Phil The Breeze (Penguins)

The Pittsburgh Penguins are one game away from winning their fourth Stanley Cup in franchise history. The Penguins were able to hold on against the San Jose Sharks on Monday night by a score of 3-1.

Can you Phil the breeze? That was just Kessel blowing through the neutral zone and creating a rebound for Ian Cole to cash in.

Can you Phil the breeze? That was the pass to Evgeni Malkin whipping by before it was expertly placed under the bar.

Can you Phil the breeze? That was Mario Lemieux’s fist pump on the Eric Fehr goal.

Can you Phil the breeze? Those are the gusts coming from the Penguins skaters all over the ice. Just ask Joe Pavelski

“You take the pass, make the read, try to make the play and then it’s not there when you’re trying to pull the trigger.…

Can you Phil the breeze? That is the wind coming through the window of the Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin era that was supposedly closed over and over again the past few years.

Pittsburgh still has work to do, but they are in a spot that many people wrote them off from being able to achieve.

Phil Kessel continues to solidify his bid for the Conn Smythe Trophy. He contributed two primary assists on the Penguins first two goals while dominating on the possession front. Kessel led the Penguins in score-adjusted shot attempts percentage with 67.46%. He leads the team in goals with ten and points with 21. Kessel's presence in the lineup is what afforded Mike Sullivan the option to play with three lines with a star on each of them. This has created the matchup nightmares which have led to the Penguins consistently outshooting teams in the playoffs. Last night was the first time the Penguins have been outshot in 12 games. The streak of 12 games ties an NHL playoff record. Phil Kessel has been a huge part of why the Penguins have had that advantage.

No player has taken more undeserved criticism than Phil Kessel the past few years. He has not let any of it faze him. He just keeps playing and he just keeps producing.

Evgeni Malkin had a power play goal as well as the great controlled entry pass to Kessel on the first goal. The assist on the Cole goal highlights the presence that Malkin commands on the ice when he has the puck. The past few games it seemed like there was never an outlet for Malkin to pass off to. It only took a matter of seconds for Phil Kessel to give him that outlet and we can see what the quality of teammate dynamic can do for a very skilled player. Malkin's process was always going to yield some results on the scoresheet and it did last night.

Malkin criticized the Penguins power play before Game 4. The power play was way more efficient in Game 4. Pittsburgh may not have scored on their first opportunity of the game but they had sustained zone time with player movement and assertive decisions with the puck. They did everything but score. The first unit eventually broke through on Kessel's tremendous pass to Geno.

It's been quite the week for Malkin and he spoke to that in his postgame interview on CBC

Ian Cole scored his first goal of the year. It is his first career postseason goal. He hadn't scored since last March. It isn't easy to drill home a rolling puck across your body like that. He deserves full marks for getting that on net with elevation and velocity.

Eric Fehr has been a pretty benign player for much of the year. His game probably fits the mold of a Mike Johnston team more so than a Mike Sullivan one. Last night he had a hell of a moment. He absolutely wired home the insurance goal on a great pass from Carl Hagelin. Fehr's goal felt a lot like the goal that Bryan Rust scored at the end of Game 6 to close out Tampa Bay. A huge relief to not play out the final minute and a half only up by a single tally.

Brian Dumoulin was tremendous. His scoring chances in the first period will get the most attention but his gap control has been on point. He breaks up so many potential zone entries by the Sharks by closing his gap and being aggressive in the neutral zone. He has completely neutered the Sharks attack when they try to enter on his side of the ice.

It wasn't all roses last night. The third period was another example of the Penguins not fighting through score-effects. For whatever reason they consistently abandon the desire to make controlled skill plays when leading games in the third period. Even players like Sidney Crosby blindly smack the puck up the wall in the the teeth of the Sharks forecheck. It was Crosby's blind rim around that led to the Karlsson goal. The Penguins didn't get a quality shot on goal until there was a little more than two minutes left in the game on Cullen's pretty curl and drag.

If you don't have the guts to use a center breakout against a desperate team that is blindly pinching their defensemen you are going to have a bad time. Fortunately for Pittsburgh they employ a pretty good deterrent in the goal cage.

Matt Murray was bad in Game 3. He was very good in Game 4. In fact he has been very good in every game following a loss in these playoffs.

Matt Murray's name has popped up in the Conn Smythe discussion and really that is all that needs to be said about the quality of goaltending Pittsburgh has received in these playoffs from the 22 year old.

The Pittsburgh Penguins will have an opportunity to close out the series on Thursday night. It will be the first time the Penguins have had this opportunity on home ice. If the Penguins are able to win it will be the first time since the 1960 Pirates that a Pittsburgh team in one of the major sports has been able to accomplish winning a championship on home soil.

Phil the breeze.

Thanks for reading!

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