Pens fall to Bruins, 1-0; Season ends with a whimper

By Finesse (follow me on Twitter)

[Listen to the Game 4 recap podcast below or on our Spreaker page. You can click here to subscribe on iTunes, or download the Spreaker app for iPhone or Android]



If pucks could talk, Jarome Iginla's wrist shot at the final buzzer would have let out a feeble whimper as it landed almost apologetically in the glove of Tukka Rask.  It was a fitting and symbolic end to a series the Pens deserved to lose and the Bruins deserved to win.  Now armed with a body of work that reads like an inventory of a losing team's most-favored excuses -- a hot goalie, injuries, a bad goalie, and no good bounces -- the Pens have another long offseason of soul-searching ahead.

Read on for the burial...

When a team loses in such a spectacularly disappointing manner, the brain can pull you in two opposite directions are the same time.  There's the reactionary "fire everybody, Crosby sucks" approach, and then there's the "I'll just wait a few weeks and let this pain fade away so that when I decide what changes I want to make I will have tricked myself into thinking we were just a few bounces away" method (aka, The Full Leonsis).

The truth for Ray Shero and the Pens is somewhere in between, but he'd be wise to not waste the opportunity that comes with having your team so thoroughly embarrassed for the world to see.  Though the systematic errors are glaring and the individual failures are spectacular, the common thread that binds the last four playoff disappointments was woven at the Herm Edwards School of Simplicity: the Pens don't do the right thing often enough.

It's less important what that right thing is, and much more important that the Pens either can't identify it or can't do it.  The Pens started the Eastern Conference Finals playing the right way, but couldn't sustain it when it turned out that Boston was not going to be like Ottawa and pour the accelerating lubricant for the Pens' glide into the next round.  So the Pens stopped playing the right way for the next 5 periods and instead dug the first three feet of their own grave.  And once the Pens identified the problems in the way they played in games 1 and 2 and tightened up defensively, they could not, shot-differential be damned, consistently generate anything resembling the high quality scoring chances that the Pens would need to beat a locked-in goalie like Rask.  The Pens may spend the next few weeks feeling sorry for themselves for not catching a single break over 8 periods in Boston, but that would obscure the fact that the Pens rolled over when things didn't come easily in games 1 and 2, and couldn't persevere in games 3 and 4 once they finally seemed to grasp the idea that winning playoff games is supposed to be hard.

The Pens would have eventually broken through on Rask had they continued to play the way they did in games 3 and 4, but you don't get an "eventually" in the playoffs.  And, given this team's track record of mixing random slices of inexcusable chaos into their discipline sandwich, what indication is there that the Pens could have sustained their overall solid performances in games 3 and 4 anyway?

It doesn't matter what might have happened in a game 5 or if the Pens had taken the lead at any point in one of these games because they didn't.  It doesn't matter if the Pens were playing the right way when they went out because they went out.  By design, the playoffs require excellence across a small sample size; whether the Pens were trending in the right direction when they went out is irrelevant.  There's already a trophy for trending well over a large amount of time.

Comfort food for GTOG.

It's an indictment of everyone in the organization that the Pens went out this way, so it's hard to pin more blame on any one person than it is on another.  Ray Shero's acquisitions didn't get the team any further than it would have gone without those guys, and it's easy to argue that getting both Morrow and Iginla stagnated a team that simply didn't need both of them.  It's great to have a fancy shoe collection, but you can only wear one pair at a time.  Dan Bylsma added to an ever-growing resume of presiding over inexplicable performances, and when he finally recalibrated his team in one area (defense), he seemed to do it at the expense of another (offense).  Crosby, Malkin, Neal and Letang had no points in 4 games, and while that will almost certainly never happen again over any future 4-game stretch, it still happened.  And the supporting cast, supposedly the deepest in the league, didn't hold the fort while the stars got it together.  It was a total failure by everyone.

Last night's game was exciting only because it was meaningful -- if that game happens in December, it's a total snooze fest, the kind of game where if you DVR'd it, you'd actually get mad at your roommate for NOT spoiling the score and warning you against spending three hours watching it.  It's admirable (and appreciated because we watch all 82 games of it) that the Pens try to play hockey the way most people want it to be played; you know, with actual goals and excitement.  But the Pens have to be careful not to martyr themselves as the paragon of the way hockey should be played.  Because while it might be nice to enjoy the spoils of the afterlife -- like the MVP and Norris Trophy that could be coming in a couple days -- the bottom line is that you're dead.

Raw Emotion Podcast: The End. Pens lose, 1-0

Pens could have played all weekend. Still wouldn't have scored.

We talk about Game 4, Bylsma's future, the Bruins' defense, late-payment forgiveness, and so much more. It's the GTOG Podcast.

Listen below or click here. And as always, click here to subscribe on iTunes.



**If you're listening on your smartphone, the best ways to make sure that you have an uninterrupted experience are: 1) download the podcast from iTunes OR 2) download the Spreaker app by going to the App store and searching for "Spreaker" then "Get To Our Game"**

Some random follow-up thoughts on the Pens' double-OT loss to Boston

By GTOG Staff

Listen to the below or click here. And as always, click here to subscribe on iTunes.



[If you're listening on your smartphone, the best ways to make sure that you have an uninterrupted experience are: 1) download the podcast from iTunes OR 2) download the Spreaker app by going to the App store and searching for "Spreaker" then "Get To Our Game"]

The more we think about Game 3, the more we end up thinking about games 1 and 2.  The Pens probably win that game last night 53 out of 100 times. Unfortunately, they don't play best-of-100 series. Which is exactly why you can't give away 2 playoff games in a series -- at home, no less -- and expect to win 4 of 5 against a very good team when you're pretty close to dead-even with that team when you're both playing at your best. The Pens played really well last night, but all it does is shine a light on the stinkers in the first two games. We know the Pens can play as well as they did in game 3. We still have no idea why they can't do it more consistently.

