No Reason to Panic Yet For Penguins

Will the Penguins Respond in Game 2?

55 minutes.

What are the chances Alex Ovechkin goes 55 minutes without a shot against Montreal? [Update: Oops]  That’s exactly what Rocket Richard Trophy winner Sidney Crosby did last night in Game 1 against the Ottawa Senators.  Despite scoring 51 goals in the regular season, zero came against the Ottawa Senators, a trend that continued last night.

Some fans may take that to mean Crosby disappeared, which was hardly the case.  His behind the back pass to Alex Goligoski cruising in from the left point which led to the fourth goal was a thing of beauty. But with all the attention on Crosby, it will be up to Evgeni Malkin, Sergei Gonchar, and Marc-Andre Fleury to lead the troops to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.  Malkin and Gonchar came through with strong efforts in Game 1 – Fleury did not.

For Ottawa, they couldn’t have asked for a better result.  Stealing Game 1 on the road against the defending Stanley Cup Champs puts them in a good position, but it’s no time for the Penguins to panic.  As we wondered yesterday, maybe last night’s loss will be the catalyst for another intense drive to the Finals.

Pittsburgh fans may remember the organization’s last attempt at winning back to back championships.  In 1991-92, the Penguins fell behind 2-0 in an opening round series with Washington before splitting Games 3 and 4.  Former Penguins-player-turned-radio-announcer Phil Bourque often recalls that it wasn’t until the team was on the brink of elimination that they finally kicked into that next gear.  The Penguins won Game 5 on the road 5-2 before going on to win 14 of their final 16 games en route to an easy repeat.

Is this team capable of a similar streak? Maybe.  It was just last year that the team reeled off an 18-3-4 run after Dan Bylsma took over as Head Coach.

One-Timers and Random Thoughts

• Remember when Fleury changed his pads from yellow to white because he felt it would be harder for opposing shooters to see the white pads?  Doesn’t the same idea apply to the fan white-out?  There’s something to be said for trying to pick up white Ottawa jerseys amongst a backdrop of fans in white t-shirts.  I’d love to see them switch to yellow.
• Is Alexei Ponikarovsky adopting the Marian Hossa reputation?  An effective regular season player who disappears when the stakes are raised and the physicality picks up in the playoffs.
• It might be time to substitute Mike Rupp for Ruslan Fedotenko.  Fedotenko has been largely ineffective this season and Rupp brings the size, strength and determination to work through a tough-checking Ottawa defense.  Don’t be shocked to see Bylsma juggle the lineup a little tomorrow night.
• The loss of Milan Michalek due to an ACL tear is devastating for the Senators who are already without Alexei Kovalev and Filip Kuba.  After banishing Jonathan Cheechoo to the AHL in the regular season, expect him to make an appearance in Game 2.
• Brooks Orpik’s availability for Game 1 was up in the air after he was cut on the leg by a skate over the weekend.  He didn’t look himself, especially when he was overwhelmed by the speed of Jason Spezza which led to Ottawa’s first goal.

Posted by Mike Colligan on Apr 15 2010. Filed under Atlantic, Eastern Conference, Ottawa Senators, Pittsburgh Penguins. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.