East finals preview: Penguins vs. Canes
from ESPN.com
Both the Pittsburgh Penguins and Carolina Hurricanes will have to move quickly to put emotional seven-game sets behind them as they prepare to open the Eastern Conference finals in Pittsburgh.
As the playoffs move along, these series can take their toll on a team. The Penguins needed six games to dispose of Philadelphia before rolling through a tumultuous, high-profile set against Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals. The Cardiac Canes are coming off two miraculous series in which they won Game 7s on the road, first erasing New Jersey with a thrilling come-from-behind effort late in the third period and then beating top-seeded Boston on Thursday late in the first overtime frame on Scott Walker's first postseason goal.
Talk about a punch in the gut for the Bruins.
While fatigue might be a factor for both teams, especially Carolina, mental toughness won't be.
The Penguins dropped the first two games against a very good Washington team and went on to win four of five, including an emphatic 6-2 victory in Game 7, to advance to their second straight Eastern Conference finals.
For Carolina, it's feast or famine. The Canes have won six straight playoff rounds dating back to their Stanley Cup run in 2006. They've won the past four series in seven games. Of course, they did miss the playoffs for two straight seasons before reappearing this spring.
Still, there is a lot of experience and skill on both benches in this series, which should make for some great up-and-down hockey. After the Washington/Pittsburgh series, people suggested there would be a letdown. But with these two conference matchups -- Detroit and Chicago in the West and the Canes and Penguins in the East -- the next couple of weeks should give us some great hockey.
1. Are you kidding me? (Get it? Sid the Kid?) Oh, we know many of you, especially Caps fans, are tired of hearing about how good Sidney Crosby has been this spring. Well, folks, get used to it. Funny how the same grumbling was often heard when Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky were being debated.
The fact of the matter is, there isn't any one player on any team this spring that has been as consistently good as Crosby. And we don't just mean scoring goals, although he has certainly put the theory that he can't score to bed by notching a league-best 12 goals in 13 postseason games. Crosby's dogged determination on the puck, his penchant for making smart plays at crucial times, has been the catalyst to the Penguins' success at almost every turn.
Witness Game 7 versus the Caps. With a scoreless tie, it was Crosby who scored a difficult goal to break the deadlock. He then set up the third goal 28 seconds into the second period to give the Pens a 3-0 lead and scored again on a power-play breakaway.
"There's no doubt in my mind Sid is the best player in the world," teammate Kris Letang said after Game 7. "I played against him in the Q [Quebec Major Junior Hockey League]. I know the desire that the guy has every time he steps on the ice. You see in his eyes; he wants everything. He wants the puck and he wants to be the best."
So far this spring, Crosby has done exactly that. And with 21 points to lead all playoff scorers, the Hurricanes' ability to control him, or at least limit the damage he can do, will go a long way in writing the story of this series.
2. Sarge or no Sarge? The moment Ovechkin laid out the Penguins' best defenseman, Sergei Gonchar, with a knee-on-knee hit early in Game 4, it looked like Gonchar's season was over. There were persistent rumors to that effect until he practiced with the team the day before Game 7.
Sure enough, there was the veteran defenseman on the ice in the deciding game, earning an assist on the game's first goal. He played 15:06, about half what he normally would. Given the Pens' big lead, coach Dan Bylsma was no doubt using his star defenseman conservatively, but there's no question Gonchar isn't going at 100 percent.
Having four days to rest before the start of this series will no doubt come in handy, but how much the injury will hamper his ice time and ability to do the things he does so well -- joining the rush, moving laterally (especially on the power play), skating the puck out of trouble from his own zone -- remains unknown. Alex Goligoski came in to help out on the power play when Gonchar was out, but he looked like the rookie he is. The Pens won Games 4 and 5 without Gonchar and lost Game 6. If his game is diminished, Carolina will have an edge along the blue line.
3. Brothers in arms. This will mark the first time brothers Jordan (Pittsburgh) and Eric (Carolina) Staal will face each other in the postseason (Jordan and Marc of the Rangers did so last spring) and could provide some interesting battles as both are centers and both aren't afraid to use their big bodies.
Eric will carry a bigger burden going into this series as Carolina's top center and most talented player, leading the team with 13 points in 14 games this spring. The Hurricanes have won every game in which he scored this spring (his nine goals ranked third overall heading into the conference finals). He didn't register a point in Game 7 versus Boston and had just one assist in back-to-back losses against the Bruins that set up Thursday's seventh game. But in a series in which the Canes will be pressed to keep up offensively, Eric Staal will have to continue to deliver the goods.
Jordan, on the other hand, has struggled for much of the postseason. He has, however, scored his only two goals thus far in the past three games and seems to be emerging from his early-playoff funk. Staal's line (with Matt Cooke and Tyler Kennedy) will once again be counted on to pressure the Carolina blue line with solid forechecking and puck control in the offensive zone.