No shame in losing Game 3. Great shame in being down 3-0.

Unable to put together any sort of cohesive reaction to last night, here are a bunch of random things we're thinking about, in no particular order.

- Along with the misfortune of having just faced down the barrel of a 3-0 series deficit last spring, we have the advantage of knowing exactly how this could work. Take advantage of Boston's inevitable if slight psychological shift in Game 4, when they cannot possibly match the Pens sense of desperation. Score 10 goals in the game (Note: will settle for 3. OK, 2.).



Come back to Pittsburgh and score a tight 3-2 victory. Suddenly, everything is in play. Even losing 5-1 in Game 6.

- Malkin was the best player on the ice last night, and it wasn't particularly close. He gets an A+ for generating scoring chances. But you don't win games with scoring chances. It's hard to think about the 21 shot attempts without thinking about the fact that none of them went in. It's a distinct talent to generate the types of chances that Malkin generated last night; it's also a distinct talent to finish the chances. Some of last night was just being snake-bit. The rest is him needing to be better at finishing.  If he was a running back, he'd have been taken out at the goal line.

- The Mike Alstott to Geno Malkin should be Jarome Iginla, but you could make a low-light reel of all the juicy rebounds that have bounced over Iggy's stick in the last month.

- Sidney Crosby was terrible early, but got much better as the game went on. A really strong defensive effort. But that's like complimenting your gardener for not tracking mud in the house. It's not what Sid is paid to do.

- The most disappointing part of Sid's game has been the power-play. It's expected that when teams load up to stop a guy at even-strength, they will usually have some success doing that, especially with players as good as Boston has. The power-play is the time to shake loose from those shackles and at least get comfortable having the puck on your stick. Sid hasn't done that at all. Dreadful on the PP.

- The PK was wonderful last night. PP was the real culprit.

- In moment of candor, would Ray Shero admit that he would have traded Brendan Morrow back to Dallas after Iginla fell in Pens' lap? And would he admit that after getting Morrow, he only got Iginla to keep him away from Boston? Because they're largely redundant. The Pens needed one of them. Not both.

- 7:09 on the PK for Craig Adams. What a performance. If he buries that slapper that hit the post in OT, the city probably names a steel mill after him.

- Refs on "let's take 'em both" patrol are the worst.

- Bylsma is deservedly getting a lot of heat. Arguably his worst stat from last night: Joe Vitale played 9:38 and only took 3 face-offs. If that's all you're using him for, why is he playing over Jokinen and TK, when the team's biggest issue against Boston has been an inability to score?

- It's one thing to dress Vitale if you think you need what he brings. It's another thing entirely to dress Vitale and then act like you don't even want him in the lineup. This really confuses us about Bylsma -- he insists on dressing guys in whom he has no confidence giving even a semi-regular shift. It's not like he doesn't have options.

- Speaking of TK, as we discussed on the podcast, he would have been a real asset in OT.  The one thing he never lacks is energy. There's potential for a great match-up against a tired team in OT.

- We've reached the point in the season where we're asking for more Tyler Kennedy. In other news, the Pens are about to get swept.

- Lineup changes for Game 4. Niskanen can't play with Letang. Have to keep Cooke with Geno and Neal. Bennett should stay and get PP time. BB is one definite bright spot heading into next season.

- The Pens scored 10 goals in Game 4 against Philly last year. The Pens also scored 12 in games 1-3. The Pens have 2 goals in 11 periods this series.

- The series isn't over so we're not in the mood to make pronouncements about the off-season. Except for one. Marc-Andre Fleury has got to go. This shouldn't be hard decision, and in light of the decisiveness of Shero's handling of Jordan Staal last year, we expect it will happen quickly. It doesn't matter who else is available. Fleury is not a winning option going forward.

- The way he's played this season, the Pens should feel very fortunate that Vokoun is signed through next season. He can't play 65 games. But the games he plays, he usually plays well.

- For as much talent as Letang has, and as high as his ceiling is, the Pens haven't really accomplished anything with him since he's been the team's best defenseman. Yet he's so gifted that you have to start wondering if a different coach could get him to play the right way more often. Whether here or elsewhere.

Podcast: Pens fall, 2-1, in heartbreaking loss

Pens fall 2-1 in double OT. A heartbreaker. Pushed to the brink of elimination.

[Spreaker is a little slow today for some reason, so it may take a minute to download]

Listen below or click here. And as always, click here to subscribe on iTunes.



**If you're listening on your smartphone, the best ways to make sure that you have an uninterrupted experience are: 1) download the podcast from iTunes OR 2) download the Spreaker app by going to the App store and searching for "Spreaker" then "Get To Our Game"**

Story of our lives right now.

Podcast: Pens dominated by Bruins in Game 2, 6-1

Well that was terrible. The Pens were completely dominated by a terrific game from Boston and then compounded it with an all-time stink-bomb. We chronicle it all, LIVE on the GTOG Podcast, after the final whistle.

Listen below or click here.

The Prime Minister's face.

Penguins vs. Bruins: Tale of the Tape

By GTOG Staff

[You can find the preview podcast here]

It's Eastern Conference Finals Eve, Boston vs. Pittsburgh, when thoughts of Mario Lemieux torturing Ray Bourque swirl in our heads, somewhere Andy Moog is waking up in a cold sweat, and the Tale of the Tape between these two titans becomes urgent and required reading. Our thoughts and prayers are with Ulf Samuelsson's right thigh, which is to this day still traumatized by Cam Neely's carelessness. And we wish Vladimir Ruzicka the best in his quest to forget everything that happened after his 5-point performance in Game 2 in 1991. Let's break this down.

