PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Detroit's Mikael Samuelsson scores past Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury during the third period Saturday, May 24, at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.
Christopher Horner/Tribune-Review
DETROIT -- The Penguins couldn't have gotten off to a worse start in the Stanley Cup final Saturday night.
That's not necessarily a reference to their 4-0 loss -- though it wasn't pretty -- but rather to the precise moment they took the ice. As he stood in the runway, prepared to lead his team out, goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury broke into a sprint.
Then he tripped and fell through the gate.
Not a good omen.
Penguins coach Michel Therrien could set a better tone at practice today by simply holding up a puck. You know, just in case his players have forgotten what one looks like.
The Penguins spent most of the final two periods of Game 1 without the puck, and that only meant one thing: The Detroit Red Wings had it.
Detroit outshot the Penguins, 16-4, in the second period and 36-19 overall, looking for the most part like a far superior team.
That said, it's only one game, and it's entirely possible the Penguins needed such a game to get used to the dramatic jump in competition.
Or maybe they just needed the first goal. This game might have turned out differently had the Penguins converted one of several early chances.
When playing the Red Wings, a team will get only small windows in which to seize momentum. The Penguins failed to convert on three full power-play chances in the first period. That was their undoing.
Red Wings goaltender Chris Osgood stops the Penguins' Pascal Dupuis on a second period breakaway in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final Saturday, May 24, at Joe Louis Arena.
Chaz Palla/Tribune-Review
When Detroit drew first blood at 13:01 of the second, the Penguins sagged. Maybe they'd seen the statistics, the ones that show Detroit almost never loses when it scores first and had an NHL-best 35-3-1 record when leading after two periods.
Detroit coach Mike Babcock said his team had about four good shifts before Mikael Samuelsson's wrap-around goal opened the scoring. After that, the Red Wings did whatever they wanted.
But, as Babcock said, "Maybe if (the Penguins) score first, it's different that way for them."
Therrien spoke a familiar refrain - one he has sounded often after losses - saying his team "didn't compete like we're supposed to compete."
This was more about not converting than not competing.
Nobody should overreact to Game 1 of any series, but a few things became crystal clear as the contest wore on.
Among them:
• All the room Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin (one shot) had in the first three series is gone. Therrien tried to light a spark late in the second period by reuniting the two, to no avail. Malkin has now turned in five consecutive subpar games.
• The Red Wings have speed and a defensive presence on every line, which means one mistake - one lazy play, one bad line change, one poor decision - can lead to a goal.
A bad change and Jarkko Ruutu's sloppy clearing attempt led to Detroit's first goal. Fleury didn't play it well, either, making an ill-advised attempt at a poke check as Samuelsson went behind the net. Samuelsson then banked the puck off Fleury's skate. Fleury also helped set up Samuelsson's second goal - also unassisted - with a poorly placed pass to a surprised Malkin in front of the net.
Malkin didn't help him any. Bad play all around.
Adjustments always are critical in playoff series. It'll be interesting to see how Therrien reacts to his team's first Game 1 loss of the postseason.
Honest-to-goodness adversity has finally hit these Penguins, who will dig themselves a giant hole if they stumble again in Game 2.
Joe Starkey is a sports writer for the Tribune-Review. He can be reached at jstarkey@tribweb.com.
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