Pittsburgh and the Prince of Wales
Mike Wilson | Pittsburgh Penguins
Mar 8, 11:21 PM | Hype this story!
After Pittsburgh’s loss to Florida and New Jersey’s and Montreal’s wins, the Penguins dropped down to the four spot in the Eastern Conference playoff picture. But it isn’t necessarily a bad thing if the Penguins don’t come out on top in the east.
Most of the three teams above and the one below the cut-offs for the playoffs (ranks six through nine who have the closest shots at the eight spot) have had a pretty good history against the Penguins and everyone is looking for an upset in the top spot in the first round.
This especially holds true in the Eastern Conference where anything is possible in April.
So who are these teams who have a tendency to freeze the Penguins?
Number six: the Boston Bruins.
In the first half of the season, the Bruins weren’t much of a problem for the Penguins. However, since Boston’s play has exploded since the turn of 2008, they have been hard to stop, especially for the Penguins. Pittsburgh fell 2-1 and 5-1 to the Bs this year, and there certainly doesn’t seem to be much slowing this Bruin’s team, except, maybe, home ice advantage.
Number seven: the New York Rangers.
The boys in blue wouldn’t be a bad draw for the Penguins. Pittsburgh usually doesn’t have much problem generating offence against the Rangers, but, on the other hand, they usually don’t have much problem with scoring on the Penguins either.
If the playoffs would turn out 1.Pittsburgh and 8.New York Rangers, the defense and goaltenders would have to step up. With Pittsburgh’s current goalie controversy, that might cause a problem.
Number eight: the Philadelphia Flyers.
Up until this year, the rivalry hasn’t been as strong as NHL fans would have hoped. Pittsburgh dominated last year, winning all eight games. But Philadelphia has already won four of the five so far this year and looks much stronger than years prior.
The Penguins would have one factor to contain over the Flyers that they haven’t been able to so far this year: R.J. Umberger. The Pittsburgh native always comes to play and would only be stronger in the playoffs.
The Penguins chance would be through their offense and Philadelphia’s goaltending as Marty Biron hasn’t been as good as expected.
Number nine: the Buffalo Sabres.
Buffalo is another team that the Penguins have managed to turn around against this season compared to last (others include Tampa Bay and Toronto). The Sabres still have speed over Pittsburgh, but, so far, that has all they’ve managed to edge them in. Scoring, defense, and goaltending have all been strongholds for the Penguins. These two teams would be a great matchup for April.
So that’s a look at who Pittsburgh might draw if they won the conference.
If they would occupy the four spot, they would likely draw Ottawa. Boston, or even the New York Rangers, would be another possibility, but home ice advantage should help edge any of the above mentioned teams.
But, as we’ve learned about the National Hockey League, the playoff winners could just as easily be decided by a flip of the coin than it could be over a seven game series.
So what are some of the key factors for the Penguins leading up to the playoffs?
Chemestry.
Pittsburgh needs to get all their lines healthy and make sure they work the way they’re supposed to. If they don’t, it needs to be fixed as soon as possible as time is running short.
Goaltending.
Fleury is the franchised goaltender, but he needs to get back into the starting mentality before the playoffs hit and learn to control rebounds a little better. As for Conklin, a little more care needs to be taken while playing the puck, a back-up goaltender who comes in and gives up bad goals will only hurt come playoff time.
Lastly, toughness.
True, the Penguins have all the strength they need on the blue line, but they need it to concentrate on helping the goaltender as well. This was accomplished earlier in the season, but the addition of Hal Gill shakes things up a little. This certainly isn’t a difficult problem to face and one the coaching staff can easily handle. I suppose you could say this is a good problem to have.
So will the Penguins manage to pull it all together and make a stride for the cup? Whether they go into the playoffs with the Prince of Wales trophy as victors of the east or scrap their way in through the four/five spot, late April hockey should be looking very competitive in Pittsburgh.
No matter where they finish.
Comments
Michael
Mar 9, 10:15 AM
Re: your Goaltending statements .. just to comment on one item in your piece, here .. ..
