Thursday, May 14, 2009

Pens Dominate Caps, Win Game 7, Series

In the end it came down to, as it always does, the team that wins is the team that wants to win the most. In a stunning turnaround from the rest of the series the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Washington Capitals 6-2 at the Verizon Center last night. Game and series over.

I have not blogged much during this series, and I do apologize to my loyal readers for that - both of them! But with the way the series began - Pens down 2 zip - then the stunning turnaroud the team made taking the next 3, I decided not to test fate and simply observed, collected my thoughts, and awaited the end of the series before putting fingers on keyboard again.

Now that the games have all been played, the Pens are awaiting their next opponent in one of the two game 7's that will be played tonight. I don't think it matters either way, Boston or Carolina, but I am hoping that the Hurricanes prevail tonight for no other reason than to see two of the Staal brothers mixing it up on the same sheet of ice for a seven game series.

Why the Penguins Won:

Many NHL fans were expecting this was one of the best NHL Playoff series in history. The storyline throughout was Crosby vs. Ovechkin. And as they both knew that all eyes were upon them, each led his team each shift of each game. The points earned after all was over were nearly identical (Crosby 7 goals, 6 assists - Ovechkin 7 goals, 7 assists) and both players proved that they were the best players on the ice. Ovechkin with sizzling, stunning slapshots, jaw jarring hits and lightning fast breakouts in the offensive zone. Crosby was the consummate leader, on and off the ice. He had the fortitude to occupy space in front of Varlamov, pounced on any rebounds and single-handedly produced all of the Pens offense in the first two games of the series. Reason #1 the Pens won - Crosby was a leader and an offensive juggernaut.

The games were as evenly matched as they could be for the first six. Varlamov was, at times, a Russian wall. Nothing could get past him. He was square to the shooters, cut down the angles and patrolled his crease with authority. Game seven is a different story. He was shelled by the Penguins in the early going and conceeded 4 goals on 18 shots before being replaced early in the second period by Jose Theodore. Reason #2 the Pens won - Varlamov folded under the intense pressure of game one.

Ovechkin scored 7 of Washington's 22 goals (32%). The offensive production drops off dramatically after that. Conspicuously missing from the goal tallys were Semin, Green, Laich and Backstrom. No other Capital produced more than 3 goals in the seven game series. Pittsburgh got goals from unlikely sources such as Eaton, Adams, Kennedy, Letang and Fedotenko at opportune times. Reason #3 the Pens won - scoring was spread around the entire line-up.

Marc Andre Fleury was shaky at times but stood up for game seven when Ovechkin threatened to score on a break-away 3 minutes into the first. Fleury deftly intercepted the shot with his catching glove thereby throwing down the gauntlet to the Capitals and showing his team that he is ready to stand tall and win the game. Many in the media have stated that this set the tone for the game and put the message in the minds of the Capitals that they would not get many pucks past Fleury the rest of the game. Reason #4 the Pens won - Fleury stood tall when it was absolutely the right time to do so.

The Capitals have faced the Penguins in the playoffs 7 times before this series. The Pens have won 6 of the 7 series. Coming back from being down 2-0 or 3-1 three of the series'. This had to be in the back of the players minds throughout the series. Granted, none of the current roster were members of any of those teams that were thoroughly pummeled in the past by the Pens, but just knowing that history puts the message in their minds that they have all of those past series to overcome. Reason #5 the Pens won - The Caps are their Bitches!

UPDATE - as a bit of an afterthought here I realized I left out a huge! reason that the Pens won. Rob Scuderi proved that he is a top notch defensemen by effectively shutting down Ovechkin after game 2. Alex still got a few goals but half of them were scored before the series ever got to the Burgh!

Next Up:

The Pens will meet the winner of tonight's Boston/Carolina game in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Pens will have home ice advantage if Carolina takes it but will have to travel to Boston if the Bruins win.

Regular Season match-up: Pretty even...against the Bruins the Penguins were 2-2, and against the Hurricanes it was 2-1-1. Not a whole lot there to look at but since Bylsma took over on 2/15 the Pens are 2-0 vs. Boston and Carolina. That may be the most telling stat of all since the team has been completly made over with the firing of Therrien and the trade deadline acquisitions.

Given the Pens ability to play a simpler, smarter game when away from the Igloo, not having home ice may not be such a good idea. But I can't look past the fact that it could be Staal vs. Staal if the Hurricanes prevail.

1 comment:

Fetcher said...

I liked reason #5 the best.

My little brother still hasn't spoken to me since I started ribbing him after game 7 was finished. History, no matter who is on the current roster, has to play into the minds of the teams when it's as negative as the previous series' have been between these two teams.