to step up any time 1st year coach Guy Boucher gets questioned or makes a mistake.  This team does have veterans in St. Louis and Ryan Malone to provide playoff experience, but Lecavalier is going to have to team up with Boucher to make this transition into a playoff team as smooth as possible.


Prediction
This Penguins team has played fantastically on defense without their captain and still seems to have enough to at least get through a round of the playoffs.  Tampa Bay is certainly a worthy opponent, and this will not be an easy series.  I expect many 1 goal games, maybe even all of them.  I have to give the edge to Pittsburgh in this one on account of goaltending and coaching.  Bylsma has been there and has guided this team through issues that we never imagined we would have (Fleury's early collapse, the losses of Staal, Malkin, and Crosby, the Islanders fiasco).  Between him and the matchup of Fleury in net vs. Roloson, I will stand by defense wins championships, and gets the Penguins past Tampa Bay in this first round

Pens in 6.

Saying Goodbye to 14 Teams

Happy opening week of the playoffs!  As 16 teams move a step closer to their ultimate goal, we wave goodbye to the other 14 teams who couldn't cut it this year.  Let's take a quick look at each (in reverse order of finish).

30.  Edmonton Oilers (25-45-12, 62 pts)

Probably not the best way to rebuild.

No one expected Edmonton to go anywhere this season.  The pre-season predictions were filled with talks of a lottery draft pick and an infusion of youth into the team.  The Oilers met expectations by securing the highest chance of receiving the #1 overall pick.  Aside from the bottom of the standings finish, there were some bright spots to this team.  Jordan Eberle, Linus Omark, and Taylor Hall came onto the scene and demonstrated enormous potential to score.  Ryan Whitney was off to a great first half before requiring season ending surgery.  And in net, Devan Dubnyk started to show signs that he can act as a #1 goalie.  This team definitely has a bright future, the biggest question will be how long will fans have to wait before it arrives.


29.  Colorado Avalanche (30-44-8, 68 pts)

Much like their namesake, the team fell fast and hard.

The Avs had a roller coaster ride of a season that proved to be an incredible disappointment.  Considered a team with playoff potential, the team got off to an average start.  Following a trade for Tomas Fleischmann, the Avs went on a hot streak that vaulted them towards the top of the conference.  As soon as Fleischmann got hurt, the team went straight downhill, leading to the blockbuster trade of Chris Stewart and Kevin Shattenkirk to St. Louis and a dismal finish.  The Avs also traded away Craig Anderson for Brian Elliot, which led to even worse goaltending stats.  Colorado can score, but their defense and goaltending was non-existent.  Receiving Erik Johnson back in the Stewart/Shattenkirk trade will hopefully provide the Avs with a fresh start next year.


28.  Florida Panthers (30-40-12, 72 pts)

This year's version wasn't exactly ferocious.

Florida was a team that no one had a great read on early in the season.  Always a contender in any game with Tomas Vokoun in net, the question throughout the season was whether the Panthers could stay in contention with Vokoun or if they would go the fire sale route to fully rebuild.  The Panthers stayed tight in the race for the 8th seed until a few weeks before the trade deadline and then went the fire sale route.  Curiously, they did not receive any offers to warrant trading Vokoun, and kept him along for the crash course to end the season.  The Panthers finished off the campaign losing 9 out of 10 with a largely rookie lineup.  The future for Florida still looks murky.  They didn't acquire any difference makers for the future and do not have a great minor league system to work with right now.


27.  NY Islanders (30-39-13, 73 pts)

Rick DiPietro's career in a nutshell.

The Islanders had one of the most disruptive seasons possible and still managed to play respectable hockey (at times).  New York led the league in man games lost to injury with almost 600.  The team went through 7 different goalies before acquiring Al Montoya from Phoenix at the trade deadline and playing him most of the last 2 months.  Much of the publicity surrounding the Islanders focused on suspensions and questionable decisions, namely in the form of Trevor Gillies.  Despite all of the insanity, the Islanders appear to have a very bright future.  Michael Grabner came on the scene to lead all rookies in goals and all players in short handed goals.  Matt Moulson added another 30 goal season to his list.  Meanwhile, having a fully healthy John Tavares and Mark Streit next year will help this team improve greatly.  The Isles will likely be contenders next year, as they were one of the hottest teams in the 2nd half of the season.


