Pens-Flyers Game 1 Recap / Game 2 Preview - Podcast

So as I try to expand on my social media and internet prowess.  I have started to work on a podcast with another Pens fan, Adam G (you can follow him on Twitter, @PolishHMR).  We will likely be doing 15ish minute recap/previews during off days.  Here are our brief thoughts leading into Game 2:

http://chirb.it/bwIE8H

*Eventually, I'll start uploading these to iTunes and attempt to be reputable.  We're just getting started and working out the kinks for now.

And if you didn't hear our inaugural one, there is a link below.  It's a little over an hour long and covers the last couple weeks of the regular season for the Penguins and previews all of the playoff matchups in the NHL.  Comments and critiques are welcome and encouraged!!

http://chirb.it/Fy4fzp

And as always, thank you for checking out this blog and these podcasts!!  I appreciate it greatly!

Start Strong, Relax, Blow Lead, Repeat. Pens Lose.

Eastern Conference Quarterfinals: #4 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. #5 Philadelphia Flyers

Flyers lead series 1-0

New recap format for the playoffs, critique as you wish:

Final:  Flyers  4  Pens 3 (OT)

Goals:

1-0 Pens, 3:43 1^st Period

- With the Sullivan-Crosby-Dupuis line out, the Pens put a lot of pressure on the Flyers deep in the offensive zone.  The puck gets back to Kris Letang at the point and he takes a shot which ultimately hits both Pascal Dupuis and Flyers’ defenseman Nicklas Grossmann.  Grossman can’t find the puck at his feet, but Crosby can and lifts a backhander perfectly over Ilya Bryzgalov for a 1-0 lead.

2-0 Pens, 7:49 1^st Period

- Kris Letang gets the puck from the defensive zone up to Jordan Staal who is rushing through the neutral zone.  Staal enters the Flyers offensive zone with Tyler Kennedy streaking down towards the slot with only defenseman Andreas Lilja between them.  Staal sends a bouncing pass over that gets past Lilja and Kennedy hits it perfectly to beat Bryzgalov for the 2-0 lead.

3-0 Pens, 19:23 1^st Period

- On a seemingly harmless play, the Crosby line is again chasing a puck behind the net in the offensive zone.  Sullivan gets to the puck and backhands it short side back to the slot as he skates behind the net.  Dupuis skates in front ahead of Grossmann and hits it where it takes a few bounces and trickles in the net past Bryzgalov to make it 3-0 very late in the 1^st period.

Doesn't count to the streak, but Dupuis is still red hot.

3-1 Pens, 6:22 2^nd Period

- Joe Vitale overskates a puck in the neutral zone and loses control of it.  Brayden Schenn picks up the puck and passes it up to Briere, who is offsides by a stride but the call is missed.  Brooks Orpik is out of position at the blue line and is stuck on the outside of Briere where he can’t get in his way.  Briere goes into the offensive zone with a partial breakaway and beats Fleury to cut the lead to 3-1.

3-2 Pens, 9:17 3^rd Period

- Danny Briere skates the puck from behind the net around the corner up the boards and turns to make a seemingly harmless shot on net.  Crosby has a full screen on Fleury though and the puck goes right past Fleury on an odd angle shot to cut the lead to 3-2.

Upper back contusion, eh?

3-3 Tie, 12:23 3^rd Period

- Brooks Orpik is in the box for a questionable interference penalty (maybe roughing, not interference, puck was there).  Jagr does a great job of bringing the puck into the zone and leaves it for Hartnell at the point.  Hartnell shoots it towards Schenn in the high slot, who redirects it past Fleury to tie the game.

4-3 Flyers, 2:23 Overtime

- Kris Letang and Tyler Kennedy miscommunicate on who will retrieve a puck in the corner and neither one clears the zone.  The puck ends up crossing across in front of Fleury where Letang again misses a chance to clear and Fleury cannot cover it.  The puck ends up getting down to Matt Carle, who finds a wide open Jakub Voracek on the backside of the net, uncovered by Staal who shoots it into a basically wide open net.  Game over, Flyers win.