Obstacle Overcomability

This is always our most important category, because it defines the NHL playoffs. If you can play, you can play, but if you can't overcome adversity, you can't win. The Bruins had that historic comeback against the Leafs when they were down three goals in the third period of Game 7, and down two goals with 1:22 left in regulation. Amazing, unprecedented stuff from the Bruins. But you know what else is amazing? The fact that the Toronto Maple Leafs took a 4-1 lead in Game 7 against Boston in Boston. You don't give Bill Clinton credit for still being married to Hillary because no one gets obstacle overcomeability points for overcoming themselves.

The Penguins saw Marc-Andre Fleury - arguably their most important piece of the playoff puzzle heading into round 1 - melt down against the Islanders. They're still meshing as team and figuring out who belongs in the lineup. Their captain and best player is only now setting aside a face shield that - believe it or not - limited his effectiveness. They face enormous external pressure to win and win going away. And all the Penguins are doing is getting better.

EDGE: Pens.

Read on for the rest of the categories ...

Emergeability

The bad news for the Pens is that this is one Tale of the Tape category that they can never win, at least as currently constituted.  Unless like 8 guys get hurt, we're not seeing anyone play whose ceiling we don't already know, or at least have a pretty good idea.

"Brian Dumoulin is not walking through that door!"

Torey Krug redefined emergeability in the Bruins' series, scoring 4 goals in 5 games.  But it may not even be the right kind of emergeability.  Claude Giroux showed great emergeability in 2008-09 against the Pens, then blew the doors off emergeability in '09-'10 when the Flyers went to the Cup.  That was the right kind of emergeability -- he emerged into a much better player than anyone thought he was.  What Krug did was so unexpected that it raises the question: was this emergeability or flashinthepanability?  Regardless, the Bruins may use three rookie defensemen at any point in this series.  Pretty sure everyone on the Pens has been in the league for a dozen years.

EDGE: Bruins.

Coiffability

Hair is about appearance, but it's also about trust. And if you can't trust your captain's hair, how can you trust your captain?

Here's Bruins' captain Zdeno Chara winning the Stanley Cup.

He looks like any other 6'9" man struggling with hair loss, probably figuring that no one will see the top of his head.  But here he is at the parade a few days later.

Are we really supposed to believe that it's natural for a 30+ year-old-man to magically patch-up his male pattern baldness in a few days?  Get real.

Zdeno made a deal with the devil to win that Cup. Now the debt has come due.

EDGE: Pens. 

Sex Appealability

Time to check in with the Women of GTOG for their thoughts on this always crucial factor.

Mrs. Artistry: Edge, Penguins.

Artistry's Mom: Edge, Penguins.

EDGE: Pens.

Legacyability 

This is a forward looking category -- think 10 or 15 years in the future and ask yourself whose legacy is more positively or negatively impacted by winning or losing this series.

In the upside department, the Pens have more to gain, if only because they have two players who will be far more memorable than anyone on the Bruins.  If the Pens go on to win the Cup, Crosby and Malkin each get a second Cup and become, without any further question, the two defining players of the salary cap era, which would instantly come to be known as the Sid and Geno Era.  And because of their popularity and excellence, the Penguins become the defining post-lockout team.  Fair or not, that's how life works.  If Boston wins, then they can make a better argument for having the best team post-lockout, though there will still be plenty of other teams making a case in what would be an ongoing debate.  From an individual perspective, outside of Chara, the Bruins aren't really defined as individuals -- if  they win the Cup, they'll basically have 6 or 7 guys who will be remembered like Patrick Elias is remembered.  (I mean that as a compliment).

Such a memorable face.

If the Pens lose, it won't put any sort of choker label on them, but it will be devastating.  A total wasted opportunity.  And if the Bruins lose, does their 2011 Stanley Cup deserve an asterisk because they didn't have to go through Crosby and Malkin to get there?

All of this is a long way of saying that it will be awesome if the Pens win so that we can make fun of the Bruins' Cup in 2011.

EDGE: Pens.

Spurnability 

We've made our thoughts on Jaromir Jagr clear this week, but to summarize: we're basically out of thoughts on Jagr.  It is the classic it-is-what-it-is situation.  He didn't want to play for the Pens last year.  We're over it.

"I ain't over it."

Iginla's spurning of Boston is much fresher, though unlike Jagr and unlike Marian Hossa in 2008, the Bruins never really had Iginla.  They wanted him; he wanted someone else.  There's a big difference between your rival stealing away a girl you just met at the bar and stealing away your girlfriend.

Nevertheless, this will be made into a story all while being downplayed by the Bruins' players.  If Boston loses the series, they will continue to downplay it.  But if they win?  Boy, did we show him!

EDGE: Bruins.

Annoyability

The Islanders were annoying in the way that it's annoying to play pickup basketball against a guy who hustles and sets a lot of screens.  He's not doing anything wrong, but who wants the hassle?  The only annoying thing the Senators did was make you feel guilty for beating them so badly.

The Bruins are a whole different animal in this department. Brad Marchand and Milan Lucic are this year's Wayne Simmonds and Scott Hartnell -- you want to laugh at them like you do to a Chris Neil, but they're actually good players.  Nathan Horton's face when he scores is Cammalleri-esque.  Gregory Campbell's dad works for the NHL -- not his fault, but also not our fault for hating him.  Pierre McGuire will verbally fellate Patricie Bergeron the first time he makes a good defensive play on Crosby.  Tyler Seguin has 1 goal in 12 games, so he will probably score a hat trick Game 1, and then you'll read stories about him being part of  the Phil Kessel trade and then you'll be like, "I'm already disgusted and now I'm being forced to read about Phil Kessel?"  David Krejci is going to make some sick pass that embarrasses Matt Niskanen, and then McGuire will scream, "KREJCI'S IN HIS HEAD, DOC! DAVY KREJCI IS IN MATTY NISKANEN'S HEAD, DOC!"  Jaromir Jagr will make a diving motion at Crosby while we furiously Google "Paul Pierce wheelchair."  And you know at least one of their rookie defensemen is going to goad Evgeni Malkin into a bad penalty.

