Clicks of the Day: Rossi on the goalies, Pensblog on Letang

By GTOG Staff

A few quick thoughts and links on the morning of Game 3.

- We started the morning asking each other whether we felt confident about the game tonight.  We feel neither optimistic nor pessimistic.  We have absolutely no idea what Penguins team will show up tonight.

- Rob Rossi has a 5-point plan for turning the series around.  The first four points make sense.  The fifth point -- that the Pens need to turn to Fleury -- is absurd:

Journeyman Tomas Vokoun was pulled from Game 2 after allowing three goals, but only because the Penguins needed a spark. He's 6-3 with a .929 save percentage and has done nothing to deserve a demotion.
Still, this moment calls for Marc-Andre Fleury.
He was the franchise goalie when the playoffs started. The Penguins need to find out if he's still up for that job. They can't if he is inserted into games only when they need a spark.
This series still can be won, and it has shifted to Boston, where Fleury is 5-1-0 with a 1.67 goals-against average and .946 save percentage over the past five seasons.
Now -- when the Pens are down 2-0 and heading on the road in the Eastern Conference Finals -- is the time to determine whether Fleury should be the Pens' goalie in the future?  

Funny, because all this time we thought the point was to actually win the game tonight.

If you think Fleury should start tonight because he gives the Pens the best chance to win the game, that's fine (though incorrect).  If you think he should start tonight because the Pens need to find out if he's still capable of being the starter, then why not go skydiving with a parachute that hasn't opened properly since 2009 to see if it still works?

- Hilarious post from The Pensblog pointing out two directly contradictory quotes about the Bruins' forecheck by Kris Letang within a matter of days.  In Letang's defense, maybe the Bruins have changed up their tactics.  But if Letang is right about their most recent strategy -- "they just wait for us to make mistakes" -- isn't that the biggest indictment against the Pens of all?  If the low response rate wouldn't embarrass us so much, we'd ask the poll question this morning: "Does Kris Letang realize he had a bad game in game 2?"

- Here's the One From the Heart video about the Kevin Stevens guarantee (5:18 mark).  Does something that happened in 1991 have any relevance on this series?  No.  But it's still fun to watch.

Click of the Day: Namaste, Rashard Mendenhall

Rashard Mendenhall cares not for material possessions. Rashard Mendenhall encourages you to let go. We encourage Rashard Mendenhall to hold on. Hold on, Rashard Mendenhall, to the f---ing ball.

How the Pens and Caps could meet in the first round: It's complicated

By Finesse (follow me on Twitter)

With a huge tilt tonight between the Caps and Jets (which I will be attending), I sat down to try to figure out a scenario where the Caps and the Pens could end up meeting in round 1.  Not only would this be a nightmare scenario for me personally (too emotional), but the Caps, led by a fully juvenated Alex Ovechkin, are potentially the biggest threat to upset the Pens in Round 1.

SportsClubStats is currently giving the Caps about a 3.4% chance of finishing with the #8 seed.  I gave myself a similar 3.4% chance of actually making this post meaningful and failed miserably, as you'll see.

There are 8 possible outcomes in any NHL game involving the Caps: 1) Caps win in regulation; 2) Caps win in OT; 3) Caps win in shootout; 4) Caps lose in regulation; 5) Caps lose in OT; 6) Caps lose in shootout; 7) I laugh maniacally at 4, 5, and 6, and 8) I pretend 1, 2, and 3 never happened.  When you try to extrapolate these possibilities over 3 remaining games for the Caps, with 5 other teams still in the mix, it becomes the following nonsense, which represents probably 10% of the possible outcomes.  I tried.

Here's what you need to know.

If the Caps win tonight in regulation or overtime, they clinch the Southeast division and the #3 seed. 

If the Caps win in a shootout, they'd eventually clinch their division if they either a) got a single point in either of their final two games (vs. OTT, vs. BOS); OR 2) Winnipeg did not win in regulation or overtime against Montreal on Thursday. 