Positive Takeaways:

- The first period was perfect.  The Pens dominated in puck possession, hitting, and obviously on the scoreboard with a 3-0 lead.  Philly was not ready for the pace that the Pens came out with, nor the crowd at Consol which was simply raucous to start.  The Pens even survived the usual turning point for the Flyers, which was Laviolette’s timeout.  They dominated every facet of the 1^st period from top to bottom. 

- Tyler Kennedy had a great game aside from that very last gaffe where he and Letang couldn’t decide who was going to chase that puck in overtime.  Aside from his goal, he was skating very hard to the puck and made some great little plays, like diving to clear a puck from the defensive zone.  His effort was easily the best on the team and his shots were spot on net.  TK showed up to play.

After harping on him all season, who cares if he plays like this in the playoffs.

- Despite allowing 4 goals in the end, Fleury made some fantastic saves, including a couple great chances from the slot and Jagr on a breakaway.  The Pens could have lost much earlier and much quicker with how they turtled from the 2^nd period on, but Fleury kept that one going to overtime at least (not that it matters anymore, no points for that sadly).

Negative Takeaways:

- The turnovers in the defensive zone were horrible as usual.  Fleury made some great point blank saves because of turnovers, especially by Martin and Letang around the net.  The Pens also failed to clear the puck at least 3 times where they tried to wrap it around the boards without looking at the fact that a Flyers forward was on the boards waiting for the puck.  The Pens simply became predictable in their own end and Laviolette’s team was looking for it.

- Special teams just didn’t do the job and that will usually equate to a loss.  The powerplay was 0 for 3 and the penalty kill was 0 for 1.  The powerplay again looks great on the rush but much worse once they have set up.  At one point, Letang and Crosby were a foot away from each other on the same point looking for a pass.  This powerplay set up still doesn’t work as a natural powerplay, it’s just so talented that it puts up goals despite itself sometimes.

- The defensive coverage in the slot and around the net was poor again.  The Schenn goal is tough to defend for the PK, so I won’t harp on that, but the Voracek goal to win the game was inexcusable and somewhat foreseeable.  The Pens got caught puck watching and that is what is happening to most of the defensemen in the slot when they blow their coverages.  Head on a swivel is a concept that has evaded this team over the past month.  Their D coverage in the 2^nd and 3^rd periods reminded me of a relapse to the Islanders games, which is a problem that should not exist for Game 1 in the playoffs.

Jagr all alone in front, I'm sure that's safe to leave alone all series.

Thoughts:

- One thing I took note of which surprised me was that when a defenseman is carrying the puck up, it has become very rare for a Pens forward to drop back in coverage for him.  I had recaps around midseason that praised the Penguins for covering back perfectly, but somehow that has disappeared.  The surprising part to me in this one was that it was Staal’s line that wasn’t covering (mostly when Martin or Letang carried).  If your best defensive forward line isn’t covering for the defensemen, how can you expect anyone else to.

- I’m starting to notice that most of the people who boo Talbot are the people who wouldn’t even be hockey fans had he not had the Carcillo fight and scored in the Finals for the Pens…ironic, isn’t it?

- Yes, Briere was offsides.  Yes, the Orpik penalty was a bit questionable.  But regardless, the Pens couldn’t maintain a 3 goal lead, or a 2 goal lead after the offside goal and they couldn’t kill off the one penalty they had.  Anyone who thought the Pens would escape this full game without a penalty after having 3 powerplays is crazy, that’s just a rarity.  Regardless of referee influence, the Pens didn’t execute when they needed to and that’s the reason for the loss, not the refs.

Complain all you want, this goal wasn't the problem.