You will see this face. Just be ready for it.

The Pens have their share of annoying tendencies, but there's a huge difference between the two teams.  The Bruins can win by getting under your skin.  The Pens can get under your skin by winning.

EDGE: Bruins.

Stalwartability 

Dejan Kovacevic wrote about the Letang-Chara "match-up" the other day and figured that whoever outplayed the other one would win the series.  But in reality, it's not quite that simple.  Letang doesn't need to outperform Chara -- he needs to prove that he can do for the Pens what Chara can do for Boston.  As great of a player as Letang is and can be, he hasn't anchored a defense to a Stanley Cup the way Chara did for Boston in 2011.  When the Pens won the Cup in 2009, Letang averaged 19:18 of ice time per game in the playoffs, the fifth most among Pens' defensemen, and finished with a +1 rating. When the Bruins won the Cup in 2011, Chara averaged 27:39 per game and was a +16.

This isn't to say that Letang can't do it, just that he hasn't.  Yet.  So far this post-season, Letang is averaing 27 minutes per game and could realistically end up leading the playoffs in scoring by the time it's over.  He's been that good.  But it also isn't getting any easier.

Chara isn't a target for Letang to beat. He's a measuring stick.

EDGE: Bruins.

Leadability

"I'll take this one, guys."

I like to look at life as a fraternity. Right now the fraternity is me, Tom, Drew, Aar, Joe, Eli, and Pey. I see a lot of that fraternity within these teams. You got Sid, who I'm close with, I feel comfortable just saying to him, 'hey, you know, Sid, if you ever need to shoot some ideas around or pick my brain, me and Ash will have you over any time.' Geno, too. Now they bring in Brend' and 'Rome. Boston is full of great leaders, too. It started with John. Then you had John Quincy. Bill. Larry. Now Tom. I look at their team and I see Looch and March and Kre and 'Deno and it looks a lot like a brotherhood to me. So I just keep doing what I'm doing, controlling what I'm controlling, whether it's going 8-8 with the dink-n-dunk or winning 2 Super Bowls with me throwing deep to 'Twan, 'Tone, and 'Tonio. You know, whatever the team needs. And I see a lot of myself in Sid. This one's for 'Rome.

EDGE: Pens.

Intangibility

This category is less about the more commonly discussed intangibles like leadership, toughness, want-to, really-want-do, sorta-want-to, and definitely-want-to than it is about the ultimate intangible -- whether the invisible hand of destiny will decide to intervene.  The Pens don't really have anything in this department; for Boston, the question is whether the whole Boston Strong movement in the wake of the marathon bombings is going to be an emotional factor in this series.  It's hard to imagine that it's still going to be, given the amount of tributes, anthems, Sweet Carolines, and all of the other sports-related ceremonies and memorials that have been done already and, of course, the fact that the Pens have already played there in the immediate aftermath (and won).  If anything, the emotional toll and the toll on convenience from the manhunt was a negative for Boston: they closed the regular season by going 2-5 and then nearly (and probably should have) lost to Toronto.  Now things have returned to normal and the Bruins are rested.  That's a scarier thought than destiny intervening.

EDGE: Bruins

FINAL SCORE: 5-5

Predictions

Boston can and might win this series.  They are a really good team without a lot of weaknesses the Pens can exploit. But if the Pens are who we all think they are, the Pens will win this series.  An eight day break leaves a lot of time for breaking down specific match-ups, but it all comes back to the most basic match-up: who has better players?  Unless something weird starts happening, the Pens don't have any glaring weaknesses that Boston can exploit to overcome the simple fact that the Pens have more better players.  Not much better. But better.

Pens in 6.

Pens-Bruins preview podcast: Oozing with analysis, emotion, and predictions

It's our Pens-Bruins Eastern Conference Finals preview podcast.  How does the long delay affect the series? Which Bruin do you fear the most? What's the deal with the Tortorella firing? All that, our predictions, and so much more. It's the GTOG Podcast.

Click here to subscribe on iTunes

**If you're listening on your smartphone, the best ways to make sure that you have an uninterrupted experience are: 1) download the podcast from iTunes OR 2) download the Spreaker app by going to the App store and searching for "Spreaker" then "Get To Our Game"**

TWITTER: Follow Artistry. Follow Finesse. Follow GTOG.

Penguins vs. Bruins: Does Pittsburgh's regular season sweep of Boston matter at all?

By Finesse (follow me on Twitter)

The Pens swept the three regular season games against the Bruins this year.  They were all very well-played one-goal games.  Does it matter?  Let's take a look back.

March 12th: The Sutter Game. Pens win, 3-2

What happened: The Bruins led 2-0 with under 7 minutes left in the third when Chris Kunitz got the Pens on the board and Brandon Sutter blacked out and woke up with his two biggest goals of the season. Highlights here.

What we wrote:

Almost immediately after Tyler Seguin scored to put the Bruins up 2-0 with 6:30 remaining in the first period, the Penguins started cobbling together one of their finer efforts of the season, even though they spent the next 33 minutes getting shutout by a goalie whose name was either a Mexican restaurant (Qdoba) or the Supreme Leader of Iran (Khomeni). If the Pens had gone on to get shut out, we would not have been overly discouraged. 

Relevance for Eastern Conference Finals: This was the Pens 6th win during the 15 game winning streak, and was the second game during the streak where the Pens started winning with good defensive efforts.

Read on for more...

March 17th: Joe Vitale, Game-Winner, Pens win, 2-1

What happened: Joe Vitale hit the turbo boosters and scored the game winner late in the first period. Highlights here.