But if the Caps lose in a shootout AND get 0 points in their final two games AND Winnipeg wins in regulation or overtime on Thursday against Montreal, the Caps get the #8 seed if they finish 3rd out of these 4 teams -- WSH, NYI, NYR, OTT.  The most likely way this would happen is if the Isles and Rangers finished with 55 or more points BUT Ottawa lost its final two games (vs. PHI, @BOS) after beating Washington in regulation on Thursday. 

If the Caps lose in regulation tonight, good.

If they lose in regulation tonight AND they get 0 points in their final 3 games, they would get the #8 seed only if the Rangers also got no points in their final 3 games.  Not likely. 

If they lose in regulation tonight, but then earn 4 points against Ottawa and Boston, they get the #3 seed regardless of what Winnipeg does against Montreal. 

If they lose in regulation tonight, then get three points against Ottawa and Boston with one of those wins coming in regulation or overtime, they get the #3 seed regardless of what Winnipeg does. 

If they lose in regulation tonight, then get 3 points against Ottawa and Boston but do not win either game in regulation or overtime, Winnipeg clinches the SE if Winnipeg beats Montreal in regulation or overtime on Thursday.  Then the 8 seed is really in play.

If the Caps lose in overtime tonight, they'd clinch the Southeast if they got more points in their final two games (OTT, BOS) than Winnipeg earned in its final game against Montreal (3 out of 4 points in their final two games clinches no matter what Winnipeg does against Montreal). 

If Caps lose in a shootout tonight, there are literally a billion possibilities and really who cares anyway?  Just miss the playoffs, please.

Got it?

Click of the Day: What's your favorite news blooper?

By Artistry

In honor of A.J. Clemente, the rookie newscaster who got the boot from his North Dakota local news station after spending his first few seconds on live TV spewing profanity, it's time to play, "Pick Your Favorite News Blooper."

Full disclosure here, I anchored local news for a few years in an earlier life, and I promise you, if YouTube existed in the 90's - or if ANYONE had been watching at all - I probably would have been fired like 15 times over. As Finesse will attest, I am prone to laughing fits of up to several minutes in duration, so it wasn't always pretty. Thoughts and prayers for these brave anchors.

Click of the Day: Eric Hartzell is Huge

We know recently signed college star Eric Hartzell gives the Penguins a blue-chipper who went 30-7-5 with a 1.57 GAA and a .933 save percentage in leading Quinnipiac - heretofore known as a place that does polls sometimes - to the Frozen Four Finals. We know it might mean changes to the Pens goaltending as we know it. But we did not know he's at the opposite end of the spectrum from the immortal Roberto Romano.

Here's Romano:

Actual Size.

Here's the new breed of Penguins' goaltender:

Click of the Day: Why Phil Kessel should win the Hart Trophy

By Finesse (follow me on Twitter)

Sounds ridiculous, right?  That's because it is.

But with all the hype about Alex Ovechkin's recently declared candidacy for the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP, why not consider the candidacy of another goal-scoring winger who dramatically lowered expectations earlier this season by woefully under-performing, thereby laying the groundwork for MVP buzz when he started producing as he should have been producing all along?

In their last 20 games played:

Team Record:

Alex Ovechkin: 13-6-1 (27 standings points)
Phil Kessel: 11-4-5 (27 standings points)

Individual Statistics:

Alex Ovechkin: 18 goals, 8 assists for 26 points
Phil Kessel: 12 goals, 15 assists for 27 points

Attractiveness, as determined by Artistry's mom

"I'm sure his mother loves him."

"At least he has his teeth."

Click of the Day: The Leisurely Practice Skate of Champions

Sidney Crosby dons the Rick Tocchet facemask, Paul Martin shows off his feathery backhand touch, and James Neal shakes off the cobwebs.

Click of the Day: Crankshaft has been playing Whack-a-Mole for ages

Last night, Douglas Murray pounded the top of B.J. Crombeen's head like pizza dough. It wasn't the first time Crankshaft brought the hammer down. Observe.

Click of the Day: Ted Leonsis's War on Truth?

We present the story of the 1978 Washington Bullets championship trophy as seen by a Washington Wizards blog.  You decide.

Click of the Day: The Standing Ovation

20 years ago last night, the most appropriate standing ovation in the history of humankind happened.