- Not that Sid had a great faceoff night, but in terms of the powerplay, I do not understand why Malkin takes faceoffs and Crosby does not.  Crosby is the better faceoff guy in general and the powerplay supposedly moves so much that they could rotate to whichever positions they wanted.  I just don’t see why you have a worse faceoff guy in the circle when there’s another one at the point.  Let Crosby take the faceoff and then get back to the point.  (Actually, split the 2 up on the powerplay, but I’ll leave that one for another game)

- I don't understand the line matchups that Bylsma picked at all.  I felt like Laviolette was picking them to be honest. Couturier is the Flyers' best defensive center and Bylsma kept putting Malkin's line against him. I couldn't comprehend that decision at all.  Malkin seemed pretty non-existent throughout the game and I would say that is a big reason why.

- Best Pens: Kennedy, Dupuis, Fleury.  

-Worst Pens: Michalek, Vitale, Malkin

Keys to Game 2:

- Another quick start is necessary but the pressure has to be sustained.  A great first 20 minutes is worthless if the team won’t put any pressure on for the last 40 minutes.  The Pens need to understand (and hopefully learned) that no lead against the Flyers is safe.  The Flyers won over 40% of the games in which they were scored on 1^st, there’s a reason for that stat.

- Slot coverage.  I want to see a game where the Flyers do not get any 1 on 1 chances with Fleury from the slot or crease area.  Fleury is a great goaltender, but no goalie can survive the amount of unobstructed chances that the Pens give away in close.  Heads on a swivel, the Pens have to keep track of what is going on around the net.

Maybe you should have covered that guy Staal...

- Powerplay success.  The powerplay has to score to win.  The team had a chance to put the Flyers away for real with their PP opportunities but instead gave momentum to the Flyers.  In the playoffs, a failed powerplay is not just a missed opportunity, it is a massive boost for the opponent and the Pens gave the Flyers plenty of momentum to work with.

Flyers lead the Series 1-0.  Next Game: Friday, 4/13, 7:30pm.  LET’S GO PENS!

First Round Predictions: 2012 Conference Quarterfinals

Western Conference

#1 Vancouver Canucks vs. #8 Los Angeles Kings

Offense:  There is no question on this one.  LA’s offense has been downright anemic all season and savior Jeff Carter is nursing an ankle injury to start the playoffs.  Vancouver, though without Daniel Sedin to start, still boasts impressive offensive depth.  Edge - Vancouver

Defense:  Both teams have a great amount of depth on defense and veterans that have been to the finals before.  I have a little more faith in the Canucks though because of their experience and more importantly, they have demonstrated the ability to perform at clutch times.  Edge - Vancouver

Goaltending:  Roberto Luongo will be the headcase story of the playoffs.  Jonathan Quick will be a Vezina nominee and might get a Hart nomination as well.  Easy.  Edge – Los Angeles

Special Teams:  Both teams have a great PK, but Vancouver gets help from their top 5 powerplay while Los Angeles continues with their anemic scoring.  Edge - Vancouver

Coaching:  Alain Vigenault is on a mission to get the Canucks one more win than last season to get them a Cup while Darryl Sutter is still trying to figure out which buttons to push at which times for LA.  Edge - Vancouver

Misc:  The Canucks enter the playoffs as the hottest team in the NHL.  LA entered the last week with a chance to clinch the division but blew it against a division rival.  Edge - Vancouver

Result:  Vancouver in 7.  Despite almost everything going Vancouver’s way, I believe in Jonathan Quick this much that he can take this series to the brink.  Quick has put the Kings on his shoulders all season, but it’ll come down to the clutch goal they can’t produce as Vancouver wins out in the end.

 

#2 St. Louis Blues vs. #7 San Jose Sharks

Offense:  Whether it’s a product of systems or talent levels, San Jose certainly has the better offense in this matchup and more pure offensive talent with guys like Marleau, Pavelski.  Edge – San Jose

Defense:  Ken Hitchock knows how to get a team to play strong on the defensive end and he has turned the Blues into a gritty, hard-check team that will work hard in their own end.  Edge – St. Louis

Goaltending:  Jaroslav Halak and Brian Elliott combined to win the Jennings trophy for lowest GAA and have combined for 15 shutouts this year.  No one beats this combination.  Edge – St. Louis

Special Teams:  San Jose quietly managed to put together polar opposites of the 2^nd best PP with the 2^nd worst PK.  Meanwhile, the Blues were on the low end of the PP list but higher on the PK.  In the playoffs, I’m siding with defense.  Edge – St. Louis

Coaching:  Ken Hitchcock, the likely Jack Adams winner from the Blues, vs. Todd McLellan, who consistently underachieves with the Sharks.  Edge – St. Louis.