26.  Ottawa Senators (32-40-10, 74 pts)

Ottawa was projected to be a playoff team, with the scoring depth of Daniel Alfredsson and Jason Spezza, along with the addition of Sergei Gonchar on the blue line.  The result? - Gonchar was being shopped around at the trade deadline, along with every other player that could skate.  The Senators never got it together, pretty much underachieving in all facets of the game until the last few weeks of the season.  Two bright spots came at the end however, as Craig Anderson came into his own and played fantastic in net and defenseman Erik Karlsson showed an improved scoring prowess and potential to be a top end blue liner next year.  Ottawa's biggest problem is going to be they have a lot of dead weight in veterans holding a big portion of the salary cap.


25.  Atlanta Thrashers (34-36-12, 80 pts)

Pavelec carried this team despite an early season scare.

Atlanta was one of the only teams in the NHL this season to actually play consistently all season.  The Thrashers hovered a little below the playoff race all season, playing into it when Dustin Byfuglien was hot but dropping out of it when Tobias Enstrom got hurt.  Ondrej Pavelec played very well in net and definitely gives this team a way to build from the back end.  The transition of Byufglien from forward to defense was also an astounding success, though he cooled off as the season progressed.  Moving forward, Atlanta needs to find more scoring depth at forward, but they have the makings of a solid defense first team.


24.  Columbus Blue Jackets (34-35-13, 81 pts)

There is no question this season turned out to be a disappointment for Columbus.  The team was expected to fight for a playoff spot behind the goaltending of Steve Mason and with the scoring of Rick Nash.  Instead, fans were left with one of Nash's most inconsistent seasons, and some of the worst defense and goaltending in the league.  Steve Mason and Mathieu Garon took turns between shutouts and 7 goal games leaving a huge question mark in net.  Getting Steve Mason back into his rookie form is definitely the main goal of this offseason.


23.  New Jersey Devils (38-39-5, 81 pts)

"Ok, the goal is to lull them to sleep, then win 1-0."

The Devils began the season with John MacLean behind the bench, Martin Brodeur on the IR, and Ilya Kovalchuk laughing his way to the bank as the Devils were by far the worst team in the NHL.  But their season ended as the hottest team in the NHL, making a very unlikely playoff run, and with Jacques Lemaire behind the bench.  The Devils season is in some ways a waste and yet still provides hope for the future.  The 2nd half run demonstrated the Kovalchuk can win in this system, and the team has enough talent, even before getting Zach Parise back from an injury that cost him most of the season.  The downside is, another year has passed for Brodeur, who isn't exactly getting younger.  I would be shocked if this team didn't make the playoffs next year, but they will have to find the right coach to do it as Lemaire slipped into retirement yet again.


22.  Toronto Maple Leafs (37-34-11, 85 pts)

Hey, in 57 years, that'll only sound like it was a year ago!

The Leafs were another team that turned their season around as it progressed.  After underachieving for most of the first half of the season, injuries to JS Giguere and Jonas Gustavsson allowed James Reimer to step up in net in a fantastic way.  "Optimus Reim" took over the reigns for Toronto and led them to a hot 2nd half that had them in the playoff race until the last days of the season.  The team didn't even plan to keep Reimer up, but was forced to due to his play.  This season turned out to be a step in the right direction for Toronto, and if Reimer can keep his play up, they may see the playoffs again soon.


21.  Minnesota Wild (39-35-8, 86 pts)

Minnesota was in the middle of the playoff race for most of the season but fell off drastically in the last month.  When Mikko Koivu and Martin Havlat were healthy, the Wild could give problems to any team in the NHL.  However, keeping them both healthy was an issue, and Koivu's injury towards the end of the season was detrimental to the team.  Injuries on the blue line also hurt the team, especially as Cam Barker went down.  This team has been built with a lot of mediocrity thus far, and the smallest harm to their lineup is very threatening to the team.  As such, without a big splash in the free agent market, I think Minnesota is going to struggle even moreso next year.


20.  St. Louis Blues (38-33-11, 87 pts)

Much of this recap can be done by reading through the Colorado Avalanche recap.  The Blues and Avs took similar paths through the season leading to the Erik Johnson and Jay McClement for Chris Stewart and Kevin Shattenkirk trade.  The Blues ended the season much differently though, and Stewart and McClement proved to be a great influence on the Blues roster, both in the locker room and on the ice.  Stewart was quoted as saying that the team was not going to quit on its fans, and the Blues finished the season strong.  With Jaroslav Halak in net, and the additional help in the scoring department thanks to the Avs trade, St. Louis has a bright future again.


