Penguins look to finish Flyers
Pittsburgh one of three teams in position to wrap up their first-round playoff series
Mario Lemieux had one question for Sidney Crosby after the Pittsburgh star slipped past his boss as the Penguins’ career playoff scoring leader during a Game 4 romp over Philadelphia.
“He asked what took so long,” Crosby said with a laugh.
Lemieux’s joke carried with it a pair of messages.
The first is a not so subtle reminder to his protege that it took Crosby 152 games to reach 173 playoff points, while Lemieux only needed 107 to get to 172. The second is a nod to Crosby ’s playoff excellence. He slipped by his boss because the Penguins — thanks in no small part to their captain — keep finding a way to win in the post-season.
A victory over Philadelphia in Game 5 on Friday night would push the Penguins into the second round for the fifth time in six years and move them a step closer to becoming the first team in 35 years to win three-straight Stanley Cups. Pittsburgh has gotten there by developing a killer instinct under head coach Mike Sullivan that it lacked at times before his arrival in December 2015.
The Penguins are 8-5 when given a chance to clinch a playoff series since Sullivan took over. They were 4-9 in potential clinching games from 2010-15, including letting 3-1 series leads get away in the first round against Tampa Bay in 2011 (when Crosby and Evgeni Malkin were both out) and to the New York Rangers in the second round in 2014, a collapse that cost head coach Dan Bylsma and general manager Ray Shero their jobs.
Sullivan downplays his role in it, preferring to put the emphasis on his star-laden roster.
“This group of players has a real strong competitive spirit and I think it’s hard to win in this game if you don’t,” Sullivan said. “I think it starts with our core players. They lead the way for us in so many different ways but certainly our compete level is one of them.”
The proof came over the course of six periods in Philadelphia in Games 3 and 4, when the Penguins outscored the Flyers 10-1 with Crosby, Malkin, Phil Kessel and goalie Matt Murray doing their part to reclaim momentum after Philadelphia pulled off a 5-1 stunner in Game 2 to briefly — emphasis on briefly — tie the series.
Now? Not so much. The crossstate rivals have engaged in what amounts to an outlier of sorts in the typically taut playoffs. All four games have been decided by at least four goals. The other seven playoff series have had seven games decided by four-or-more goals combined.
“It’s been weird,” Pittsburgh centre Derick Brassard said.
And lopsided. Flyer fans exited Game 4 chanting for the firing of coach Dave Hakstol, and his grasp on the gig becomes precarious if his team can’t force the Penguins to head back east for Game 6.
There’s a chance the Flyers could have Sean Couturier in the lineup. He missed Game 4 after colliding with teammate Radko Gudas in practice on Tuesday. Either way, Philadelphia knows it needs to find a way to recapture the resiliency it showed during the regular season when it overcame a litany of setbacks to return to the playoffs after a one-year absence.
“They ’ve played extremely well, and we need to play better,” Philadelphia general manager Ron Hextall said. “Our focus has to get back to one game. We’re down 3-1 obviously, but our focus has to get back to winning one game, and that’s tomorrow. There’s no question we have to play better individually, and certainly as a group.”
Or, play a little more like the Penguins, who have shrugged off a sometimes uneven regular season to look very much like the team that celebrated with raucous championship parades through downtown Pittsburgh each of the last two Junes.
This group of players has a real strong competitive spirit and I think it’s hard to win in this game if you don’t.
The team the Penguins edged in six taut games during the 2017 Cup finals have their own shot to move on Friday. The Nashville Predators clinched all three of their playoff series a year ago at home in reaching their first Stanley Cup Final and have a chance to close out Colorado in Game 5.
The Predators are 11-2 in Smashville since the start of the 2017 playoffs, a run that started by finishing off a sweep of Chicago in the first round a year ago. They can assure themselves of a weekend of rest if they avoid a return trip to Colorado.
“It’s huge that we have a chance to finish the series at home,” Predators goalie Pekka Rinne said. “Obviously, that’s something that is in the back of your head. We want to take it so bad and have this opportunity. But it’s a good team so we have to play again like this and I think that will be.”
The Predators tried to make sure they’re well-rested by flying back to Tennessee on Thursday, and they will have a chance to advance against Colorado’s backup to the backup goalie. Avs coach Jared Bednar announced that Andrew Hammond will start Game 5 with Jonathan Bernier out with a lowerbody injury. Hammond stepped in and stopped all eight shots he faced in relief of Bernier in Nashville’s 3-2 win on Wednesday night.
Meanwhile, the New Jersey Devils are not sure whether top defenceman Sami Vatanen is going to be available for Game 5 of their first-round series with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Vatanen is listed day to day after being hurt on a big hit by Nikita Kucherov in a 3-1 loss Wednesday night that put the Devils within a game of elimination. The 26-yearold Finn did not make the trip to Florida on Thursday, but he might join the team there.
Devils coach John Hynes didn’t give out much information about the injury before the Devils left.
“The focus right now is really on Game 5.” Hynes said.