Misc:  St. Louis is lacking playoff experience through most of their roster aside from a few veterans here and there.  San Jose finally enters the playoffs as an underdog, though that is after being Cup favorites before the season started.  The lack of pressure may help San Jose.  Edge – San Jose

Result:  San Jose in 7.  The Blues keep their opponents to low scoring close games, which may work frequently during the season, but leaves a lot to chance and bounces in a 7 game series.  The Sharks are talented enough to capitalize on those opportunities.  Here’s my upset special for the first round.

#3 Phoenix Coyotes vs. #6 Chicago Blackhawks

Offense:  Kane, Sharp, maybe a healthy Toews, and Keith vs. Vrbata, Whitney, Doan, Yandle…yeah this isn’t a tough one in my opinion.  Advantage - Chicago

Defense:  For the lack of offensive depth the Coyotes may have, the make up for it through a systematic defensive style that Dave Tippett could probably get 3 year olds to master.  Chicago has a strong blueline, but they are more prone to break downs than Phoenix.  Advantage - Phoenix

Goaltending:  Mike Smith ended the season with a 3 game shutout streak in his last for.  Chicago keeps bouncing back between Crawford and Emery as neither has been all that dependable this season.  Advantage - Phoenix

Special Teams:  Both teams have low-end powerplays despite the offensive talent on the rosters.  Phoenix has a great PK with their goaltending and style, while Chicago fails on that stat as well.  Advantage - Phoenix

Coaching:  Dave Tippett has been a great coach for the Coyotes and has installed a system that keeps defense at the forefront.  Joe Quineville though, he’s been there, he’s won the Cup, he knows how to handle the next 2 months.  Advantage - Chicago

Misc:  Much of this series will come to experience.  Phoenix still does not have a lot of playoff experience, and while Smith has been a solid goalie, he is untested as well.  Chicago has been through this and they know what to do.  Advantage - Chicago

Result:  Chicago in 5.  Though defense wins championships, I don’t see Phoenix having an impenetrable defense for this Blackhawks team.  Both teams enter the playoffs hot, and ultimately, I pick Chicago based on their experience and pure skill up front.  Also, I just don’t believe in Mike Smith in the playoffs yet.

#4 Nashville Predators vs. #5 Detroit Red Wings

Offense:  Both teams finished in the top 10 in goals this year with Detroit 7^th and Nashville 8^th.  While Nashville has made some nice additions with Radulov and Fisher over the past 2 years, I still can’t get over the Red Wings’ pure skill.  Advantage - Detroit

Defense:  Both teams were close in goals allowed as well, with Detroit edging it out yet again.  The Wings defense has been there, but I do have some concern about their consistency.  I’m picking Weber, Suter, and Nashville’s young D to be very hungry for a win this series.  Advantage - Nashville

Goaltending:  Pekke Rinne vs. Jimmy Howard is an all-star game matchup.  When healthy, Howard was playing as a top 3 goalie in the NHL this year.  Rinne had a “down” year in comparison to some of the Vezina candidate, but he’s still a top 5 goalie.  Advantage: Even

Special Teams:  Nashville had the top PP in the league (which I had not known and am now shocked by) and a top 10 PK.  Detroit was middle of the pack with both units.  Advantage - Nashville

Coaching:  Both of these coaches are great.  Mike Babcock has demonstrated it through the playoffs year after year and Barry Trotz somehow keeps Nashville playing above what their roster looks like every year.  They are both Jack Adams candidates on a yearly basis even if they don’t get the press.  In the playoffs though, you can’t bet against Babcock.  Advantage - Detroit