19.  Carolina Hurricanes (40-31-11, 91 pts)

He may look 12, but he plays at a 24 year old level.

Carolina began the season with small playoff hopes as their GM and ownership had set a self-imposed cap and the plan was to use this year to rebuild.  Rebuilding occurred fast and furiously in a matter of months as the rookies stepped up, led by 18 year old Jeff Skinner.  Skinner, a Calder contender, showed poise beyond his years and led Carolina through some rough periods.  Eric Staal and Cam Ward both returned to form after a dismal 2009-2010 season, but alas, it was not enough for the Hurricanes.  They went down to the 2nd to the last day of the season, needing a win to make the playoffs, and were thwarted by rival Tampa Bay.  Though the disappointment is massive right now, the Hurricanes are well ahead of their rebuilding schedule and will be challenging for the division next year.  The big key is going to be how much ownership is willing to spend this offseason to make it all come together.


18.  Calgary Flames (41-29-12, 94 pts)

Calgary started the season in chaos and came just short of the playoffs in the end.  Jarome Iginla showed that he will continue to age gracefully in Calgary, scoring his 1000th career point, and Olli Jokinen demonstrated a renewed vigor down the stretch to keep the team in the hunt.  Add in a fantastic season by Rene Bourque, and Calgary showed they have the offense to keep up.  Mikka Kiprusoff played solid in net as always, but may have been overworked as the season went on.  The team's defense needs an upgrade to be a serious contender next year without taxing Kiprusoff excessively.  Though playoffs were a reasonable expectation for this team, the season still showed some ability for the future.


17.  Dallas Stars (42-29-11, 95 pts)

Dallas had an up and down season, starting off the season near the top of the conference, dropping out of the playoff race, and then fighting til the very last day of the season.  However, they were unable to win the final game of the regular season which would have given them the 8th spot in the West.  The acquisition of Alex Goligoski from Pittsburgh was a very promising move for the Stars as they found a defenseman to anchor the powerplay.  After coming so close and dropping the ball with their futures in their hands, this season was undoubtedly disappointing for Dallas.

Gameday: Pens @ Islanders, 7pm, ROOT

Welcome to a game that needs absolutely no introduction.  However, I will provide you with one anyways.  The last time these teams met, 3 suspensions were handed out, over 300 penalty minutes were accumulated, and Zenon Konopka decided that it was time to take down his Mario Lemieux poster in his bedroom.  The meeting before was when we learned that Brent Johnson had a left hook that could break glass (aka Rick DiPietro's face).  Can this matchup possibly be any good for either team??

The Penguins (47-25-8, 102 pts) are sitting calmly in 4th place in the East, with a chance to pass 2nd place Philadelphia with a win.  On the other side, the Islanders (30-38-12, 72 pts) are playing for pride and roster spots as their season comes to an end.  This mismatch is not a good sign as they Islanders have nothing to lose if they decide to turn this game into another circus act.

As such, Dan Bylsma has decided to infuse the lineup with a little toughness.  Lines for tonight:

Neal-Letestu-Kovalev
Kunitz-Staal-Kennedy
Asham-Talbot-Dupuis
Rupp-Adams-Godard

Orpik-Letang
Martin-Michalek
Lovejoy-Niskanen

Fleury

Notes/Thoughts

- It doesn't appear that Engelland will get in the lineup tonight, but personally, I think this would be the perfect game to play him over Niskanen.  Both for the sake of toughness and to see what he can do / get him so game time before the playoffs.

- Everyone skated today from Crosby down the list.  Bylsma stated Crosby will likely not be ready for the first round, as I think we all expected.  My guess is late 2nd or early 3rd round...assuming we get there.

- I would like to see Tangradi in the lineup over Asham, especially tonight.  You would have to imagine Tangradi would play with a chip on his shoulder in this one.  But alas, I don't coach the team...yet....

- I am mildly worried about the Islanders trying to take runs at Fleury.  Earlier in the season, Cooke ran over DiPietro more than a few times, and the last couple of games have had their goalie battles (Johnson fighting everyone).  Just another reason I'd like Engelland to be on the blue line.  Orpik better be prepared to clear out the crease fast and often.

Prediction:   The refs will be on top of both teams in this one and I think that'll keep things calm aside from a Godard fight.  The Pens will take this one, 4-2.