What we wrote:

The Pens' winning streak hit nine games yesterday, but even more impressive, their play-the-right-way streak reached five games. In the last 5 games, the Pens have given up 1, 2, 1, 0, and 1 goals. In the 4 games before that it was 6, 3, 4 and 4. Both goalies are playing well and even though we disagree with Bylsma scratching Despres, it didn't matter yesterday. Whatever buttons he's pushing, it's working.

Relevance for Eastern Conference Finals: This was the Pens 9th win during the 15 game winning streak and Vokoun made 31 saves. But the Pens were outshot in this game 32-18, including 12-3 in the 3rd.

April 20th: The Iginla Game, Pens Win, 3-2

What happened: Jarome Iginla and Kris Letang scored enormous power-play goals in the 3rd period to break a 1-1 tie and clinch the #1 seed in the Eastern Conference.

 

What we wrote:

By any advanced statistical measure, the Bruins dominated the game against the Pens yesterday. By traditional measures, like discipline, beastmodeness, and final score, the Pens came out on top. ... For all the trades Shero has made, picking up Tomas Vokoun may still be his best. Pens are probably out of this game in the first period if Brent Johnson is in net.

Relevance for Eastern Conference Finals: Optimistic takeaway is that the Pens were outplayed and still won. Pessimistic takeaway is that the Pens were outplayed.

So, does any of this matter? The Pens went 3-0, but it was by no means a dominant 3-0.  The Pens got very good goaltending in each victory and scored some timely late goals in two of the three wins.  These teams are close. Very close.

But there was one major thing missing from each game that suggests Boston has yet to see the Pens' best punch.

Missed all three games.

Remember: Goliath kills David 99 times out of 100. A recap of Pens-Sens

By Finesse (follow me on Twitter)

The widespread hope coming out of the first-round dogfight was that the pressure coming with being a heavy favorite and having three straight bad series losses in the playoffs would be relieved and the Pens would finally play up to their potential.  Check that box.  This victory over Ottawa was as lopsided as it should have been.  The Pens were way better than Ottawa and they played like it.

There are areas that still need tightened up, but no team is without flaws.  And while other teams may be better in certain areas than the Pens, no team comes as close to having everything as the Pens.  A lot of teams have a really good top 6; the Pens have a top 6 that has the runaway two best players in the league. A lot of teams have a good bottom 6; the Pens have a bottom six consisting of 6 guys who each fit a specific role, and do it well.  A lot of teams have a good defense; the Pens have 6 guys who are playing better each game, and look like they have their worst hockey behind them.  A lot of teams have defensemen who can generate offense; the Pens have Kris Letang.

It's true that the Pens have achieved only what they have been expected to achieve -- beating a #8 and #7 seed.  On paper it seems like no big deal, but consider: The #2 and #3 seeds in the East are out.  The #2 and #3 seeds in the West are out, and Chicago is one game away from being out.  The best compliment you can give the Pens right now is that they are as dangerous as we all thought they'd be.

Before we get to Boston in the next few days, let's recap this series.


Series MVP: Kris Letang

We give the guy as much shit as anyone, but he was consistently the best player in this series and it wasn't all that close.  The guy is a human 3-on-2.  In the first period of game 6, Sutter won a defensive zone draw to Letang, who simply took the puck and skated directly up the ice so quickly that the Pens had a 3-on-2 before the Senators even knew what happened them.  Who even does that?  It wasn't a special play and the Pens didn't get some weird bounce.  Letang simply got the puck, went straight, and the Pens had a scoring chance.

If it wasn't for some memorable errors -- and he's made several in the first two rounds -- Letang would be near the top of anyone's Conn Smythe list.  If he can just cut down on those mistakes in the next round -- and pairing him with the recently re-steadied Mark Eaton makes that more likely than ever -- it's entirely possible that Letang could win the Conn Smythe.  He's that good when he plays that good.  If that makes sense.

Pens MVP to date: Tomas Vokoun

The Pens score in bunches, and those bunches are usually (and understandably) followed by lulls ranging from brief to extended.  After Letang put the Pens up 3-0, the Pens didn't get another shot for almost 7 minutes.  The Senators had the puck the whole time, including twice on the power play. Milan Michalek scored, but that's all.  Vokoun never gave up the goal that would have given the Senators life, and holding the fort through that lull is the definition of timely goaltending. The Pens' next shot was Malkin's goal, which essentially ended the series.

Pivotal moment of Round 2: The first two minutes of the second period of Game 4

After the Pens blew Game 3, they came out and were as dominant as ever during the first period of game 4.  Yet somehow (ok, Letang was prominently involved) they were down 2-1.  Against a lesser team, this would have given the Senators life.  But the Pens snuffed that out when Kunitz and Iginla scored 40 seconds apart.  The Senators may have been hoping for some sort of reprieve.  Those 40 seconds pretty much confirmed that Ottawa had no choice in the matter.

Signature moment of playoffs so far: TK's breakaway goal in Game 5 against the Islanders

Winning this series with relative ease may obscure how perilous the situation was after Game 4 against the Islanders.  No one knew what to expect from Vokoun, the Isles were swelling with over-confidence, and the Pens were forced into several lineup changes just to keep up.  TK's brilliant finish proved that even if the Pens don't technically have a Plan B when "get to our game" isn't working, they have a lot of guys who can execute Plan A.

Again, Iginla's face in this picture.

Unsung hero: Brooks Orpik

Orpik came back before Game 4 against the Islanders, and while that game turned out to be a nightmare, it was not his fault. (See if you can remember who we blamed). Since that game, the Pens are 6-1, Orpik is a +7, and he hasn't been a minus in any game.  He's not a superstar by any means, but he always plays like a grownup and has helped the Prime Minister start playing like one of the best defensemen in the league.  Orpik's ideal usage is as the third best defenseman on a team -- that's his destiny, and he's living it near-perfectly.