Misc:  Detroit faltered down the stretch and gave up their chance at home ice, where they play drastically better than on the road.  Nashville finally enters a series with the Wings as the favorites.  Advantage - Nashville

Result:  Detroit in 6.  I think this is the last big run for the aging Wings and they know it.  This will be a last gasp for Lidstrom, Zetterberg, and Datsyuk as age starts wearing on them with injuries.  The problem for Nashville is that a last gasp from Detroit is pretty much the full attack of a normal team.

Eastern Conference

#1 New York Rangers vs. #8 Ottawa Senators

Offense:  The Rangers have gritty depth, but the Senators have a lot of speed up front and use it very well.  Norris candidate Erik Karlsson also adds quite a bit of offensive punch from the blueline.  Advantage - Ottawa

Defense:  The Rangers boast a very impressive 3 pairings at D, where all 3 are capable of playing against a 1^st line.  Ottawa…well they are still learning how to play defense in many ways as Karlsson even faltered with it down the stretch.  Advantage – New York

Goaltending:  Henrik Lundqvist.  Doesn’t matter who Ottawa has (Craig Anderson).  Advantage – New York

Special Teams:  Both teams have their offensive and defensive strengths pour into their special teams in an exact manner.  Ottawa is stronger on the PP but weak on the PK.  New York had a top 5 PK but had a very weak PP.  Ottawa’s PP isn’t so great that it is overbearing though.  Advantage – New York

Coaching:  The Senators’ Paul MacLean has done an amazing job as a first year coach.  Personally, I had this team nowhere close to the playoffs.  John Tortorella meanwhile is downright crazy, though he knows how to get results and he does have a Cup as well.  That last aspect is the biggest to me, MacLean is a rookie for the second time this season.  Advantage – New York

Misc:  Both teams slowed down as the season finished up, but the difference is New York could relax as the #1 seed while Ottawa almost slipped out of the playoffs.  Advantage – New York

Result:  New York in 7.  I think Ottawa is simply the type of team that will give the Rangers trouble due to their quickness.  But much like a gnat or fly, the Rangers will swat at it in annoyance for a little before finally landing a killer blow.  The Rangers finish it off in the end.

#2 Boston Bruins vs. #7 Washington Capitals

Offense:  Boston had the #2 offense in the league, but Washington had a cold Ovechkin and an injured Backstrom to deal with for much of the year.  Despite Boston’s depth, Washington has more pure firepower when healthy and focused in my opinion.  Advantage - Washington

Defense:  Starting with Zdeno Chara (not a bad start, right?), Boston has a sizeable defense that can hold opponents to the outside and keep them out of the crease.  Washington’s defense has much less experience and doesn’t necessarily have the size to match up well here.  Advantage - Boston

Goaltending:  Washington is having all kinds of injury issues at goalie, as Braden Holtby steps to the forefront with Vokoun and Neuvirth nursing injuries.  Boston has Tim Thomas.  Yeah…  Advantage - Boston

Special Teams:  Both teams have middling powerplays but Boston comes out on top on the penalty kill as long as Chara is out there to dictate the pace of the other team’s powerplay.  Advantage - Boston

Coaching:  The Caps haven’t completely bought into Dale Hunter’s style it seems, and I’m not sure Hunter has either.  Claude Julien won the Cup last year, so I think he’s just a little more confident heading into this series.  Advantage - Boston

Misc:  There will be much talk about Tim Thomas being uncomfortable in the DC area but I can’t see him caring very much.  Stanley Cup Winners don’t go very far the next year historically, but Washington has been lost all season and is lucky to be here right now.  Advantage - Boston

Result:  Boston in 5.  The goaltending matchup is too much to overcome for Washington and Chara should be able to handle the Caps top line with his 90 foot wingspan.

