Saturday, May 09, 2009
By Gene Collier, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/
Peter Diana/Post-GazetteThe Penguins' Ruslan Fedotenko celebrates his goal in the first period against the Capitals last night at Mellon Arena.
Washington came out of Game 3 pretty much convinced it had beaten itself Wednesday night, the proof being right there on the first page of the Capitals press briefing, which listed the final score as follows:
Washington 3, Washington 2.
The only thing more crystalline about how the Capitals felt about their overall effort in this thickening narrative was that their faith in callow goaltender Simeon Varlamov hadn't wavered by a degree. One of only four goalies to earn a playoff victory before turning 21 (Harry Lumley, Patrick Roy, Carey Price), Varlamov took the hostile stage of Game 4 last night at Mellon Arena looking again like the looming X factor of the series.
Not only had the Penguins thrown the kitchen sink at him the first three games, when he stopped 108 of 114 shots, but the bathroom sink as well, both without evincing so much as a rattle.
"We knew he was going to be a good goalie," said Capitals boss Bruce Boudreau. "We didn't know he was going to be this composed. That was our biggest fear."
The fear is back.
There was no doubting who beat Washington this time.
The Penguins put five pucks behind Dr. Nyet, and while in the wake of a series-knotting 5-3 victory they remained effusive in their praise of the Capitals netminder, they had to know the difference.
Up until Billy Guerin came across a loose puck on Varlamov's front porch halfway through the first period, the Penguins had seen only a goalie of supreme nerve and stunning positional stability.
They saw it in Game 4 too, but they saw something else as well: a goalie who could be had.
"Some of the saves he made in the third period were unbelievable," said Guerin, who picked up that Sidney Crosby rebound and put the Penguins ahead to stay early.
"I don't think he was off at all, but he'd probably like to have Rully's back."
That would be Pittsburgh's third goal, the one Ruslan Fedotenko phoned in from long distance, the one on which Varlamov reacted like a hungover first baseman, watching it clang off his mitt.
"Arguably there were four soft goals out of five," Boudreau said. "But he'll bounce back. He's a real competitive guy."
Pittsburgh Penguins' Sidney Crosby celebrates his third-period goal against the Washington Capitals' in Game 4 of a NHL hockey second-round playoff game, in Pittsburgh on Friday, May 8, 2009. The Penguins won 5-3. Capitals defenseman John Erskine is in foreground. (AP)
That was Penguins coach Dan Bylsma's prediction as well, but he admitted to a serious degree of relief that Varlamov had returned to earth.
"Whether it was Billy getting that goal or whoever got it, getting one by him is just exciting to the whole bench," Bylsma said.
"Their goalie's played outstanding and you just have to stay on it. There's no magic formula. He comes out and he challenges our shooters. He's gonna respond with a good game in Game 5."
That would be tonight in Washington, where these Eastern Conference semifinals, having boiled to a best-of-three between enduring postseason rivals, can be represented as the twin essay questions of a pop quiz.
1. Can Varlamov, having turned up mortal after all, withstand the pressure of a reassured Penguins offense?
2. Can the Penguins withstand the sudden subtraction of defenseman Sergei Gonchar, kneecapped by Washington superstar Alex Ovechkin, who failed to get a goal for the first time in this series but might have turned it inalterably in Washington's favor with that fateful collision?
"Sergei's a big part of our ream," Guerin said after refusing to judge Ovechkin's intent. "We rely on him for so many things, and not just on the ice."
Gonchar whistled home Pittsburgh's first goal, just the second in his past 20 postseason games on a night when the Penguins finally got scoring from the wings, the very people who can't let Crosby try to beat Washington by himself.
Guerin's goal was just his third in his past 19 playoffs games, Fedotenko's just the second in his past 19.
"That's just the nature of the playoffs," said Guerin, who has been in too many of these dramas to remember them all. "Guys will go a series without scoring much, then they'll score a bunch."
Guerin's larger point stayed focused on Essay Question 1. As much postseason hockey as he has seen, he's still not convinced the Penguins got to Varlamov mentally last night.
"He made two great saves on Sid in the third," Guerin said. "Even when I put it in, he'd just stopped Sid three times on the backhand, he was split from post-to-post, he was scrambling, he was battling.
"This hasn't been easy and it's not gonna be easy the rest of the way."
Too true.
But the Penguins, for the first time, have at least sniffed vulnerability.
Gene Collier can be reached at gcollier@post-gazette.com. More articles by this author
First published on May 9, 2009 at 12:00 am
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