Dynamite reactions from the fans along the boards. Kudos to Beard Kid and Pointing Lady.
Saturday night's game gave us a taste of what the Pens are in for in this series: they won't be shut out in every game, but they will have to work for every inch of ice and every scoring chance, game after game. We knew that the Bruins were no joke, and now we've seen how hard it will be to play against them. It's not likely to be a very fun series, but let's not jump to conclusions and liken this to Pens-Flyers last year, as I heard a few people do. The Bruins weren't in the Penguins' heads, and the Pens didn't unravel; they were outplayed by an elite team, showed some frustration, and tonight we'll see how they respond. Some notes and observations from Game 1 after the jump.
Chris Kunitz is snakebit.
For the most part of the regular season - roughly until Crosby went down with a broken jaw - Kuni could not miss. Every clear shot he took seemed to find the net, whether in close or from distance. He's put up good numbers in the playoffs, but that sniper mojo that, let's not forget, saw Kunitz finish seventh in league scoring seems to have dissipated. On Saturday, he hit a post on a shot he normally buries (see above), missed the net on a couple of other chances, and just whiffed on a few more. It's tough to watch him struggle like this, but if he keeps getting chances like he did in Game 1, he should (I mean, he has to, right?) put some rubber behind Rask.
David Krejci needs to get the Superstar Treatment
Krejci's line ate the Pens' defense for lunch in Game 1, as Pittsburgh got to see what happens when you give the playoffs' leading scorer seemingly unlimited space and time. On Krejci's first goal, Crosby neglected to pick him up, giving him an open lane down the center of the ice. Paul Martin was caught in a comprimising position, as he lay down on the ice and tried to stack the pads, ultimately deflecting Krejci's shot past Vokoun. On the second goal, Mark Eaton got abused by Nathan Horton (who is an ugly dude; he looks like Tyler Kennedy on roids), who worked the puck to Krejci for a shot that bounded off Vokoun and into the air. Letang befuddlingly tried to backhand swat the puck out of midair, instead leaving it sitting on the doorstep for Krejci to tap in. I thought the Pens did a pretty good job of slowing the Bergeron line, but they need to make Krejci-Horton-Lucic their first priority. We'll see if Bylsma tries to get the Sutter line out there against them to stem the bleeding.
Malkin is playing hurt, and his line is an enigma
Geno was overpowering in Game 1, singlehandedly drawing three penalties, including one in which he was being hooked by two Bruins from center ice and still nearly managed to finish a breakaway chance, and even engaging in fisticuffs with Patrice Bergeron at the end of a heated second period. What we're not seeing with Malkin, however, is a willingness to shoot. In the video above, Malkin picks up the puck behind the Boston defense and skates in on a partial breakaway, with three Bruins in pursuit. Though he doesn't have the best angle, he has a clear shot on Rask and a step on Lucic and co. This is the look he gets, one of the best the team would be afforded all game:
But Geno didn't take the shot, instead leaving a lame drop pass for...Brooks Orpik. Now, we only get one miracle Orpik goal a year, and we used ours in overtime against the Islanders, so there's really no excuse for Malkin to pass up a clear shot at Rask. This was the most egregious example of Malkin passing up a shot, but it was by no means an anomaly. Throughout the postseason, we've seen him duck his head and skate behind the net looking for the perfect dish instead of throwing the puck on net himself. This is by no means an indictment of Malkin, who has played brilliantly in the playoffs. The point I'm making, one which should be crystal clear to anyone who remembers Malkin unleashing one of the most fearsome shots in the league in years past, is that Geno is obviously suffering from a shoulder injury. We know that he hasn't felt right all season long, and that his shoulder is has been aggravated and re-aggravated, but still we pretend like there's something wrong with his decision-making, or his will, when he doesn't play his usual aggressive style. Really, he's been playing as well as ever, he just hasn't been able to finish as we're accustomed to - honestly, try to think of the last time you saw him uncork his trademark bomb from the top of the right circle on the power play. (And if you want to counter by saying "Malkin's shoulder looked fine when he was wailing on Bergeron," well he was clearly under the influence some kind of Russian-crazy that has no regard for physical discomfort.)
With Malkin shooting blanks (that's not the right analogy, is it?), he'll need help from his linemates. I thought Neal played a really energetic Game 1, making a couple of huge hits on the forecheck and creating a couple of decent scoring chances. It's important for him to keep hitting to free up pucks, but his mission for the rest of the series is to find soft spots in the defense and give Malkin a target to pass to. He did just that in the final two games of the last series and was rewarded with five goals. He's the Penguins' best shot, and he's now got to compensate for Malkin's lack of one.
Iginla, on the other hand, has not had what I would call an energetic playoffs. He's looked slow at times, and hesitant to dictate the offensive flow. He seems content dumping the puck in, tying up opposing defensemen, and hopping on the occassional rebound. As a result, he's been the perfect role player through two series, but we need him to be more than a role player against the Bruins. We need superstar Iginla to emerge. After a decade-plus of being the entirety of the Flames' offense, he's been more than happy to take a back seat to Crosby and Malkin, but with the Bruins focused on shutting down the middle of the ice, Iggy has a chance to put his stamp on this series. It's time for the Calgary Iginla to step out of the shadows.
The Bruins are going to continue whupping us in the faceoff circle
We knew that Bergeron and his comrades are probably the league's best when it comes to faceoffs, and Crosby's struggles against Bergeron in this regard are pretty well-documented. That just isn't going to change. The Bruins' centers are elite at winning faceoffs, and though Crosby and Jokinen will steal some here or there, they're not going to suddenly flip the tables. What the Penguins will have to do, then, is adjust accordingly: acknowledge that the Bruins will likely be winning most draws, and find ways to neutralize that advantage. One approach is to forget about the puck and try to tie up the opposing centerman; Brandon Sutter is pretty adept at this, and it gives him the chance to try and kick the puck back to the point, or wait for a winger to try to swoop in and dislodge the puck.
Another approach is to "win the puck forward" rather than passing it back. Malkin likes this strategy(partly because he's mud at faceoffs - at one point, Bylsma had Iggy take one over him) and Crosby's used it as well. It uses the opposing center's momentum against him, and the hope is that with the added force, a puck that would normally land softly on the stick of a Bruins defenseman would arrive much more suddenly, and that the Penguins wingers, anticipating the lost faceoff, can jump the play and force a turnover.
The Bruins power play looked abyssmal
If the Penguins want to take the upper hand in this series, they'll want to dominate the special teams battle. This seems doable, because as good as the Bruins penalty kill was in Game 1, their powerplay was worse. They had trouble even getting the puck into the offensive zone, and never really threatened in their four chances with the man advantage. The Penguins power play was also 0-for-4, but those power plays seemed to last about twice as long as the Bruins', as the Pens were able to possess the puck in the O-zone and create good shots. The Penguins power play needs to be all business in this series, making smart passes, getting shots on net, and keeping the Bruins scrambling, because if they can produce goals as they have all postseason, it looks like the BRuins will have trouble matching up.
Fleury's not going to start Game 2
I mean, come on...
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