4. Conn Smythe Cam. Heading into action Thursday, the Penguins ranked third among all playoff teams and first in the Eastern Conference in goals per game at 3.46, thanks in large part to Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and a deep, talented lineup. The Hurricanes, meanwhile, were 10th. That means they're getting it done defensively; they were third behind Boston in goals allowed per game (2.31 goals). That also means they're getting rock-solid goaltending from the former playoff MVP Cam Ward.
Funny, given the collapse of both Martin Brodeur and Roberto Luongo in these playoffs, Ward suddenly looks like a guy who might challenge for the starting job in Vancouver for the 2010 Canadian Olympic team. But we digress.
Ward has been terrific, especially in pressure situations, refusing to allow Carolina opponents to open up two- or three-goal leads when it mattered most. He was sensational again in Game 7, stopping 34 of 36 Bruins shots. Ward definitely provides a more difficult test for the Penguins than Martin Biron in Philly and Simeon Varlamov and once-upon-a-time starter Jose Theodore in Washington.
Ward, therefore, puts more pressure on Marc-Andre Fleury in the Pittsburgh net to play as he did in Game 7 against Washington. Fleury made timely saves throughout this postseason, but has just as often been guilty of giving up a soft or unexpected goal.
5. Are those teams special? The bad news for the Hurricanes is Pittsburgh's power play is slowly rounding into form. They scored twice with the man advantage in Game 7 and twice in Game 6. If Gonchar is able to play, that makes Pittsburgh even more dangerous on the power play.
The Canes have been miserable, scoring just five times on 48 chances so far this spring. The Penguins have also drawn more power-play chances than any other team in the postseason (66 compared to 48 for Carolina, which has played one more game). That's a function of a talented team that plays a pressure-style game with three lines that can generate offense and tire out opponents and draw penalties. The Hurricanes will have to limit the Penguins' power-play chances and get their own special teams in gear to keep the Pens honest.
• Teams' productivity: Given the up-tempo flow we're expecting in this series, productivity up and down the lineup will be key, and there looks to be a huge imbalance along the blue line. That could mean the difference in the series. Pittsburgh defensemen have chipped in 10 goals compared to just two from Carolina blueliners. That's not to say players like Joni Pitkanen (no goals, seven assists) and Joe Corvo (one goal, five assists) aren't playing well; but when guys like Pittsburgh's Mark Eaton (four goals) are getting in on the act, the pressure will be on the Canes' rearguards to produce.
• Pittsburgh: Letang, asked to shoulder a bigger load with Gonchar hurt, has nine points in the playoffs, including an overtime winner. He also scored the goal that chased Varlamov in Game 7. Chris Kunitz has not scored in the postseason and has just one goal in his last 23 games.
• Carolina: OK, so he's gone three games without a goal or a point, but come on: Jussi Jokinen has been on a rainbow this spring. Waived by the Tampa Bay Lightning (how does that happen?), Jokinen has six goals, including three game-winners, and 10 points. Erik Cole has not scored and was dropped from the first unit with Ryan Whitney and Eric Staal in favor of Scott Walker (turned out to be a good move, no?).
• This one is going to be a ton of fun to watch; but, in the end, the Canes don't have an adequate answer for Crosby and Malkin. As long as Fleury doesn't completely lose his mind, the Pens should be able to dictate how things go in this one. Penguins in six.
Sidney Crosby Outduals Ovechkin
In my opinion, the best player in the NHL hands down. He proved it when it mattered in his rivals home!
WASHINGTON -- When it really mattered, when it came time to make a statement about greatness and winning and leadership, this one turned out to be a colossal mismatch.
In a stunning departure from the back-and-forth, intensely close nature of the first six games of this Eastern Conference semifinals series, the Pittsburgh Penguins took the Washington Capitals to the woodshed in their own building Wednesday night in a 6-2 win.
It was a powerful lesson handed down by the Penguins, and the figure at the head of the class was none other than 21-year-old captain Sidney Crosby.
"In my opinion, best all-round player in the league. He proved it tonight, and no disrespect to any player," Pittsburgh GM Ray Shero told ESPN.com after the Penguins had advanced to a second straight East finals. "Alex Ovechkin is unbelievable for our game. Unbelievable player. We kind of shut him down [and] he had 14 points in this series, that's how great he is.
"The league's so fortunate to have both these guys and [Evgeni] Malkin and guys like this. These guys are carrying the flag for the league. But tonight was a statement. Both ends of the ice, [Crosby] was the best player out there and made it happen for us and said what he is as a player and a person tonight."
You could hardly find more different human beings than Crosby and Ovechkin, from backgrounds to personalities to styles of play. Yet, as different as they are, they will forever be joined by their inexhaustible desire to win. It was what made this series so special, this battle of wills, this rare ability to drive their teams forward despite adversity and mistakes on display for all to see.
