Penguins find ways
Fleury, experience play big roles in success
In the NHL playoffs first round, the Columbus Blue Jackets often played well enough to win and yet lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins in five games. The Washington Capitals also have looked dominant against the Penguins at times but trail 2-0 in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinals.
“What I love about our team is our competitive spirit, just finding ways to win,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said.
Here are five other reasons the Penguins are going home for Monday’s Game 3 with a 2-0 playoff lead that historically holds up 86.6% of the time in the NHL: 1. Fleury winning goalie duel: Marc-Andre Fleury, 33, looks as if he’s having the time of his life, stopping 67 of 71 shots he has faced in the two games. Meanwhile, Washington No. 1 goalie Braden Holtby, a Vezina Trophy finalist, has been uncharacteristically leaky.
The Capitals have outshot the Penguins 71-44, but Holtby’s .829 save percentage (35 shots, 29 saves) over five periods has made that meaningless. 2. Experience matters: Over the past 13 months, the Penguins have won 22 NHL playoff games. They possess the necessary survival skills to play in any playoff situation.
Last year’s climb to the summit is fresh in their minds. They know the path. They understand the potential dangers. They don’t have to learn how to count on each other. “That’s the essence of our team,” Sullivan said. 3. Sidney Crosby factor: In this meeting of the NHL’s top two regular-season teams, Crosby has four points in two games and has been at the heart of Pittsburgh’s success.
In Game 2, he brilliantly played the puck between his legs on the rush to set up a goal by Phil Kessel and then blocked a shot that led directly to a goal by Jake Guentzel.
“It was a big block and a nice butterfly (style),” Fleury said. “It turned things around for us.”
Sullivan says Crosby is the best 200-foot player in the game today.
“He defends as well as he plays with the puck,” Sullivan said. “He’s a committed guy right now. He is inspiring to his teammates and certainly his coaching staff.”
4. Missing piece: The Capitals acquired defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk with the hope that he would be an added differencemaker in important games. It hasn’t happened yet. He is playing less than 20 minutes a game, and he’s minus 3 in this series and minus 7 during the postseason. He has not created the offensive chances the Capitals hoped he would. In Game 2, one of his shots was blocked, and it led to Pittsburgh’s first goal.
5. New hero: The Penguins are primarily the same team that won the Stanley Cup last June, but they have one important newcomer in rookie Guentzel.
He’s leading the NHL in playoff goals with seven. Guentzel, the son of University of Minnesota associate coach Mike Guentzel, is the third player since 1944 to score at least seven goals in his first seven NHL postseason games. The others: Maurice “Rocket” Richard (1944) and Dino Ciccarelli (1981), both Hall of Famers.