#3 Florida Panthers vs. #6 New Jersey Devils

Offense:  Florida turned out to be one of the worst offensive teams in the league, but lucked into the #3 seed by playing in a flat out awful division.  Meanwhile, the Devils got big bounce back years from Kovalchuk and Parise to give Brodeur some support for once.  Advantage – New Jersey

Defense:  The Panthers are one of the rare teams that entered the playoffs allowing more goals than they scored.  New Jersey isn’t the trapping team of the previous decade, but they still know how to play good enough defense over there.  Advantage – New Jersey

Goaltending:  Martin Brodeur may be old, but he can still play the game.  Florida will be relying on a possible mix of Jose Theodore and Scott Clemmensen.  My money is not two goalies that would probably be backups around half the league right now.  Advantage – New Jersey

Special Teams:  One thing the Panthers did do well with this season was their powerplay, which scored a majority of their timely goals this season.  However, they counteracted it with one of the worst PKs in the game.  New Jersey on the other hand has the best PK, almost stopping teams at a 90% rate and an average PP.  Advantage – New Jersey

Coaching:  Kevin Dineen has done a wonderful job for Florida in helping them win their division and make the playoffs for the first time in a decade.  Meanwhile, NJ’s coach, Peter DeBoer, was the Panthers previous coach.  Think there is a revenge factor there?  Advantage – New Jersey

Misc:  Brodeur knows this might be his last run and he’ll leave it all out on the ice in this series.  Florida seems to be entering a little wide-eyed and surprised to be here.  Advantage – New Jersey

Result:  New Jersey in 4.  If you’re surprised by that after my analysis, I’m not sure how you read this far down.

Last, but certainly not least:

#4 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. #5 Philadelphia Flyers

Offense:  Two of the top 3 offenses in the league this year, this is just a matchup of offensive juggernauts.  The amount of skill is unreal on both sides between Malkin, Giroux, Crosby, Hartnell (relax, it has to be said).  Both teams have 3^rd and 4^th lines that can score as well.  It’s impossible to bet against Crosby, Malkin, Staal when healthy though.  Advantage - Pittsburgh

Defense:  Both defenses have been rather inconsistent throughout the season, sometimes looking unbeatable and sometimes looking like they don’t belong in the NHL.  The Pens seem to have some trouble clearing out the crease in front of Fleury while the Flyers have no problem putting the body on people.  Advantage - Philadelphia

Goaltending:  In the regular season, Fleury demonstrated Vezina potential and Bryzgalov went on a crazy hot streak as the playoff race came to a head.  In the playoffs, Fleury has been there; Bryzgalov has been there and looked awful.  Advantage - Penguins

Special Teams:  Both teams had the exact same powerplay success rate, 19.7%.  The penalty kills differ vastly though as the Pens finished 3^rd in the NHL and the Flyers were in the middle of the pack.  Advantage – Pittsburgh, but this largely depends on the goaltending for the PK.

Coaching:  Dan Bylsma has faced some adversity in the playoffs since the last time he dealt with the Flyers in the postseason.  He has had to learn a lot about his team through this year and seems to have a decent handle on them.  Laviolette is masterful in motivating his team.  His timeout usage seems to always propel them to a win and he knows what buttons to push.  Pens fans won’t like this.  Advantage - Even

Misc:  The Flyers had a huge chip on their shoulder coming into this series, simply hating and wanting to beat the Pens for the first time in the playoffs as the core of these rosters are built.  One of the worst things they could have done was put a chip on the shoulder of the Pens with that disaster brawl at the end of the game a week and a half ago.  Grittiness may be a disadvantage depending on the refs, who will surely be on alert.  Advantage - Pittsburgh

Result:  Pittsburgh in 6.  The Flyers are certainly a team that scares me, but I believe the refs will call it tight early and that will help the Pens keep focus while Philly tries to distract them.  Also, Fleury trumps Bryzgalov in my head every way I play it out.  My unsung hero for this series:  Craig Adams will be huge with a key goal or 2; he’ll be big on the PK, and some big hits will make him a key factor in this series.