Emergability Winner: No one

Ottawa had unlimited candidates to emerge during this series as a better player than anyone though. It's tempting to pick Colin Greening because he scored three goals, but at no point during this series did anyone go, "oh shit, Colin Greening is on the ice." Kyle Turris also had three goals, but they were of the someone-has-to-score variety.  The Pens prevented any Senators from emerging, and instead exposed them as entirely dependent on great goaltending.

That you probably don't know who this is proves the point.

Adjustments for Boston: None.

The Pens may have finally found the lineup that works.  As long as Eaton isn't getting exposed like he did for a few games in Round 1, the defense isn't getting any better than it is right now.  Tyler Kennedy is a must-dress for the remainder of the playoffs, Brenden Morrow seems destined to play a huge role against the Bruins, and having a healthy Jussi Jokinen on the 4th line is a luxury the Pens can afford.

Who needs to do a lot more: Brandon Sutter

We're not going to slam the guy too much while the Pens are essentially on a 7-game winning streak, but he had no points against Ottawa and has only one point in 11 playoff games.  The Pens didn't need him against the #7 and #8 seed, but he could make their job against Boston a lot easier if he shows up for Round 3.  Because everyone on Boston will show up.

Two random things to watch going forward

1) Is Kunitz fully healthy? He's been sitting for extended stretches at times during the last two games.

2) Guess who played the fewest minutes for the Pens in Game 5: Jarome Iginla.

Final Word on Ottawa

Penguins-Bruins was destined to happen. Ottawa was a small bump in the road and the Pens were riding on 28s.

At least the Pens aren't playing Detroit, plus a thought on Jarome Iginla

By Finesse (follow me on Twitter)

We lamented the Pens' bad Game 3 loss, then quickly regained our perspective and realized things weren't that bad.  More evidence that things aren't that bad:  The Pens could be playing the Red Wings.

Good read from Dejan Kovacevic about the Pens' misuse of Jarome Iginla, especially on the power-play.  As we wrote yesterday, there's simply no point in having him stand on the goal line feeding Letang and Malkin for one-timers.  Beyond his points, Iginla had a dramatic effect on the Islanders series -- you'll recall he almost killed Evgeni Nabokov in the first period in Game 1.  And then the Pens went on to score at will against Nabokov for the next 6 games.  Coincidence?



There's an argument that was the simplest yet best play the Pens have run all postseason.

Again, please.

Penguins-Senators Series Preview: Tale of the Tape

By GTOG Staff

Round 1 was like a boat ride in choppy waters after doing 23 tequila shots with a chaser of spoiled milk. Now we have to look at Chris Neil for the next two weeks.

Ottawa just steamrolled Montreal in five games by a combined score of 20-9. Erik Karlsson is back. Jason Spezza is practicing. Eugene Melnyk is investigating. The team is capable of revisiting that bizarre gladiator introduction again at any time. Anything can and probably will happen when the Sens take on the top-seeded Pens in Round 2. All we can do is handicap this matchup. Who has the advantage? Read on for the GTOG Tale of the Tape...


Obstacle Overcomability 

The Penguins overcame their late-season obstacles in the first round by eliminating the obstacles.  The Prime Minister and Crosby returned from serious injuries and Brooks Orpik and James Neal escaped their injury scares relatively unscathed.  Had any of those guys missed even one additional game, the Isles series easily could have gone 7.  And if it was the Prime Minister or Sid missing another game,well, we don't even want to think about what could have happened.

Wrong Prime Minister, but the point remains the same.

The Senators, on the other hand, have made obstacles their bitch all season. Erik Karlsson missed 31 games, Jason Spezza missed 43 games, Milan Michalek missed 25 games, Jared Cowen missed 41 games, and Craig Anderson only played in 24 games.  They're basically the 2011 Penguins, only if Evgeni Malkin (Erik Karlsson) had returned late in the season and Sidney Crosby (Jason Spezza) had returned to practice to tantalize the opposition even though there was almost no chance of him playing (oh wait, that last part happened).

The Senators may go down, but it won't be without a fight.

EDGE: Sens.

Coiffability

Paul MacLean's mustache called Dan Bylsma's goatee in January and said, "Look, you're embarrassing yourself, your franchise, and your city. Just go." We know about the power of Pascal Dupuis' beard when it reaches full capacity, but we're not there yet. Not even close. And the MacLean 'stache is in full flower.

Wonders why there's always a hair in his food.

EDGE: Sens.

Sex appealability

Let's turn this one over to the Women of GTOG.  Again, all picture selections are made by GTOG's Executive Committee.

Mrs. Artistry: "He looks befuddled. This is not a characteristic that I desire when considering who to bed."
Artistry's Mom: "He looks like a demented walrus…not appealing."

Mrs. Artistry: "The missing tooth and crazy eyes make him look inbred."
Artistry's Mom: "He looks like Skeletor."

Mrs. Artistry: "Intense. I'd do him."
Artistry's Mom: "I do not deal with toothless."

Mrs. Artistry: "I want him to clean my house shirtless, and then to make sweet love to me. (J/k babe, but he does look pretty good in this picture.)"
Artistry's Mom: "MMMMMMM"

[Ed. note: We did not tell them how old Crosby was in this picture]

EDGE: Pens.

Tabloidability

The Ottawa Sun is destination reading for tabloid-style hockey reporting.  Their top Senators columnist recently wrote a whole column about the relative size of his testicles, for God's sake.

We're against anything that results in bloggers using the word "classy."

But the Pittsburgh tabloid-style newspaper -- the Tribune Review -- is nothing to scoff at when it comes to bizarre reporting.  Josh Yohe is usually pretty solid, but Rob Rossi practices what we like to call Guesspecuporting, a hybrid of guessing, speculation, and reporting where no one can tell the difference between one or the other. And a new hero is emerging, however, to give the Sun a run for its money in the tabloid department, and his name is Deron Cookacevic.

