Last night the Pittsburgh Penguins put on one of their most impressive performance of the current post season to date. Winning 3-0 on home ice over the New York Rangers, the series sits tied at 1-1. Up and down the lineup it was an impressive performance from Pittsburgh, and with Game 3 tonight in New York, they will be looking to ride that momentum to a second straight victory.
Thoughts on the Night
Fleury (photo courtesy of Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
Fleury is the most criticized goalie of the past couple seasons in the playoffs. He has earned the criticisms, and he would likely be the first to tell you that. Average goaltending doesn’t win you Stanley Cups nowadays. There is too much parity around the NHL, so any advantage or disadvantage is crucial in winning a playoff series. Fleury has been a disadvantage for the past couple seasons, and even this year he has once again been below average. But Fleury played great last night stopping all 22 shots he faced on way to his 7th career playoff shutout. Fleury is clearly a goalie that needs confidence to be successful, so this shutout could end up being a turning point in this series. If he can play at least as good as Lundqvist, Pittsburgh’s chances to advance increase significantly.
Fleury was downplaying his contributions on the night "I just tried to stop the next one," he said. "Just tried to keep us in the game. We were playing so well. It wasn't the busiest night but just tried to keep it there."
Meanwhile Kris Letang had this to say about Fleury’s performance "He played outstanding," Letang said. "I think he's been playing really good since the beginning of the playoffs. He kept us in the game, made some big saves at key moments. He was our best penalty killer out there."
Crosby
Crosby has been receiving a lot of criticism for not scoring goals in the playoffs lately. He is the best player in the world, and with that comes a certain level of expectation from the hockey world. Not scoring goals looks far worse on Crosby’s stat sheet then it does on a guy like Rick Nash’s stat sheet. Simply because of inflated expectations. Up until last night Sid has appeared as though he was less engaged, less tenacious, has had less time on ice, and looks less “Crosby” than usual. All of this has led to speculation that he is battling some sort of injury, which is not out of the realm of possibility considering the punishment he takes on a daily basis. However scoring goals is not the whole story. Crosby still has 6 points in 9 games, admittedly far below the usual offensive production. But goals and points don’t tell the whole story. Throughout the Playoffs Sid has posted some great puck possession stats throughout:
| CF% | CF% Rel | FF% | FF% Rel | PDO |
| 60.9% | 8.7% | 59.7% | 6.5% | 94.8 |
Clearly he has been suffering from some bad luck, his SH% is a mere 5.1%. He has never posted such a low Sh% and it is affecting his stats line significantly. At some point this should turn around, even one goal could create a floodgates type situation, at least Pittsburgh and their fans hope this is the case. All this was to show that Crosby has been far from a liability for Pittsburgh, and last night was the first indication of taking his game to a whole new level.
He was dominant on the ice. He was driving the net, making incredible individual plays and was setting teammates up for quality scoring chances. He turned it up. He once again was held off the score sheet, but he was an important factor in the victory for Pittsburgh and it’s only a matter of time until the puck starts going in for him. New York better hope they knock Pittsburgh out of the playoffs before that happens.
Letang
Kris Letang had a great night last night, with one goal and two assists and over 25 minutes of ice time. Letang had his best game of the playoffs. He was skating well and making smart plays at both ends of the ice. Jumping into the play at the correct times and not getting caught out of position. He is starting to find his game again and was a key factor in the victory. He is an important part of driving offense from the backend for Pittsburgh which opens up space for Malkin and Crosby up front. He needs to continue making smart plays offensively so that the forwards can find a little space to create chances down low. Letang’s goal was the 15th Playoff goal of his career, which moves him into a tie with Hall of Famer Larry Murphy for most postseason goals by a defenseman in Penguins history.
Rangers Fatigue (photo courtesy of Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
The Rangers have fallen victim to a nasty bit of scheduling in these playoffs. They will be playing their sixth game in nine nights tonight and their second back-to-back of these playoffs. Last night they looked tired. Outshot 34-22 and the Fenwick chart (below and courtesy of extraskater.com) took a significant turn midway through the second period. They lost their legs, and Pittsburgh was all over them from that point forward. They had their chances early on in the game on the Powerplay, and if they had been able to convert on one of their four first period powerplays this game likely would’ve had a different outcome. They will need to find another gear tonight before they find themselves down 2-1 in this series.
This article has quotes and photos courtesy of NHL.com and extraskater.com