By Ron Cook, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
If the Penguins go on to beat the Montreal Canadiens one more time and advance to the Eastern Conference final, they long will remember the brilliant performance by goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury in their 2-1 victory in Game 5 Saturday night at Mellon Arena. They will remember how defenseman Kris Letang, who scored the winning goal for the Canadiens in Game 4 by kicking the puck into his net, scored a big one for the right team in this wonderful game with a wicked first-period slap shot on the power play. And they will remember defenseman Sergei Gonchar doing what he does better than just about anybody with the puck from the point, blasting away to score a second-period goal that turned out to be the difference.
PITTSBURGH - MAY 8: Brooks Orpik(notes) #44 of the Pittsburgh Penguins hip checks Andrei Kostitsyn(notes) #46 of the Montreal Canadiens in Game Five of the Eastern Conference Semifinals during the 2010 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Mellon Arena on May 8, 2010 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)Me? I will remember the crunching hit Penguins forward Craig Adams delivered on Canadiens defenseman Josh Gorges late in the first period. I also will remember Penguins captain Sidney Crosby sending Montreal defenseman Hal Gill flying a few minutes earlier with a shoulder check even though he's 8 inches shorter and 41 pounds lighter than Gill The Giant.
Playoff hockey.
Physical hockey.
It's a beautiful thing to watch.
"I thought our physicality set the tone early on," said Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik, who qualifies as an expert on the subject. He leads his team in these playoffs with 47 hits. He had five more Saturday night in a game the Penguins held a 35-23 edge in hits.
"It's no fun when you're on the other side of it," Orpik said. "I can tell you that from the Ottawa series. The way they forechecked, it was tough. When you're constantly getting hit and peeling yourself off the ice, it's no fun. It takes its toll."
It's fair to think Crosby was thinking about that toll business when he launched himself into Gill. Don't think that Orpik and the rest of the boys didn't notice. "It's a great thing when your best player is so competitive because all of the great ones aren't like that," Adams said. His teammates will tell you Crosby doesn't have to score goals -- and he hasn't in this series -- to help the cause.
"Same thing with Geno," Orpik said of teammate Evgeni Malkin who played a terrific two-way game and did everything but score and has just one goal in this series. "The way he played defense tonight ... those guys could get frustrated by not scoring and shut it down, but they don't. They realize they can contribute in other areas. That's what they did [Saturday night]."
Adams' role -- on this Penguins team just as it was on the one that won the Stanley Cup a year ago -- is much different than Crosby's and Malkin's.
"When you're a fourth-line guy, you want to do anything you can to bring energy to your team," Adams said. "The fun part is when you can do it at home."
I suppose the Letang and Gonchar goals and a few of Fleury's 32 saves drew bigger cheers than Adams' hit on Gorges. But not by much. It's incredible how a big hit can electrify an entire building, even one as old as Mellon Arena, which lives to see at least one more hockey game.
The Penguins have outhit the Canadiens, 142-119, in the series with winger Chris Kunitz leading the way with 20 hits. It's probably no coincidence that they have a 3-2 edge in games with two chances to get that prized fourth win.
"That's what we talked about between periods. 'Keep investing physically,' " Orpik said.
An even bigger payoff could come in Game 6 Monday night in Montreal or, if necessary, in Game 7 Wednesday night at Mellon Arena. The Canadiens already were down two defensemen -- Jaroslav Spacek (illness) and Andrei Markov (knee) -- before losing Gill early in the third period when Kunitz appeared to step on his left leg with his skate. Hits such as Adams' on Gorges have to go a long way toward wearing down a guy such as Gorges, who had to play 25 1/2 minutes Saturday night.
That toll thing, remember?
"I think it takes a mental toll as much as a physical toll," Adams said. "It's a time-space deal. You don't feel as if you have the time or space to make a play. It's tough making plays when you're always getting hit."
For much of the first five games, Crosby and Malkin have had their own problems finding time and space on the ice because of the Canadiens' suffocating defense. It's nice to think that will change in Game 6 or at least in Game 7.
If it does, the Penguins' physicality will be a big reason.
Ron Cook: rcook@post-gazette.com. Ron Cook can be heard on the "Vinnie and Cook" show weekdays from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on 93.7 The Fan. More articles by this author
First published on May 9, 2010 at 12:00 am
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