Fleury is clearly__not__a “franchise goalie”. He’s shown no improvement nor ‘growth’ in almost 5 years of starting over 150 NHL games. He’s also mentally weak as a goalie. His rebound-control is still very bad, he has trouble moving the puck, he over-commits and takes himself out of position a lot, he still tends to go down too early, and he ranks consistently near the__bottom__of the League in save percentage. Other than that .. yeah, he’s a real franchise goalie.
People need to get beyond their blind love for this “darling” guy. Just because he was the First Overall pick 5 years ago, and because he has a nice smile and he’s “little-boy-charming” in interviews, people keep on giving him a free pass.
Conklin is a legitimate, bonafide late-bloomer who has seized a high level to his game .. and he’s proven himself right before our eyes, and yet a lot of people still cling to__unfounded__pre-conceived notions about him. Conklin has had the BEST save percentage in the League of any goalie this season! Fleury this season is down around 32nd or something.
And now .. Lo and Behold .. !! .. in an article in the ‘PG’ online today .. what does “Jack Adams Therrien” say .. !? He announces that Fleury is going to start today against Washington.
My gawd .. after that last game, he starts Fleury?! Yet-another bizarre move by this fool who can’t seem to employ common sense, and who contradicts his self-proclaimed “reward system” with a lame, wishy-washy mumbo-jumbo quote in the press.
Mike Wilson
Mar 9, 11:18 AM
Michael, I agree with you that Fleury isn’t playing like the franchised goaltender, but his contract states otherwise. He certainly needs to step up various points of his game (i.e. rebounds). Let’s not forget that he was out with a high ankle sprain for most of the season (not that this excuses him).
As for Conklin, I agree, again, that he has been the best goalie this season for the Pens. But there is a reason why he has played in so many leagues (USHL, WCHA, AHL, Germany, and NHL teams such as the Oilers, Blue Jackets, Sabres, and Penguins, and all their minor league teams). Hopefully, he can keep up his play and the Pens will have two goalies they can count on. However, and unfortunately for Pittsburgh fans, Conklin’s history suggests otherwise.
Therrien doesn’t just succeed by rewarding players, but also by punishing them through benching. He took the team from last in the league when he took over, to the fifth team in the conference.
Not to mention, he also coached a lot of Pittsburgh’s younger players in Wilkes-Barre and also George Laraque elsewhere in the league (which is a good asset to be able to control).
Ashley Gallant
Mar 9, 01:50 PM
Gotta give Fleury a lot of credit today. He kept the Penguins in the game and was a big reason why they won. He faced 38 shots in the game, including 22 in the second period alone.
If Fleury was a forward, I’d say yeah, what’s the deal, you should be playing better. But Fleury is a goalie and goalies take longer to develop. Therrien would be a fool to bench Fleury. The only way that he will get better is to let him play. If you treat Fleury like a backup goalie, he will find a team that will give him a starting role and we will be kicking ourselves for losing him.
If you look at Fleury’s stats, he has a GAA of 2.82 and a sv% of .907, which is slightly better than it was last year – the year he earned 40 wins.
This season, Fleury’s stats are what they are because of what happened in the first 6 weeks of the season, when the entire team played poorly. You cannot place all of the blame on Fleury’s head for not having the best GAA and SV%. He was playing so well when he was injured, and who knows what he might have done in those 30+ games.
Yeah, Conklin did come in and provide stability in goal, but don’t cut Fleury loose for a 31-year-old goalie who previously made his living in the minors and as a backup in the NHL. There are too many goalies who have played brilliantly for this team for one season, only to disappear from the radar. We need more time to determine whether Conklin is like the goalies of past seasons, or if he is the real deal.
Tim
Mar 9, 03:28 PM
I don’t give Fleury a free pass cause he has a nice smile or is cute. I could care less since that’s not my thing. I have seen him in person a few times and he looked solid with room for improvement. I also saw Conklin twice against the Bruins and he looked horrible. You know what though? I know he can do it cause I have seen him do it. I know Fleury can do it cause I have also seen him do it. How you pick one over the other when both have had great games and stinkers (like every goalie on the face of the earth) is beyond me. I like both these guys and I hope Conklin can mentor Fleury in a few ways.
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