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No Crosby, no Malkin, no Kunitz, no Letang, no Maatta, No Orpik, no Goc, no problem.
The Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Colorado Avalanche by the score of 3-2 via the shootout. The Penguins were missing some serious talent in the lineup but worked hard and earned the victory.
The work ethic from the Minnesota game on Saturday when compared to the output exhibited against the Avalanche was night and day.
Marc Andre Fleury was the driving force behind the victory, he earned the #1 star of the game and rightfully so. He looked very very good. Good sign with the playoffs just around the corner.
Brandon Sutter had the Penguins 2 goals while he and Lee Stempniak look to build on their chemistry.
Crosby, Kunitz, Maatta, and Orpik were sitting out for “injury reasons…,but that is just a polite way of saying that the Penguins wanted to rest their players because they can.
The Penguins are locked into their playoff position, every decision they make right now is geared towards the playoff. The effort on Saturday night against the Wild by the Penguins was a product of players just going through the motions in an effort to not get hurt. Instead of going through the motions the Penguins gave some of their players the night off.
I do feel bad that this happened to be a game in a Western Conference city, the Penguins only make one visit per year and it does stink that Denver was not able to see either Crosby or Malkin. One of my favorite parts of the new NHL schedule is that every team plays in every building. I like the idea of star players playing in every city.
That said the Penguins earned the right to manage their roster how they see fit because of the lead they built up in the Metropolitan Division.
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The Colorado Avalanche have had a great season to this point and they are a very nice story, but I have concerns about their viability come playoff time. Some of their underlying numbers remind me of the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Avalanche are way way better than the Maple Leafs (obviously) but the combination of a low possession rate and high PDO is similar to the Leafs.
Since the trade deadline the Avs have been one of the worst possession teams in the league:
Just ahead of Buffalo you have Toronto (39.1%), Edmonton (43.2%), Washington (43.8%) and Colorado (44.2%).
— David Johnson (@hockeyanalysis) April 6, 2014
They have also had a high PDO the entire season
The combination of low possession and high PDO is not a sustainable business model. The Avalanche have a great thing in Colorado, but it looks like they will have to wait another year before they can consider themselves legit contenders. I predict the Chicago Blackhawks will make short work of the Avs.
The Avalanche defense corp. is the area of the team that needs the biggest upgrade. If Matt Niskanen were to make it to free agency the Avs would most certainly kick the tires on that front.
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The Stanley Cup is back in Pittsburgh today. If you want to see the Stanley Cup it will be presented as a part of Pop Up Canada which is going on now in the Steel City
Evgeni Malkin is getting his injury re-evaluated today. It is believed he has a hairline fracture.
James Neal reflects on the kind of changes he needs to make to be successful in the playoffs in an interview with Dejan Kovacevic. You can find that here.
Happy Birthday to Pascal Dupuis
Thanks for reading!
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