Pittsburgh Penguins @ Boston Bruins
Bruins lead series 2-0

NBCSN, CBC, RDS - 8:00 pm/et

TD Garden - Boston, MA

We've all spent days blaming various players, disecting different plays, cursing and speculating about which goaltender would be in net. Guess what? None of that really matters. The Pittsburgh Penguins as a team were terrible in game two. It was one of the worst games we've ever seen them play and it came off of a game one that was pretty bad as well. If that team comes out tonight, they will lose.

What we saw in game two wasn't even a team. It were a collection of individuals who all seemed confused as to why they were dropped onto the ice for a hockey game. It was bad.

The good news? It really can't get much worse. Of course, it easily could get worse and then we're all in trouble.

The Pittsburgh Penguins know that. They know that this is a unique collection of talent that will likely never be assembled again. They know that they've been given all of the tools they need in order to succeed. Ray Shero made the moves, the organization spent the money and people like Jarome Iginla and Brenden Morrow came to the Pittsburgh Penguins in order to play for a Stanley Cup. If they lose tonight, it's over. And not just for the season. A lot of these players won't be back next year. This chance to assemble a ridiculously talented line-up like this one is a one-time thing. If they lose tonight, this team is history.

Sure, they'll have at least one more game to play, but coming back from a 0-3 series deficit isn't exactly easy or likely.

The Pittsburgh Penguins need to win tonight. Then they need to win game four. Then they need to head back to Pittsburgh and redeem themselves for the two terrible performances that they put on in games one and two. That's a tall order. The Boston Bruins are a very good hockey team. But so are the Pittsburgh Penguins. They haven't looked like it, but they are.

The real good news? The series is 2-0. A Penguins win tonight makes it 2-1. Given how awful games one and two were, we'd take a 2-1 series in a second.

We've all been incredibly disappointed and even shocked by the way the Pens have played in this series. But tonight is their chance at redemption. This is their chance to show everyone that they're not a collection of entitled individuals. This is their chance to show that they actually want to win the Stanley Cup, not just that they say they want to win it. It's their chance to prove that they're a team and an incredibly good team at that.

Who knows if they'll do it, but if they don't, they'll join another Penguins team from exactly 20 years ago that had amazing talented and couldn't get it done.

The Penguins players are not dumb. They know what's at stake tonight. The question is: can they deliver? Actually, that's not the question. Everyone knows that they can deliver.  The real question is: will they deliver?

Holy god:

h/t @m4tt_tobin

That's probably a headline you never thought you'd read, right?

Despite losing in seven games (and blowing a 4-1 lead in the third period of game seven that was unlike anything we've ever seen) the Toronto Maple Leafs have had more success against the Boston Bruins than any other team in these playoffs. That means that, maybe, the Pittsburgh Penguins can learn something from them.

So, how did the Leafs have success against the Bruins? For that information, we look to our friends at Pension Plan Puppets. 

Vokoun is in for Game 3, Marc-Andre Fleury may be out in Pittsburgh forever.

Is that over the top? Maybe. But think about what is going on. Down 2-0, and in their biggest game of the season the Pens aren't starting their number one goalie.  

And, they aren't wrong about it.

The goaltending change the other night was not the same as Fleury getting his job back. But when Fleury gave up that back-breaking goal late in the first period, that was more or less the ending of his hold on the number one spot in Pittsburgh.

For some reason this shocks people, and we know, Fleury had great regular season numbers, but look at reality. Fleury has been terrible in the playoffs of late, and overall he just is not the goalie everyone in Pittsburgh thinks he is. SBN's Travis Hughes laid this out as clear as day last month.

Game 3  tonight is a money game. Crosby and Malkin are paid for games like this because the Penguins believe they are the best in the game and that they will make a difference. Marc-Andre Fleury is paid for a game like tonight, but comparsions ends there.

The Pens have a pretty tough row to hoe. Losing the first two games of a series at home and then coming back to win 4 of the next 5 possible games? And in the Conference Finals, a.k.a. the Stanley Cup semifinals?

Only one team has ever done it. The 1944-45 Red Wings:

It was against the Bruins, so that may count for something. Too bad everyone who played in these games is probably dead.

Overall, teams have faced the Pens' current situation 17 times in the Conference Finals, and they are 1-16 in the series. (We've been informed that Bob Grove mentioned this stat in the pregame show before Game Two. That's why Grove is the real deal.)

When you consider every round of the NHL playoffs, teams in the Pens' current situation fare way better, going 18-61, which is a .295 winning percentage.

The 1996 Penguins are one of those 18. And now a look back at that series against the Capitals:

Solid. Game 3 intro will be so emo.

Via PHT:

Like we saw in the game, they don’t really forecheck us, they just wait for us to make mistakes, and we actually gave them what they got, and we have to be better with the puck, without the puck, defensively, in all areas of the game.

Curious statement from Letang, and not really sure what he means. Hopefully a reporter asks him a follow up question next time, instead of looking at his hair.

Mike Colligan had this piece before the series began. [ THW ]

Letang was quoted:

Letang: “Boston is similar to Ottawa.  The (first forward) is in really hard on you. The second one is coming in, and the third guy is up high. Their defensemen are conservative on one side, but on the far side they’re aggressive.”

LOL WUT?

For now, we're gonna look back at this game: