By Ron Cook, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/?m=1
Maybe today will be the day that Penguins center Sidney Crosby hangs two goals and three assists on the Montreal Canadiens. Or maybe it will be center Evgeni Malkin's turn for a hat trick. But if not? Isn't it nice to know the Penguins still can put a good licking on the Canadiens in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference semifinal playoff series at Mellon Arena?
Matt Freed/Post-Gazette
Jordan Staal grimaces as he makes his way off the ice after getting injured in the second period of Game 1 vs. Montreal Friday at Mellon Arena. Staal will not play today.
In Game 1 against the Canadiens Friday night and Game 6 of the first-round series against the Ottawa Senators April 24 -- both wins -- eight Penguins scored goals. Not one was named Crosby or Malkin.
That's a good team.
That's a deep team.
"That's a dangerous team," Penguins winger Mike Rupp was saying after practice Saturday at Southpointe.
Funny, isn't it?
It's hard to remember when the Penguins had secondary scoring issues during the regular season.
"The timing has been perfect," Rupp said. "This is the time of year when everybody needs to dig down and pay the price. Our guys are willing to do that."
Look at the 6-3 win against the Canadiens Friday night.
Defenseman Sergei Gonchar got his first goal of these playoffs. Defenseman Kris Letang -- the most-improved player on the team from the regular season until now -- scored his third after getting just three all year. Center Craig Adams picked up his second goal, remarkably, after getting none in 82 games during the regular season. "Just lucky, I guess," he said, quietly, as baffled as anybody by his postseason magic. Defenseman Alex Goligoski also scored his second goal after going the final 54 regular-season games with just two.
Go back to that Game 6 against the Senators, which the Penguins won, 4-3, in overtime on the road.
Winger Matt Cooke, who is much more than just an agitator, scored twice to help the Penguins climb out of a 3-0 hole. Forward Pascal Dupuis, who might have exceeded regular-season expectations more than any player on the hockey club, got the winning goal.
Perfect timing, indeed.
"It's playoff hockey," Dupuis said. "You need everybody to chip in if you're going to go a long way."
You know Crosby and Malkin are going to get their goals. Crosby has played brilliant two-way hockey throughout the playoffs, setting up the Letang and Goligoski goals against the Canadiens with terrific passes. He leads all NHL players with 16 postseason points. Malkin, who hasn't been nearly the playoff force he was last season when he won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Penguins won the Stanley Cup, has three of his four goals on the power play. Clearly, he needs to do more 5-on-5.
It's also nice to think winger Alexei Ponikarovsky finally will make an impact, sooner rather than later. He was a disappointment after coming here at the trade deadline. He's been a disappointment in the playoffs, getting just one goal and four points in the first seven games.
But the struggles of Ponikarovsky and, at times, Malkin, haven't been nearly so noticeable because so many of the others are contributing so much. Depth is a beautiful thing, isn't it? It's nice that the Penguins have it because they're looking at a significant stretch of games without center Jordan Staal. He was injured in a collision Friday night with Montreal defenseman P.K. Subban midway through the second period when Subban's skate sliced the top of his right foot. He had a "procedure"-- Penguins coach Dan Bylsma's word --to repair a severed tendon and, though listed as "day-to-day" by Bylsma, is expected to be out of the lineup for at least some time.
That's unfortunate because Staal, always a strong defensive player, was just starting to find his offensive game again after failing to score a goal in the final eight regular-season games. He had a really nice power-play goal against the Canadiens Friday night and another against the Senators in Game 4.
"No one guy can replace him if he's going to be out for awhile," Adams said of Staal. "He just eats up so many minutes on the penalty kill and the power play. It'll take a committee of guys to fill in for him."
That challenge would haunt a lot of teams. Not the deep Penguins. Not in these playoffs.
rcook@post-gazette.com.Ron Cook can be heard on the "Vinnie and Cook" show weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on 93.7 The Fan. More articles by this author
No comments:
Post a Comment