What a difference a game makes. The Pittsburgh Penguins came out assertive with their game plan and it led to a 1-0 victory in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
Marc-Andre Fleury had a light workload compared to recent games and kept his standard of play at a high level. He turned away 23 shots for his 10th career playoff shutout.
This was a great game plan by the Penguins. Sitting back was doing them no favors so they activated their defensemen in the offensive zone. There were many examples of Pittsburgh’s defensemen pinching in the offensive zone by the hash marks in situations where they might have pulled back in other games. This not only led to more zone time, but it also kept Ottawa off of the attack. What made it even more impressive was the fact that the team was playing with only five defensemen (more on that later). It takes a lot of energy to activate your defense like that even when you have six guys playing. It was a real strong effort by that group of five in Game .
Here’s the evidence of their success.
Ottawa's 35 shot attempts (in all situations) was its lowest total of the season.
— Bill West (@BWest_Trib) May 16, 2017
Night and day from Game 1. Even Erik Karlsson had a rough night at the office.
The margin of victory was small. That is true. However, it took Craig Anderson being a ~.960 goaltender again to make that happen. On most nights the Penguins will get more than one goal given the shot volume advantage.
The only goal of the game came on some Evgeni Malkin zone entry wizardry and Phil Kessel’s ridiculous release.
Geno is doing some work and Phil made an incredible adjustment on the initial blocked shot. The reason the puck went in wasn’t because it was a laser. It was because Phil’s release was so quick that Anderson could not get set.
You’ll notice that Phil had one of his more emotional celebrations scoring the goal. It was a huge moment in the game, obviously. However, Phil was spicy and emotionally engaged the entire evening.
Phil Kessel and Evgeni Malkin verbally joust after a shift. Sullivan has to calm Geno down pic.twitter.com/KTuidhd9GO
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) May 16, 2017
Give me all the Phil Kessel footage pic.twitter.com/d6ez6iL8Ju
— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) May 16, 2017
It’s funny how these things have the potential to take on a life of their own. If Phil doesn’t score you know there would be stories about a rift between he and Malkin.
Sean Gentille of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette summed up this sentiment nicely here
Wrote about Phil Kessel. https://t.co/7UlLQXFgXS
— Sean Gentille (@seangentille) May 16, 2017
He did score so it was the outbursts that caused that to happen. Neither is true. Hockey can get emotional and players will sometimes blow off steam. Mike Sullivan said it best.
“It’s hard to be ultra-competitive in the absence of emotion. It’s emotional. They’re heated for all the right reasons – because they’re invested…
Sullivan on Kessel: "He's all in. He wants to win. Quite honestly, I think the rest of our team gets a kick out of him." pic.twitter.com/qq9uvqtCGs
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) May 16, 2017
All you have to do is take one look at Chris Kunitz in that clip above to know that last part is absolutely true.
There were some negatives to take away from this game. They were injury related. Both Justin Schultz and Bryan Rust left the game in the first period and did not return. Schultz hit the boards awkward and looked to have an upper body injury that is going to cost him some time. How much time? We should get an update today or tomorrow.
That leaves an empty spot on the right side of the Penguins defense. It leaves the Penguins without their best defenseman on the right side even if time on ice doesn’t line up with that assessment. Trevor Daley has been skating before the team practices everyday and probably not quite ready for game action. That might open the door for Mark Streit to make his playoff debut with the Penguins.
Bryan Rust was leveled in the middle of the ice by Dion Phaneuf. The hit was predatory in nature, but there is strong debate on both sides whether or not the principle point of contact was Rust’s head. That argument won’t change the fact that Rust has a likely concussion from the hit. It also won’t change the fact that the NHL is still embracing the hit to hurt culture which will eventually cost them millions in a lawsuit.
Patric Hornqvist took warmups and then did not play. Carl Hagelin returned to the lineup in his place. Given the fact that Hornqvist was taking warmups I don’t believe it will be something to keep him out of Game 2 which is good news if Bryan Rust is unable to go.
The series will shift to Ottawa on Wednesday night. Hopefully the Penguins strategy from last night comes with them.
Thanks for reading!
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