http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/
Friday, May 22, 2009
Carolina took the ice for Game 2 against the Penguins on Thursday night with a recent track record of erasing one-game-to-none deficits such as the one the Hurricanes faced in the Eastern Conference final.
But more than that, Carolina had a plan.
PITTSBURGH - MAY 21: Eric Staal(notes) #12 of the Carolina Hurricanes battles with Sidney Crosby(notes) #87 of the Pittsburgh Penguins during Game Two of the Eastern Conference Championship Round of the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Mellon Arena on May 21, 2009 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Penguins defeated the Hurricanes 7-4. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)More significant, in the estimation of head coach Paul Maurice, than his team's Game 2 victories against New Jersey and Boston in the previous two rounds was the blueprint that produced them.
It basically boiled down to:
Everyone else doing what they can for as long as they can until Eric Staal and/or Cam Ward can win the game for the Hurricanes.
It was an approach that had proven effective long before the Devils and Bruins had been eliminated.
But it might be time to resort to Plan B after Penguins superstars Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby combined for four goals and six points in a 7-4 Game 2 triumph.
"One of our big guys stepped up," Penguins winger Bill Guerin said. "I think both of our big guys did."
Conversely, the Hurricanes' two best players have yet to show up against the Penguins.
The lack of a game-changing contribution from either Staal or Ward was as glaring as the individual brilliance of Malkin (three goals, one assist) and as obvious as the relentless effectiveness of Crosby (one goal, one assist).
Staal managed one assist, his first point of the series. But he failed to dent the net for the fifth consecutive game in a postseason that has seen Carolina go 7-0 when he scores a goal and 1-8 when he does not.
It takes more than one guy. Still, such numbers don't lie as they highlight the importance of Staal doing something more tangible than battling his brother Jordan on face-offs.
Eric Staal's line was bolstered on Thursday night by the presence of winger Chad LaRose, who skated with Staal and Ray Whitney as the Hurricanes adjusted due to the absence of Tuomo Ruutu and, presumably, their inability to get more than two goals in Game 1.
LaRose managed his second goal in two games and continued to look like the complementary spark the Hurricanes must have to survive and advance.
The likes of Dennis Seidenberg and Patrick Eaves, meanwhile, each contributed their first goals of the postseason.
But at the other end, Ward was being beaten cleanly by the likes of Max Talbot and Chris Kunitz - the latter's long-awaited first postseason goal - as well as from in close by Crosby (off a cross-crease pass) and Malkin (on a rebound, on a second rebound and finally on a wrap-around, spin-around, top-shelf backhand).
The goal that completed Malkin's hat trick almost defied description in its majesty.
But his trick was turned on a night when both clubs defended the slot and the area behind the net at times in a manner that must have had the visiting contingent from Detroit salivating.
What must Red Wings vice president Steve Yzerman, director of pro scouting Mark Howe and scout Pat Verbeek have been thinking?
Probably that the Red Wings' Johan Franzen might score about 26 goals in the Stanley Cup final.
At this rate, Crosby and Malkin might, too.
And at this point, such conjecture is the least of Carolina's concerns.
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