Monday, May 5, 2014

The Pens: The "Other" Players And The Stars! What Will Make The Difference?

So the Pens squared the series with the Rangers with a good overall team effort yesterday. Three crucial games are next, starting tonight.

Pittsburgh impressed me with their overall team play. I think this is a crucial element for their success. Others can play well, but so too must the stars. Take Sid Crosby and Marc-Andre Fleury as examples.

Crosby is struggling statistically. He's stuck on 6 assists. His faceoff W% is only 48.7. In the game one OT loss to New York, he was on the ice for the winning goal in overtime and the two other goals the Rangers scored. 0 points and he won only 32% of the faceoffs. Yet the Pens rallied from an early deficit and forced it to overtime before losing. Several Pens have picked up the slack. That's great. They'll keep you in there. But you need your best players to produce in order to win.

Paul Martin is not know for his offence, yet he has 8 assists in 8 games, despite failed to get a point in his last four games. But in that span of being held pointless, Paul has also been a +4. Lee Stempniak,  although it hasn't shown statistically, has been playing terrific hockey. And his goal in game 1 helped the Pens get to OT after trailing 2-0. Evgeni Malkin, six games without a goal for a stretch, now has 4 goals and 6 points in his last three games. So there are some "other" players and the "other" star player to pick up the slack for Sid!

A sidenote here is Pittsburgh has not lost a game in regulation in the 2014 playoffs. But they are 0-3 in OT.

Crosby had an interesting game 2. He got 8 shots on goal, but failed to pick up a goal. Actually, he failed to pick up an assist. His goal scoring slump now goes back to March 30th, a span of 13 games. So far. Sid has also failed to pick up a point in his last two games. The goal scoring drought is at 13 games, dating back to last year's series against Ottawa. Perhaps ditching that face shield was a mistake.

But, he won 50 % of the draws in game 2 vs. the Rangers. He also registered 6 shots on goal, and played over 20 minutes. He set up some nice plays. Watching that, I could help but think his time will come. The Rangers looked flat, and now there's a game tonight 24 hours later. Will the Rangers be tired? Did they not go seven to beat the Flyers in the first round? Perhaps that is catching up with them.

But there will be no one to pick up the slack for Marc-Andre Fleury. I think the Pens are in a situation where it's him or bust. And that is pressure, believe me. Ken Dryden once said that the goal of a goalie on a poor team is to keep them in the game, while a goalie on a great team needs to make the key saves.

Fleury did just that in game 2. He made several key saves on some big chances by New York. The Ranger powerplay, while in a slump, did everything but score in this game. The game's first goal was crucial, and New York looked liked they'd have it. But Fleury made the key saves there, and later on to preserve the lead an earn the shutout.

The is really no point in boring you with stats. The Pens are the better team here, but not by much. However Fleury is clearly not the goaltender that Henrik Lundqvist is, and it showed even in game 2. It had already shown in game 1. Do I bring up Fleury's puck handling skills here? No, that would be too cruel. King Henry made 32 of 34 stops to keep the Rangers in this thing, and looked miles better than Fleury, simply because Lundqvist is miles better than Fleury. Yet, if Fleury can play like he did in the second and third period of game 1, and all three periods of game 2, then Henrik better not have any games even slightly off. Lundqvist save percentage is .926 and his goals-against-average is 2.07. Oh, and he was huge in game 7. The last time Fleury was huge in game 7 was 2009. Ancient history.

Yet Fleury's save percentage is .914, and his GAA is 2.49. With the team in front of him able to pick up the slack for Crosby, they might also be able to pick up the slack for Marc as well. Many, but not all, of the goals he has given up have been the result of bad giveaways. But Marc has to take the heat for the tying goal by Columbus in game 4 of that first round playoff. And then he let up a softy in OT. His other problem, I feel, has been the rebound control. But in game 2 against New York, he showed you he can make the save, and deflect the puck into the corner. He needs to do that more often.

Can Crosby get going? I think he can if he keeps going at what he's at right now. Can Fleury get back to 2008 and 2009 form? If the Pens keep giving it away and Marc has those mental lapses, no. But the Pens are the better team here. Kris Letang had one of his best games in a while, and Martin is playing better than ever. With guys like that on defence, plus Malkin and Matt Niskanen (another defenceman averaging a point a game) picking it up the slack on offence, Sid and Marc have the help they need. But they too, must come to the plate when Pittsburgh needs them. That will be the determining factor!

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