Deron Cookacevic: not the love child of Daequan Cook and Radoslav Nesterovic

Deron is the alter ego of usually revered columnist Dejan Kovacevic when he slips into full Ron Cook Poetry mode.  A recent gem from Deron Cookacevic:

Go ahead, it won't bite.
I mean, come on, Penguins 4, Islanders 3 in OT!
Series winner!
(Crickets.)
Just not feeling it, huh?
Understandable, I guess.
An optional morning skate.
With a handful of participants.
All doing defense-free shootout drills.
Or if they even cared all that much.
But they did care.
They did win.
They did make it through.
Thank you, Islanders.
Or unraveled, I should say.
Yes, they do.
Now, imagine the opposite.
And boy, did the Penguins need it.
We'll find out.
No crime in that, right?
Come on, breathe already.

Impressive work, Deron, but there's just not enough about your balls in there.

EDGE: Sens

Emergeability 

This is a new category, but it's a huge one. When you're playing a team of lesser reknown, a team with more of a lunch-pail mentality like the Senators, there are always players who sneak up on you. There's someone on that team who you've heard of, but maybe never noticed as much as you should. Someone like Travis Hamonic or Andrew MacDonald or Casey Czikis (SP? We don't care) on the Islanders. These are players who were barely on our radar before Round 1, and they emerged as far better players than we or probably anyone outside of Long Island gave them credit for.

You don't know who this is. But you might soon.

For the Sens, how about Jean-Gabriel Pageau? We have no idea who he is, but apparently he had 3 goals and 2 assists in 5 games against Montreal. (All 3 were in one game. But still). Jakob Silfverberg and Cory Conacher could be in line to burn a third defense pairing of Engelland and Murray, and big bodies like Zach Smith, Matt Kassian, and Guillaume Latendresse will try to hammer the Pens' skill guys at every turn.

On the other side of the ledger, who on the Penguins has yet to emerge? We know everyone's ceiling. Isn't the only question whether or not the Pens will play to the level we already know they can reach? Exactly.

EDGE: Sens.

Walrusability

EDGE: Sens.

Achillability

This category has to do not with the mythological Greek hero, but the tendon of the same name - specifically, the durability and integrity thereof. Senators all-world defenseman Karlsson came back at unrealistic speed after having his tendon accidentally sliced by the well-meaning and virtually angelic Matt Cooke. That's impressive. But Karlsson's Achilles gets demerits for attacking Cooke, who wasn't even watching the play. This was akin to Karlsson sucker-punching Cooke and breaking his knuckles on Cooke's nose, IOO. For shame.

EDGE: Penguins.

Game Fixability

Alex Ovechkin has made it clear after the Caps' devastating elimination from the playoffs last night that the league is now involved in fixing games.

No wonder Ovechkin doesn't have a ring: who still makes phone calls?

Well, who does the league like better than the Penguins?!

Gary Bettman obviously fixed the Islanders series for the Pens by forcing the refs to call Brain Strait for holding in overtime of Game 3, so why wouldn't he do it again to ensure that the Pens will at least get to the Eastern Conference Finals?  Is there a Kickstarter we can contribute money to for this?

EDGE: Penguins

Leadability

On the Senators side there is no shortage of leadership.  Daniel Alfredsson is revered and is longing for a Stanley Cup in the twilight of his career as much as anyone on the Pens.  Sergei Gonchar made Evgeni Malkin cry tears of gratitude last year and they weren't even on the same team any more.  Chris Phillips has played for the Senators for a thousand years and his male pattern baldness just screams out, "Follow me."

"Get behind me, because you may not want to look at the front of me."

But let's be serious.  Daniel Alfredsson could rescue a hundred garment workers in Bangladesh and it wouldn't be a fraction of the veteran leadership that is oozing from the pores of Brendan Morrow and the much-cooler-than-Chris-Phillips bald head of Jarome Iginla.

There's no comparing these bald guys.

EDGE: Penguins

Game breakability

The least competitive of all the categories.  The Senators get a lot of contributions from a lot of guys, but outside of Erik Karlsson, who is a danger to put up 3, 4, or 5 points in a game? We're fully prepared for the fact that a lot of these guys are going to be better than we think, but who really puts fear into you?

The Pens have like 9 guys who can get multiple points in a game and they can all do it in the same game.  And as the Islanders' series showed, the Pens don't have to be playing particularly well to score.  Recall Game 3, where the Pens were down 2-0 midway through the first period, then scored 3 goals in less than 6 minutes. This is why Twitter is so dangerous for Pens fans.  Just when you're ready to bury a Penguin, you look up at the TV and the guy has at least two points.

The best way to evaluate a category like this is to put yourself in the shoes of the opposition's fans.  Sure, we aren't comfortable with the Pens ability to protect leads and keep the scoring down.  But if Ottawa is up 3-1 heading into the third period, how comfortable do you think their fans are protecting that lead?

BIG EDGE: Penguins

SCORE: 5-5

PREDICTIONS

The Islanders series was a reminder that unless Tim Gleason is prominently involved, playoff series victories don't come easily. The Senators have unlimited heart and there's no doubt that they will quickly earn the Pens' respect. But when in doubt, take the team with at least 8 of the 10 best players in the series.

Artistry: Pens in 6
Finesse: Pens in 7

And don't forget that Ottawa once hung this outside the visitor's locker room.

All's well that ends well: Pens win 4-3; Isles sent packing

By Finesse (follow me on Twitter)

Check out the recap podcast by listening below or clicking here.



When Brooks Orpik redeemed himself for nearly decapitating Sidney Crosby last month by firing a laser beam past a completely overmatched Evgeni Nabokov to send the Pens to the second round, the immediate euphoria was quickly replaced by a sense of relief.  With a team as seemingly loaded as the Pens, a first-round loss to the 8th season Islanders was unthinkable.  The fallout would have been impossible to contain.

Now all we have to do is contain the emotion.