Yet, in the final act of this grand drama, the spotlight fell solely on Crosby.
After Ovechkin was stoned by Pittsburgh netminder Marc-Andre Fleury on an early breakaway attempt, it was Crosby who opened the scoring, deftly taking a deflected Sergei Gonchar shot on his right skate blade, directing it to his stick and burying it for a 1-0 lead.
Eight seconds later, Craig Adams scored to make it 2-0. Then, it was Crosby again, setting up the third and ultimately winning goal just 28 seconds into the second period. This time, Crosby waited patiently on an odd-man rush for linemate Bill Guerin to enter the Capitals' zone, feeding him a pass that Guerin ripped past rookie netminder Simeon Varlamov.
"You know what, he won't say he likes [to be] front and center, the big stage or anything like that, but he just really knows how to perform in it and he really stepped up," Guerin said of Crosby.
Crosby would add a second goal on a breakaway after a giveaway by Ovechkin, tucking the puck between the pads of Jose Theodore, who replaced Varlamov after the Pens' fourth goal. Crosby barely raised his arms in celebration, as though he understood this battle had been won, the opponent vanquished.
"Well, he's our leader. We go where he leads us. He did it all series and he did it again tonight, got us off to a 1-0 lead," Pittsburgh defenseman Mark Eaton said. "You could tell the end of Game 6 how determined he was. You knew that was going to carry over into tonight, and it did, and everybody fed off of that."
Crosby finished the series with 13 points, one fewer than Ovechkin, who added a meaningless goal after the Penguins had built a 5-0 lead and managed to record points in every game in the series. In the end, it wasn't enough.
"They were more composed with the puck, and the other thing they did and the reason they won the game is because they outworked us," Washington forward Brooks Laich said. "It's not easy to stand in front of you guys and say that we've been outworked in our building in a Game 7. I'm sure that's something we're going to have to think about for a long time."
As the teams shook hands, Ovechkin whispered in congratulations and told Crosby he hoped the Pens won the Cup. It was a magnanimous comment from a player who has quickly established himself as a virtuoso star but who lags far behind Crosby in something infinitely more important: team success.
"It feels good just because of the way the series went, not particularly because it was me and him," Crosby said. "There was a lot of eyes on this series. It was a battle for both teams individually. We both wanted to make sure we did a good job."
Since the end of the lockout, Crosby's Penguins are 23-15 in postseason games with a trip to the Stanley Cup finals and consecutive berths in the East finals under their collective belts. Ovechkin's Capitals are just 10-11.
Those are numbers that will haunt Ovechkin, no matter how many individual awards pile up on his mantel.
"I'm very disappointed. They played better," he said. "I didn't score on the breakaway, so if I score the first goal, maybe a different game. I didn't score it. They're experienced guys. They're a great team. They played great."
Hockey never got its ultimate showdown when Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux were in their prime, never got a chance to see what the best players of a generation would and could do when squared off in a playoff series. This series provided a little insight into what that kind of series might have been like.
For the first six games, this was as compelling as anyone could imagine, and judging by the attention and buzz that surrounded this series, it was the kind of confrontation that made the sport sexy once again for the casual fan. And if you look at any compelling moment, chances are either Ovechkin or Crosby was involved.
"I think it's great for the game, I think we've all said that," Shero said. "You turn on the TV, everyone's talking about it. I have friends, even though I haven't heard from them in a long time, and they're following Ovechkin-Crosby and Washington-Pittsburgh, and it's great that people are talking about the game."
You know what? He wouldn't have said it after the Penguins lost Game 6 in overtime at home, but Shero wasn't sorry to see it play out the way he did, in a seventh game.
See, here's the thing about this series that some people forget. As much as it's been about Ovechkin and Crosby and how this series would play out, this is as much a statement about a Penguins team many had left for dead midway through the season.
Shero couldn't convince Marian Hossa to return, and Ryan Malone wanted too much money. The GM ultimately fired Michel Therrien early in the new year and installed unknown Dan Bylsma behind the bench.
Shero said he went down to the benches during warm-ups, something he rarely does, and found himself getting emotional at the prospect of what might happen in the hours ahead.
"Actually, I got, personally, a little emotional," Shero said. "Honestly, these coaches and these players, I think they've done a fantastic job and I didn't know who was going to win Game 7, but I just know that I didn't want it to end because I love spending time with these guys. Players have been great. Anyway, it's just been a real special run for us here."
In the Penguins' dressing room, there was a strange calmness. No goofing around, certainly no champagne or signs of celebration.
"I think it's experience," Crosby said. "We're not old veterans by any means, but at the same time, we've been through a lot for a young group. We've been in a lot of different situations probably quicker than most teams can say they've been in.
"You don't expect anything but the best from the guy next to you. Everyone holds true that responsibility."
Sounds like somebody who knows more than a little about the best.
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