Faceoff Factor

Everyone said that Detroit would be able to shutdown the Pittsburgh stars on the offensive side of the puck; winning faceoffs, the great defensive play by Henrik Zetterberg and Datsyuk, the hot hand in goal of Chris Osgood, and the great puck possession game they field.  They did that.  However, that is not what won the game for the Red Wings, nor lost it for the Penguins.  The game was lost by Pittsburgh, almost from the moment they took the ice it would seem, when Marc-Andre Fleury fell coming out of the runway; a precursor to upcoming events.  

While the score ended up being 4-0, on a late powerplay goal that had little meaning, it was the first 3 goals that can be blamed on the Penguin netminder.  Many people are going to say he had a great game simply from the number of shots he faced (36), but that’s not looking at the actual play of the Pittsburgh keeper.  He played possibly his worst game in months, since before the playoffs, way back in February perhaps.  The first goal was a bad read and a slow reaction to a wrap around, something that has been fooling him lately; just look at the Philadelphia series for proof.  The second goal, he played the puck to the front of the net.  Let’s restate that, Marc-Andre Fleury, the goalie, played the puck to the front of the net with his stick instead of sending it to the corner, which would have been the safe play.  Sure, Evgeni Malkin could have done more with it, but the puck shouldn’t have been there to begin with.  The third goal, a shorthanded tally at that, was a product of a faster skater beating the Penguins to the puck, but the shot should have been stopped.  However, Fleury got caught in between decisions.  He thought about playing the puck in the corner before it crossed the goal line, changed his mind when he saw the oncoming player, and did not reposition himself to make the save on a backhander.  

This is the kind of inexperience people were referring to when they predicted the series before tonight.  While the Penguins are loaded with talent, so is Detroit.  Those Red Wings players showed up tonight, their stars, while not factors in the scoring (minus the pointless 4th goal) played like stars.  The system, was played to almost perfection.  Their defensemen handled their duties, and their goalie did his job.  The Penguins stars, played tired, and overmatched.  Evgeni Malkin had giveaway after giveaway, playing much like he did against the Flyers the previous series, and like he did last season when the Penguins lost to the Senators in the first round; poorly.  He simply looks exhausted out there.  The Pittsburgh defense was running around their own end, not clearing pucks and not making good passes or decisions, and their system was simply not clicking, including the simple task of line changing (which led to the first goal by the way).  

If Pittsburgh is to have a chance in the series their stars must show up to play, they can not rely on Max Talbot and Adam Hall to carry this team, and for the love of god, shoot the puck; 7 shots after the first period is an outrage and the players can not think that it will get the job done.  They will also need to make better plays in their zone, I’m talking to you Brooks Orpik, Ryan Whitney, and Kris Letang.  Finally, Marc-Andre Fleury has to play better.  Period.  If he plays even close to the way he played tonight they will be okay, which sounds odd if you read the previous paragraphs.  He just needs to stop trying to do too much.  Yes, he has helped his game by playing the puck more than he did before his injury, but tonight, and even leading up to tonight, he has started making bad decisions with the puck behind his net, and tonight, a much better team than the Flyers, Rangers, or Senators made him pay for it.