But when the story of the 2013 Penguins is written, no one will care that the Islanders outplayed the Penguins for long stretches of this series.  The Confederacy won a lot of battles in the Civil War, too.  The playoffs are supposed to be hard. The Isles were able to capitalize on shaky goaltending by Fleury and make the Pens start feeling a little bit of doubt (fine, a lot of doubt), but the Pens did what winners do: they finished games.  Dominating the puck for two and a half periods like the Isles did is great; having world-class players making world class plays to win playoff games is better.  So if you're wallowing in the Pens poor performance for much of Game 6, you may find some solace in the most elementary aspect of the sport -- the clock.  Hockey games are 60 minutes for a reason: it's usually a long enough time to allow the better team to win.  Or at least get to overtime.

The Isles were a worthy foe.  But the better team won this series.  What this performance foretells for Ottawa is for another day.  Let's wrap this thing up.  A full breakdown of the series after the jump...


Series MVP: Tomas Vokoun

For a team that's being widely criticized even though it won the series, there are no shortage of legitimate series MVP candidates.  Malkin is tied for the lead in playoff scoring, Crosby was sensational, Pascal Dupuis constantly scores goals, Jarome Iginla had the quietest 9 points ever scored, and Letang and the Prime Minister finished with a combined 12 points and a +8 (I know, seems crazy).

But this is a fairly easy one.  The situation after Game 4 was getting a little too dire for anyone's liking.  The Pens had played a lot better in Game 4 than in Game 3 and probably should have won -- after all, the Isles only had 24 shots and gave up 4 goals.  It was clear that Fleury's terrible play was starting to affect the team's overall play.  It's very hard to "get to your game" when every shot you let up is its own roller coaster ride.

Tomas Vokoun came in and gave the Pens a baseline of competence in net.  His first period of Game 5 saved the series from slipping away in horrifyingly embarrassing fashion.  And for the rest of Game 5 and Game 6, he did all the Pens need their goalie to do: not lose the game.  In Game 6 he never let the Isles get a two goal lead and every shot against wasn't the tumultuous journey of emotion that we experienced with Fleury in net.

It shouldn't be up for debate.  Vokoun should start Game 1 against Ottawa.

Underrated performance: Jarome Iginla

Iginla had nine points in six games and flawlessly delivered every cliched quote you want from your revered Canadian veteran ex-captain.  We know he isn't the player he was ten years ago, but he's a first-ballot hall-of-famer.  The points he's racking up may come quietly, but they aren't by accident.  And look at his face in this picture celebrating TK's goal in Game 5.

Worst performer: Mark Eaton

The Pens went 20-3 with Mark Eaton in the lineup during the regular season, so the guy still has gas in the tank.  But after all-time stinkers in Games 3 and 4, he was replaced for Game 5 by Simon Despres, who the coaching staff only trusted for 6:12 of ice time in Game 3.  In other words, this was the get-Eaton-off-the-ice strategy.  It's hard to diagnose exactly what went wrong for him because he is usually So Serviceable.  Maybe the Isles' speed was a problem for him. Whatever it was, the guy looked completely overwhelmed.

He will be back in the lineup during these playoffs, and possibly even for Game 1 against Ottawa.  In the meantime, we'll all start trying to forget about his performance in this series.

Overrated storyline: Kyle Okposo

How many times did NBC Sports show the Kyle Okposo highlight reel package, which was basically him getting credit for two goals being scored by Marc-Andre Fleury, followed up by a nice move through the Pens defense but not actually scoring on Vokoun?  The guy is a good player, but the notion that he was having some kind of Claude Girouxian series against the Pens was ridiculous.  Fine, he beat up Matt Niskanen, but so has Sidney Crosby.



Unsung Hero: The Penalty Kill

With the game tied at 2, the Pens killed off two Islanders power-plays late in the second period of Game 6.  It's impossible to overstate how important these kills were.  The Pens were playing terrible hockey and the Coliseum was coming to rolling boil.  There was a serious chance of an unraveling had the Isles taken advantage.

Overall the PK killed off 18 of 20 power-plays.  That's Dance of Champions stuff.

Turning Point: Tyler Kennedy screaming for a pass at the top of his lungs

Listen to this guy call for the pass.



And what an insanely good pass by Letang.

Underrated storyline: Andrew MacDonald's broken hand

The guy was averaging over 23 minutes of ice time before he got hurt in Game 4.  Sure, the injury was largely his fault because he got hit with a shot while bear hugging Craig Adams, but still, it was a tough break for the Isles.  His replacement Radek Martinek was a veteran, but he was a veteran of a bunch of terrible Islanders teams.  And it showed.  Imagine if when Brooks Orpik was injured the Pens best option as a backup was Josef Melichar.

Series Goat: Evgeni Nabokov

It's not that he let in a ton of bad goals, though there were a few of those.  It's that he didn't make a single memorable save all series.

Crosby is saying "thank you" in this picture.

Most vexing player: Kris Letang

The guy makes more $8 million plays than any other defenseman in the league.  But he also makes more $500K plays than any defenseman in the league who thinks he's going to be worth $8 million in free agency.  That we know Letang is bipolar doesn't make it any easier to watch.  He's emotionally abusing us.  But damn, is he good.

Lasting legacy of this series:  TBD

The immediate impact of winning this series is that it relieves the suffocating pressure to get out of the first-round.  The long-term impact is yet to be written, but the obvious question is whether this was the beginning of the end for Marc-Andre Fleury.  If Fleury gets back into form and leads the Pens to the Cup, then this series is a mere hiccup on his resume and it will end up being about as memorable as Pens-Sens in 2010.  But if Vokoun leads the Pens the rest of the way, or if Fleury comes back and craps the bed again, then what happened in Games 2-4 is potentially franchise altering.  We'll cross that bridge when we come to it, but we probably haven't seen the last of the Flower this spring.

Next.