Sidney Crosby (87) shoots as Boston Bruins' Johnny Boychuk (55) defends during the first period of Game 4 in the Eastern Conference finals of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs, in Boston on Friday, June 7, 2013. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
As it has throughout this third-round series, the Penguins’ once-vaunted power play stumbled again Friday night. A unit that had been 0-for-12 going into Game 4, went 0-for-3 over 5:03. The Pittsburgh power play, which had been hovering at 30 percent over their first two series wins against the New York Islanders and Ottawa, had fallen to 22.4 percent. Despite the power outage, Sidney Crosby said the group never lost faith in itself. “There weren’t time where we were worried, to be honest,” he said. “We felt we had momentum, three of four shifts, we had them hemmed in and felt we had gotten a lot of pressure. … We felt we were getting chances pretty consistently.”
By Chris Bradford
OTHER STORYLINES: FACEOFFS OFF
One of the major issues facing Pittsburgh as it tried to crawl out of a 3-0 series hole was its faceoff percentage. Boston held a 71-44 advantage in the faceoff circle through the first two games, but the Penguins rectified that with a 46-34 advantage in the double overtime loss in Game 3. With Gregory Campbell out with a broken leg, the thought entering Game 4 was that the Penguins might be able to use a resurgent effort in the faceoff circle to build on puck possession and maybe score a goal or two. “Losing a faceoff guy is obviously going to hurt in you some aspect,” Boston center Chris Kelly said prior to Game 4. “We’re fortunate we have a lot of centermen that are forced to play wing but who can take draws.” Campbell’s absence ultimately didn’t hurt the Bruins. Boston won 31 of 59 face-offs in Game 4, with Kelly, Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci doing most of the work. The Penguins tried to lean on Sidney Crosby and Brandon Sutter, especially on defensive zone face-offs. But a game after winning 55 percent of his face-offs, Crosby won just 10 of 24 draws in Game 4.
By Andrew Chiappazzi
3. STOP IT HOWEVER YOU CAN
The Penguins were officially credited with 26 shots on net in Game 4, but that number only tells half the story. Pittsburgh pulled the trigger 60 times, but missed the net on 15 occasions and had a shot blocked 19 times. Just 40 percent of their shot attempts tested Tuukka Rask. By comparison, of Boston’s 35 shot attempts, 24 went on net, a rate of 68.5 percent. “You just try to take away time and space. You try to not give them too much room,” Boston defenseman Johnny Boychuk said. “You have to respect them, but you have to play them hard as well.” Boston crashed the net frequently, often placing three defenders around Tuukka Rask for rebound control and to block shots. Boston ultimately blocked 77 shots in the series, including 25 each in Games 3 and 4.
By Andrew Chiappazzi
PLAY OF THE GAME
Adam McQuaid is not a goal-scoring defenseman. So when he gets on the board, something unique had to happen. McQuaid’s second goal of the playoffs – and his third overall in 2013 – would have been a routine shot from the point if not for a mangled line change from the Penguins. As Boston sped through the neutral zone, Pittsburgh tried to make a quick change. Jarome Iginla was late getting onto the ice and sped across to try to intercept McQuaid, who took the puck as the trailer on the play. Iginla’s attempt to poke the puck off the stick ended up burning the Penguins. The shot deflected off of Iginla’s stick and over Tomas Vokoun’s shoulder for the only goal of the game.
By Andrew Chiappazzi
HIDDEN STAT
0. The total points from Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin in the series. Since 2007, when Crosby and Malkin go scoreless in a playoff game, the Penguins are 2-15. When either one has a point, the Pens are 45-20.
QUOTABLE
“That’s the expectation. To come up this short definitely doesn’t sit well with anyone. Three of the four games, I felt like we could have come up with wins. We missed the big plays, whether it was a power play goal or an OT goal the last game.” – Sidney Crosby on the team being built to win the Stanley Cup.
NOTEWORTHY
* With Gregory Campbell out, Kaspars Daugavins stepped into the lineup for Boston. It was Daugavins’ first playoff game since Game 1 of Boston’s series against Toronto. The 25-year old Latvian played in six regular season games with Boston after being acquired from Ottawa. “I haven’t played in a while and the playoffs are the best time of the year, so this is fun,” Daugavins said.
* Sidney Crosby took a big shot from Daniel Paille – one that could have been called as interference – in the first period and appeared shaken up. Crosby didn’t miss a shift, though, and said afterward there were no ill effects. “It just knocked the wind out of me,” Crosby said. “A big hit like that obviously doesn’t feel good, but I didn’t have any other problems.”
* This is the 14th sweep in Boston playoff history. Of Boston’s 19 previous 3-0 series leads, the Bruins won in five games three times, won in a sixth game once and went all the way to a seventh game twice, where they are 1-1. Overall, Boston is 19-1 when holding a 3-0 lead.
* Milan Lucic celebrated his 25th birthday with a trip to the Stanley Cup finals. Lucic’s birthday was Friday, and though the star forward didn’t register a point and served a two-minute penalty, he did dish out three hits.
* This is the first sweep of the Penguins since 1979, when they were also swept out of the playoffs by Boston. The only other time in their history that the Penguins had been swept was in 1972, when they lost to Chicago.
* The one Achilles heel for the Penguins all season was the penalty kill, yet it didn’t burn them against Boston. After registering a 79.6 percent kill rate in the regular season, Pittsburgh was perfect against Boston. The Pens killed all 13 Bruins power plays in the four games. In fact, neither team scored a power play goal in the series.
* Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz, a fan favorite, took in the game courtesy of a rainout at Fenway Park. Ortiz, already a gregarious player, has become even more beloved for his support of Boston since the marathon bombings. Golfer Keegan Bradley and actors John Krasinski and Emily Blunt were also in attendance.
Compiled by Andrew Chiappazzi
THREE STARS
1. Adam McQuaid, Bos.
2. Tuuka Rask, Bos.
3. Zdeno Chara, Bos.
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