RECAP: GAME ONE. Tough Guys. PENS WIN.
The best part of this game was when the Ottawa Senators emerged from the visitors' dressing room and the Islanders didn't. The Penguins immediately found themselves with time to make plays and make moves. Did you notice something else in Game One? The furious rushes up ice that were the Islanders' M.O. were gone. That drop in team speed between the Isles and Sens will make a world of difference in this series.
If the Isles series did a number in the Pens' heads, they would have lost this game. Instead they came out all business.
Vokoun saw 36 shots and saved 35. Money. The Pens had one shorthanded goal all season, and they now have one in the postseason. Suprise: Pascal Dupuis has scored both of them.
Evgeni Malkin put up two more points and recorded the game-winning goal. He was in so many places last night, he was even on Jeopardy:
"I'll take misunderstood, enigmatic Russian Conn Smythe winners and MVPs for $1400, Alex."
The best part: the joke who buzzed in answered "Sidney Crosby."
If there's one thing we've all learned, it's that the first game of a series doesn't tell the tale. Game Two on Friday night is gonna be a good indication of where this series is headed. It could be another tough win, it could be a blowout, Vokoun could collapse.
Recap:
QUICK CAP: Penguins jump out to series lead with 4-1 win.
The Penguins opened up Game 1 with a statement. They outhit the Senators 40-26, and outscored them 4-1. Paul Martin scored the first goal. Evgeni Malkin, Chris Kunitz and Dupes added the rest.
Paul MacLean didn't like it.
Game Two on Friday. Full recap in the AM.
Playoff Gameday: Pittsburgh Penguins & Ottawa Senators - Round Two, Game One
Ottawa Senators @ Pittsburgh Penguins
Series Tied 0-0
NBCSN, CBC, RDS - 7:30 pm/et
Consol Energy Center - Pittsburgh, PA
Here it is: the series that the media and Eugene Melnyk so desperately wanted. The Pittsburgh Penguins and Matt Cooke, the man who absolutely-on-purpose-injured-Erik-Karlsson-and-forensic-evidence-will-prove-it-and-also-he-likes-to-talk-about-reporter-penises, will face off against the Ottawa Senators. The media sideshow is fun and all, but it's not going to win hockey games. Also, it's not fun.
The Ottawa Senators allowed nine goals in five games against the Montreal Canadiens, and three of those goals were in game two. Craig Anderson has a .950 save percentage. He's not Evgeni Nabokov. The Pittsburgh Penguins will need to be better than they were against the New York Islanders if they want to win. Much better.
Add a commentWhy the Pittsburgh Penguins are "Canada's Team"
Every year around this time, the Canadian media starts to push the idea of "Canada's Team." The theory is that Canadians should rally around the remaining Canadian team in the playoffs in hopes of bringing the Stanley Cup back to Canada. This year, that team is the Ottawa Senators.
Silver Seven Sens does a good job explaining how ridiculous this tradition is:
In Canada, the bandwagon experience takes on a strange distortion. Instead of picking a team because of a certain player, coach or back-story, Canadians on social media and throughout the mainstream media are encouraged to jump on the trolley and cheer for the only Canadian team left. All of a sudden, Canadian hockey fans are expected to support the 2011 Canucks, 2010 Canadiens, 2007 Senators and so forth. It's a curious reflex, a forced and awkward call-to-arms in favour of a sense of national pride and a need to stamp the Canadian flag (hopefully not just the Maple Leaf) on the Stanley Cup and, in turn, the sport of hockey. It's also something I could do without.
None of this matters anyway, because the Pittsburgh Penguins are "Canada's Team."
Add a commentTomas Vokoun in Net & Likely Pittsburgh Penguins Lines for Tonight
Via the Pens:
There are no changes from the line rushes from Monday.
Dupuis-Crosby-Iginla
Kunitz-Malkin-Neal
Morrow-Sutter-Cooke
Adams-Vitale-Kennedy
Glass-Jokinen-Bennett
(Jeffrey)
Orpik-Martin
Letang-Niskanen
Engelland-Murray
Eaton-Despres
(Bortuzzo)
1st PP unit: Iginla, Letang, Kunitz, Crosby, Malkin
2nd PP unit: Niskanen, Martin, Kennedy, Neal, Morrow
And via Josh Yohe:
Add a commentVokoun will start tonight
— Josh Yohe (@JoshYohe_Trib) May 14, 2013
Sidney Crosby is a Finalist for the Masterton
Another award nomination for Sid and for a member of the Penguins. From the NHL:
Crosby, 25, missed most of the previous two seasons dealing with concussion issues, and then the first half of the 2012-13 season -- along with the rest of the League -- during the lockout. Questions were asked if Crosby ever could be the same player he was prior to his injuries. Instead, he returned better than ever this season.
Crosby entered with a career average of 1.40 points per game, but in 2012-13 he had 56 points in 36 games, an average of 1.55. He also played every game for the Penguins until sustaining a broken jaw March 30 that ended his regular season. Despite sitting out the final month, he remained the League's leading scorer until the final week of the season, and he finished tied for third. Crosby also continued to evolve his game, posting a career-best plus-26 rating. He is a finalist for the Hart Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award as well.
If Crosby wins the Masterton, he would be the third member of the Penguins, joining Mario Lemieux (1993) and Lowell MacDonald (1973).
The other nominees are Josh Harding of the Minnesota Wild and Adam McQuaid of the Boston Bruins. We'd give it to Harding.
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