Tuesday, May 27th, 2008 by Adam Wagner
Shutout again.
The Penguins were pathetic for a second straight game en route to being shut out by a dominant Red Wings’ team that seems bound and determined to prove that these Penguins aren’t ready to fly just yet. The goalie, the offense and particularly the defense just look painfully anemic right now and if success is to come, the whole entire team will need to step up its game.
Marc-Andre Fleury has begun to look like the shaky version of himself again instead of the dominant one who was present throughout these playoffs. He is again giving up long rebounds and is, therefore, again surrendering easy scoring opportunities. The rep on Fleury before last year’s playoffs were that he wasn’t a big game type of player. The good Fleury stuck around for a while, basically since he returned from his injury, but now the bad Fleury is back. The second goal tonight was just terrible, as the puck slipped between Fleury’s legs and to a spot where Tomas Holmstrom just had to push it over the line.
Of course, Fleury is not all to blame for the Penguins’ failure. Probably most at fault was the defense, which continuously let the Red Wings have the neutral zone and build speed on their way into the Penguins’ zone. By doing this, the Penguins’ basically surrendered a third of the ice to the Red Wings’ skaters and also allowed the Wings to dictate the tempo of play, something that can not be allowed to happen, especially on the road.
The offense was also downright abysmal for the second straight game, failing to register a shot for a significant portion of the first period and missing several wide open scoring opportunities. Also, the stupid penalties really need to stop. We get it, Ryan Malone, you’re a power forward. Now score one or two goals.
Michel Therrien also needs to manage to not panic. Yes, hindsight is 20/20, but in messing with the forward lines that worked for the last two months based on the result of one game, Therrien accomplished absolutely nothing. The Penguins’ have world-class players who are comfortable with each other and who are capable of playing through whatever problems they are having, but if you throw in the additional challenge of trying to find chemistry with another new set of linemates the final task just becomes that much harder. It really isn’t necessary and is not conducive to success.
In an attempt to make some light of things, Sidney Crosby played a solid game despite not scoring. He was one of the few Penguins who appeared to have some jump all night tonight along with, probably, Gary Roberts.
The Penguins aren’t as bad as they’ve looked over the past two games and the Red Wings probably aren’t as good. Hopefully, though, both teams will return to their average playing abilities, because the Penguins would then have a chance to win the series. If that doesn’t happen, then sorry Pittsburgh, but this series is probably about over.
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