By Ron Cook, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/penguins/
Tom Mihalek/Associated Press
The Flyers' Simon Gagne reacts after he scored a short-handed goal in the second period against the Penguins yesterday.
PHILADELPHIA -- So you couldn't believe that killer short-handed goal by the Philadelphia Flyers' Simon Gagne yesterday?
You should have been on the Penguins' bench. Disbelief doesn't even begin to describe the feeling there. One moment, the boys were watching their alleged dynamite power play in the Flyers' zone, looking for a tying goal midway through the second period. The next moment, they saw their goaltender, Marc-Andre Fleury, fishing the puck out of his net, Gagne's goal extending the Flyers' lead and sending them on their way to a series-saving 6-3 victory in Game 3 of the suddenly interesting in-state Stanley Cup hostilities.
"A downer," Penguins defenseman Rob Scuderi called the Gagne goal.
Also quite appropriate on this rotten afternoon at the Wachovia Center.
"Special teams were to their advantage tonight," Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said.
No!
Let's get something straight right here: The Penguins still are in fine shape, still have a two-games-to-one lead in the series, still have the better team with the better goaltender and still should turn out the lights on the Flyers' season in the next week.
But, really, would it hurt the power play to actually, you know, do something to help the cause?
It's not so much Gagne's short-handed goal that was troubling, although the timing couldn't have been much worse for the Penguins. That's going to happen occasionally against a penalty-kill as aggressive and dangerous as the Flyers' unit. They didn't lead the NHL with 16 short-handed goals during the season by accident.
Much harder to take was the Penguins' power play going 1 for 7, a goal by Evgeni Malkin coming midway through the third period after the game's outcome was all but decided. They managed just five shots on those seven chances.
That's awful.
Not to be critical.
"With all of our talent, we should be able to get two or three scoring chances every power play," said defenseman Kris Letang, who mans a point on the top unit.
Wouldn't you settle for even one at this point?
A bad trend is developing here: The Flyers keep taking foolish penalty after foolish penalty and the Penguins keep letting them get away with it.
Yes, Sidney Crosby made the Flyers pay for Arron Asham's hooking penalty early in the Penguins' 4-1 win in Game 1. But the power play shot blanks the rest of the way, wasting seven more opportunities, although two came in the final 19 seconds when the Flyers got really silly with their ridiculous mayhem.
It's also true Bill Guerin scored the overtime winner on the power play in the Penguins' 3-2 win in Game 2. But that was a gimme. Almost unbelievably, the Flyers' Mike Knuble and Claude Giroux took penalties within 30 seconds of each other to put their hockey club in a five-on-three jackpot.
The goals by Crosby and Guerin were wonderful, but they don't change the bottom line this morning: The Penguins' power play isn't living up to its world-class talent.
"Probably not today," Crosby acknowledged after the loss.
That was unfortunate because the series could be all but over. "We were right there five on five. We were aggressive. We were in their face all night," Letang said, disgustedly.
The good news is the Penguins' power play figures to get plenty more chances in Game 4 tomorrow night at Wachovia Center. The Flyers have taken a staggering 29 penalties for 85 minutes in the first three games.
Buoyed by their win and the effectiveness of their penalty-kill, they'll continue to take liberties without the slightest fear of repercussions. And why not? They know the referees can't call every infraction; if they did, the games would last five hours. And even if they do call a few, well, so what?
"They're a good penalty-kill, but that's no excuse," Crosby said. "We've got to take advantage of our chances. We've got to make them pay."
The Penguins could take a lesson from the Boston Bruins, who hold a 2-0 edge in their series against the Montreal Canadiens. Through the first two games of these playoffs, only the Canadiens were penalized more than the Flyers. The Bruins responded by scoring four power plays in nine chances.
That's how you end the foolishness.
That's how you win a series.
Ron Cook can be reached at rcook@post-gazette.com. More articles by this author
First published on April 20, 2009 at 12:00 am
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