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Game 6 Post-Game comments by coach Dan Bylsma
Courtesy of Pittsburgh Penguins
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Penguins notes for Monday, semifinals on tap against Ottawa
When I built the case for Tomas Vokoun in Game 3, I did so largely out of his stunning numbers against the Islanders in the month of March. It wasn’t because Marc-Andre Fleury struggled in Game 2 of the quarterfinals matchup, though that was hard to overlook, it was because the Penguins would have been foolish to do the same thing over and over again and expect different results.
The series against the Senators will be different. Right off the bat, goaltending numbers by Fleury and Vokoun against Ottawa are not all that different. Fleury went 2-0, with a 1.44 GAA and .951 save percentage. Vokoun won his only start versus the Sens, stopping 34 of 35 shots in a 3-1 win April 22.
Vokoun worked out of a bases-loaded, eighth-inning jam in Round 1 and got the save. Did he do enough in the eyes of coach Dan Bylsma to earn another start in Game 1? That really depends on the thought process of coach Bylsma. On paper, there’s no way Vokoun doesn’t continue starting. He showed against the Islanders he can stand up to the pressure and take the rapid-fire shots Fleury couldn’t.
Can you imagine the satisfaction Vokoun already feels by coming through in the postseason? He hadn’t even played in the postseason since April of 2007 and that was with an offensively-challenged Nashville team that surely left little room for error between the pipes. The 36-year-old Czech is getting closer and closer to getting on with his life’s work by the day -- he has to relish every moment in the second season.
It’s conceivable coach Bylsma goes with Fleury at the start of the series to shake him out of his doldrums, to get him back on track. If the Flower turns his postseason performance around, then the Penguins can continue using him going forward as the number 1 goaltender the team thinks of him to be. But if he falls flat once again, it wouldn’t be too late to make the switch to Vokoun without getting too far behind in the series.
Personally, I can see the logical behind starting either goalie against Ottawa. The fact that Vokoun is so much older than Fleury and just wants to be part of a winning team makes it easier for coach Bylsma to go back to the Flower without risk of offending the goalie that got him to Round 2.
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New York needed someone other than John Tavares to shoot the puck. The Islanders needed a sharpshooter like James Neal, for instance. With the extreme number of scoring chances the Isles came up with, Neal would’ve been deadly.
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Speaking of James Neal, he led the Pens with three goals and four points in two games against Ottawa in the regular season. Neal had a quiet series against New York, scoring one goal in four contests after coming back from injury. Neal will benefit from the four days off as much as any Penguins player. Sens goalie, Craig Anderson, can be beaten by tough left-handed shots and Neal matches up nicely against the netminder.
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If you’re on Twitter, you have to follow the owner of the Ottawa Senators, Eugene Melnyk -- at least for the Pens-Sens series. His Twitter handle is @MelnykEugene
Here’s what he tweeted out over the weekend.
Eugene Melnyk @MelnykEugene
Some tweets we get from #Pens fans are profanity filled. That's classless - it's just a game. You are embarassing your city, team & players.
Thoughts? What else did you expect from a forensic Matt Cooke expert? Again, make sure you follow Mr. Melnyk before he shuts down his account and quits tweeting.
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@ShutDownLine
Corey Sznajder does a nice job breaking down the Pens and Isles. He takes a comprehensive look at the teams numbers
here.
He lists the best and worst Penguins performances for Game 6 below
Best EV Forward: Pascal Dupuis +5
Worst EV Forward: Chris Kunitz -7
Best EV Defenseman: Kris Letang +1
Worst EV Defenseman: Matt Niskanen -8
Sznajder also writes that the Islanders out-chanced Pittsburgh, 25 to 12. If you like numbers, the article is riveting.
The only problem I have with the metrics of the story is that Brooks Orpik’s game-winning goal is not considered to be a scoring chance.
“Their game-winner in OT was also from too far away of a distance to be considered a scoring chance … “
Tell that to the New York Islanders.
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Hey, the Penguins won their first playoff series in the Consol Energy Center era!
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When Matt Cooke passed the puck cross-ice to the left point to Brooks Orpik 12 seconds before he scored, I swear to you I thought of Darius Kasparaitis scoring his unexpected game-winner against Buffalo more than a decade ago.
Don’t you hate when people say things like that!
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Did the Pens get Sarge and Alfie at the trade deadline? I can’t remember.
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If you enjoying reading newspapers from the city the Penguins play against, I suggest following the Ottawa Citizen for news information and the Ottawa Sun for well, tons and tons of vacuous nothingness.
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Sens center, Jason Spezza, is close to returning from back surgery. He’s practicing with the team and the Penguins have to expect him to play in the series, possibly as soon as in Game 1. Spezza has scored 16 goals and 42 points in 33 games against Pittsburgh – good for 1.21 points/game. The only team Spezza has averaged more points against is the Tampa Bay Lightning (1.26).
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Links ‘n At
"What we learned: The Pittsburgh Penguins have to get rid of Marc-Andre Fleury," according to
Yahoo! and Ryan Lambert.
"Penguins star center Malkin uneasy about NHL playoff start," the
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports.
"Pens must adjust, but not in net,"
Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports.
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The Penguins are looking for a few good guys and/or girls. Here’s a
link to a job opportunity and a couple internships. Just make sure someone learns how to spell “maintenance” for the staff writer internship position.
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Treasure Life!
JT
PS -- An entire entry without a mention of Sidney Crosby -- don't expect that to last.
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