The Metropolitan bracket could be decided as soon as tonight with a Pittsburgh victory. If so the Penguins will play the surging Tampa Bay Lightning. Washington is going to do their best to at the very least delay that scenario. The Capitals have played good hockey against the Penguins this series and it isn't a reach to say that they could be the ones leading the series 3-2.
Here are some keys for both teams in tonight's game
Pittsburgh
If Pittsburgh gives up another five power plays like they did in Game 5 (series high) the chances they give up a couple of goals is probably high. The Capitals power play has consistently generated chances against Pittsburgh this series and in the last game they cashed two of the opportunities in. That means no needless retaliation penalties on plays that don't matter. All year long Mike Sullivan has stressed how that isn't their game and the team is super focused on skill and speed. The team needs to exhibit that in Game 6.
Matt Murray needs to give the team another quality start. Not only for the obvious reason that it gives the team the best chance to win but to silence the ludicrous idea that Marc-Andre Fleury is somehow a better option at this point for the team. Murray's current .937 save percentage (all situations) is better than Fleury's career best playoff run in 2008 (.933). Fleury's career playoff save percentage is .906 and he hasn't played since March 31st. This conversation is one of the dumbest ones out there at the moment.
Murray has been great but Holtby has had an even better post season. He leads the NHL right now with an all situations save percentage of .947. There is little room for error no matter who is playing net for Pittsburgh given Holtby's caliber of play.
Give the stars some help. Team depth is way better than it has been for Pittsburgh in recent memory but the stars aren't mythical creatures that can do everything on their own. Evgeni Malkin hasn't had top six caliber wingers this entire playoff run. Patric Hornqvist according to both player and coach did not have a good Game 5 and deserved to be benched. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin need their wingers to support them in creating time and space. Mike Sullivan may need to temporarily break up the HBK line at times to give Crosby and Malkin better support. If you recall Malkin also played great with Kessel and Hagelin. Again, this doesn't have to be an all game thing but get creative to get the most out of the super stars.
Kris Letang has one multi-point game this postseason. That was an every other game accomplishment during his regular season stretch which gave him some Norris Trophy consideration. Letang is so very important to the team and he can certainly drive the offense necessary for victory.
John Carlson was Game 5's worst possession player. He now has Brooks Orpik as a partner for Game 6. Pittsburgh needs to take advantage of Brooks Orpik playing top pairing minutes. While Orpik is better than Nate Schmidt or Mike Weber the Capitals don't give those guys top minutes. It would be one thing if Orpik was getting similar bottom pairing minutes but he won't be. Pittsburgh's speed needs to take full advantage here.
One of those Phil Kessel snipes from the wing would do nicely. The team needs to find out how to get him the puck in the neutral zone with speed. He came incredibly close to beating Holtby on one of those shots in Game 5. If he gets multiple looks it will happen.
Washington
Let Alex Ovechkin do his thing. The more Alex Ovechkin individual shot attempts the better I like his chances of scoring a goal. Here is his track record in the playoffs so far
The best goal scorer of his generation is going to find a way if he is allowed shot volume. He leads the NHL playoffs with 125 individual shot attempts.
Braden Holtby as mentioned above is the best goalie in the playoffs right now. Here is the context with all situations adjusted save percentage courtesy of War On Ice:
The sample size taken was from 2007-present. If Pittsburgh is fortunate enough to claim victory in Game 6 or 7 they will get the fourth best goalie in that time frame with Ben Bishop.
Evgeny Kuznetsov has been bumped to the Ovechkin line. He was tremendous at even-strength this year. If he is able to play to his caliber he will set up the guy I discussed above with lots of great opportunities. He is also capable of creating for himself. He still only has two assists in the playoffs in 11 games. If Nicklas Backstrom is going to take a back seat there needs to be some results on this front.
Washington has led the Penguins in driving even-strength play with 270 shot attempts versus 249. That is supposed to be Pittsburgh's strength and the Capitals have done a great job at nullifying it. Stay the course on this front and a victory is likely with their goaltending play.
Game is at 8PM, enjoy.
Thanks for reading!