By Chris Bradford
Beaver County Times
cbradford@timesonline.com | Posted: Tuesday, April 30, 2013 11:51 pm
Secondary scoring. Team toughness. Strong goaltending. Outstanding special teams.
All are key components for success in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
And all can go for naught in the flick of a wrist shot off a defenseman’s skate or an awkward carom off the glass.
It doesn’t matter if you’re the 1987 Edmonton Oilers or the 2013 Penguins, at some point bounces have to go your way if you are to win the big, shiny, silver trophy in the end. In hockey-speak, it’s called puck luck.
And over the last three springs, the Penguins haven’t had none. Despite that, they are still of the belief that the hockey gods reward only those who work hard.
“There is an element of luck but you usually earn your luck by the things you do, the ability you have and the way you play,” said forward Brenden Morrow. “It takes more work than luck.”
Puck management, a system the Penguins employ under Dan Bylsma, is a big part of that. After all, their opponents can’t score off a defenseman’s skate or off a bad seam in the glass if they’re not in possession of that six-ounce disc of frozen vulcanized rubber.
“If you’re in and around the offensive zone, you have a better chance of scoring then you do shooting the puck down the ice and scoring on a bad bounce,” said forward Chris Kunitz. “If you play with the (offensive) zone time, you get the puck in there and work for those chances, the more time the hockey gods are going to give you those bounces.”
NOTABLE
-- Of the four major pro sports leagues, the NHL has been the most progressive in addressing gay rights. Last month the league made waves by partnering with the “You Can Play” project, a group that targets homophobia in sports. Dozens of NHL players, including Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik, filmed commercials last year in support of “You Can Play.” The issue of gays in sports came to the forefront this week when NBA player Jason Collins came out as the first homosexual in North American pro sports. Penguins forward Brenden Morrow said that a gay teammate would be welcomed in the team’s dressing room. “Fans probably think of athletes as big macho guys, we’re as accepting as anyone else,” Morrow said. “You really care about your teammates. It’s not something we fake. Everyone cares about each other here. If that happened to somebody here, we’d feel the same way about him.”
-- It might not be known until the opening faceoff whether Sidney Crosby plays tonight. Crosby took part in practice Tuesday at Southpointe but skated on a fifth line with likely scratches Joe Vitale and Dustin Jeffrey. The Penguins captain was scheduled to have a doctor’s appointment later Tuesday to gain clearance to resume playing. “If he says I can play, I’ll play,” Crosby said.
-- If Crosby plays, he says he’d prefer to be reunited with old linemates LW Pascal Dupuis and RW Chris Kunitz but added, “it’s not up to me.” Kunitz has since been moved onto the second line with Evgeni Malkin and James Neal, a unit that had great success last year as Malkin won MVP and Neal scored 40 goals. Dupuis can see why Kunitz is in demand. “He plays hard. He’s supporting the puck. He does all the little things that makes our team successful,” Dupuis said. “He’s a complete player.”
-- Jarome Iginla continues to skate on the left wing in even-strength situations on a line centered -- at least until Crosby’s return -- by Jussi Jokinen with Dupuis on the right side. Though the right-hand shooting Iginla has played the right side for almost all of his NHL 16 seasons, Bylsma believes the future Hall of Famer is adapting to a new side of the ice. “There are other aspects of our execution that playing the off (left) side is beneficial and we’ve seen that in those areas in coming across the ice,” Bylsma said. “He’s gotten more comfortable with that and what those areas are in the games that’s he’s played.”
-- As he did Monday, injured D Brooks Orpik (lower body) skated on his own before Tuesday‘s practice . Orpik, who is tied with G Marc-Andre Fleury for most playoff games (75) by a current Penguin, is a game-time decision as is the rest of the lineup, according to coach Dan Bylsma.
-- The Penguins went 4-1 against New York during the regular season while outscoring the Islanders 17-9.
-- Backup G Tomas Vokoun went 3-0 against the Islanders this season with a miniscule 0.90 GAA.
-- Pittsburgh’s power play went 3 for 14 (21.4 percent), while the penalty kill yielded on 2 of 18 (88.9).
-- All-time the Penguins are 24-28 in the first game of a playoff series with a 17-12 mark on home ice.
-- New York was one of just two teams not to surrender a shorthanded goal. Minnesota was the other.
-- Averaging just 9.6 minutes per game, the Islanders were the second-least penalized team.
-- Pittsburgh is 0-3 all-time against New York in postseason play, while being out-scored 70-55.
-- The Penguins have won Game 1 in two (1975 and 1993) of their three previous meetings against New York.
STAT PACK
The Penguins took the regular-season series with the Islanders 3-1, but the ice was severely tilted in the Islanders direction during the Penguins' lone loss on Jan. 29. The Penguins outscored the Islanders 15-9 over the four games, but the teams each took 117 shots on goal. The Penguins were the more physical team, out-hitting the Islanders 76-61. One area that should be of concern to the Penguins is giveaways. The Penguins gave the puck away 36 times in the series, which is problematic against a team like the Islanders, who employ speedy forwards like Michael Grabner who thrive on turning picked-off passes into breakaways.
The Penguins averaged 16.25 blocked shots per game in collecting 65, while the Islanders blocked 57. The Penguins got the better of the Islanders in the faceoff circle, winning 57 percent of the draws. This series very likely could be decided with special teams play. The Penguins scored on 27 percent (3 of 11) of their opportunities against the Islanders this season, while the Islanders clicked at just 14 percent (2 of 14).
Interestingly, the Islanders lived off of their power play for most of the season, while the Penguins suffered at times due to their inability to kill penalties. That trend has changed a bit lately; the Islanders ended the season scoring on just one of their past 17 power play opportunities, and the Penguins have shown improvement on the penalty kill, especially on home ice (where they have been perfect through eight games). The Penguins did a nice job against the Islanders power play over their last three games, killing 14-of-14 opportunities, but they allowed goals on both power-plays back on Jan. 29 and looked bad doing it. (Brian Metzer)
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