Series developing some lasting images

Monday, May 10, 2010
By Gene Collier, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/?m=1

There's nothing terribly practical about re-jiggering the importance of winning the fifth game of an NHL playoff series that had been tied 2-2, which is what the Penguins did to their considerable credit the other night. But two images from Game 5 linger and neither is terribly promising from the Penguins' perspective.

PITTSBURGH - MAY 8: Jaroslav Halak(notes) #41 of the Montreal Canadiens makes a save against the Pittsburgh Penguins 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)

The first is of Canadiens goalie Jaroslav Halak, who likely saw nothing of the two pucks that buzzed past him Saturday, but with two minutes gone in the third period, this image provided indisputable visual evidence that he's still this series' prime factor as Game 6 looms.

Mark Letestu had slipped behind Montreal's defense right in front of Halak. Twelve feet from the goal mouth, the Penguins center snapped a shot that you could almost see hit the top left corner of the net. But Halak's glove went at it like a serpent, ending its short, high-speed journey with a cold, deadly certainty.

"We still feel good about our chances," Canadiens defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron said in the visiting dressing room afterward, without even having to say why. "The third period was our best again tonight. We needed to take advantage of our chances early in the game, but it was never out of reach."

Neither is the Eastern Conference final for these Canadiens, if only because of the second lasting image.

That would be Sidney Crosby missing an empty net as the horn sounded, finishing his sixth consecutive game without a goal, an almost laughable impossibility as recently as, uh, the last time he scored which was ...

I'm finding it.

Still looking ...

Yeah, here ya go, Game 5 vs. Ottawa. Crosby scored to put the Penguins up, 3-2, in the third period that night, but a Ruslan Fedotenko giveaway soon led to a tying late goal, and the Senators won in overtime, necessitating a return trip to Ontario.

That another Game 5 has come and gone without a single Crosby goal, and that we are reminded of the inspiring words of Dudley Do-Right -- never go to Canada only twice when you can go four times (if the animated RCMP hero didn't say that, he certainly should have) -- it's merely inescapable that the Penguins' offense is not what it ought to be for a Game 6 on the road at the home of the 24-time Stanley Cup champions.


Matt Freed/Post-Gazette

Sidney Crosby getting checked along the boards by defenseman P.K. Subban has been a common sight in the series against the Canadiens.

And that's why nothing changed other than Montreal's fast-shrinking margin for error in Game 6. Halak remains fairly spectacular, Crosby remains spectacularly fair, and no one should be surprised if that little yin and yang results in a Game 7 Wednesday night at Mellon Arena.

From 800 feet above Mellon Arena ice, it appeared to me as if Crosby missed an excellent chance in Saturday night's first period, whiffing on an Evgeni Malkin centering pass that got described in this space as perfect.

Upon further review (and some stern correcting by my friendly e-mailers), I apparently meant "perfect" in the sense of "difficult" or "impossible-to-handle."

Be that as it may, this 100 percent goal-free Sid isn't a product the Penguins can peddle much longer in the postseason.

"I do take comfort in the way we're playing the game as a group, whether Sid scores or Geno scores or not," coach Dan Bylsma said Sunday morning. "We're playing well away from the puck, and when you see Sidney Crosby, on the forecheck, knock Hal Gill down, you know he's not just worried about getting a goal, or worried about his points. He's playing the game."

Bylsma said that even when Crosby doesn't score, "it's adding up to good hockey. Sid has always been working on rounding out his game. You're talking about a guy who went to penalty kill meetings for three straight years and was never on a penalty kill because he wanted to learn and wanted to be ready. He went to get better.

"When we have 30 seconds left in the game, he has to be the guy who goes out and takes the draw, regardless of which side it's on. That's a great situation to be able to have your captain and a guy who leads your team in points. He's also a guy who will block a shot. He's done a good job on both ends of the ice. He's still focused on how we need to play and on other responsibilities."

All true and, if you need it to be, reassuring.

And that image of Montreal defenseman P.K. Subban shoving Crosby backward onto his butt in the crease, that'll go away, right?

Gene Collier: gcollier@post-gazette.com. More articles by this author

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