Canadiens outmatched vs. Penguins
Pittsburgh ranks better on offence, defence, special teams and in goal
TORONTO The Canadiens enjoy playing the underdog role and it’s safe to say the Pittsburgh Penguins will be overwhelming favourites in their best-of-five NHL Return to Play qualifying series beginning Saturday at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena (8 p.m., CBC, SN, NBC, TVA Sports, TSN 690 Radio).
HERE’S HOW THE TEAMS MATCH UP IN KEY AREAS:
Offence: The Penguins ranked 10th in the NHL in offence, scoring an average of 3.2 goals per game. But that statistic is misleading because they played significant portions of the season without Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, as well as Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust. They are all healthy for this series, although Crosby did miss practice most of last week before playing 19 minutes in Tuesday’s 3-2 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers in an exhibition game. The Canadiens ranked second in the NHL in shots per game with 34.1, but they have to put more of them in the back of the net. Tomas Tatar and Brendan Gallagher lead a Canadiens offence that produced 2.93 goals per game to rank 19th in the NHL.
Edge to Pittsburgh.
Defence: The Canadiens will be counting heavily on No. 1 centre Phil Danault and top defenceman Shea Weber to shut down the Penguins, but they’ll need some help because Pittsburgh has a double-barrelled threat with Crosby and Malkin at centre. Canadiens coach Claude Julien will a face a challenge getting the matchups he wants because he won’t have the last change in the first two games of the series. On the blue line, Weber and Jeff Petry are solid on the right side, but they’ll need support from Ben Chiarot and Brett Kulak on the left side. Kris Letang is the best-known Pittsburgh defenceman, but Brian Dumoulin and John Marino are the most dependable defensively. The Penguins ranked 12th in the league defensively, but they enjoy some wiggle room because the offence is so good and they have more experience in big games.
Edge to Pittsburgh.
Goaltending: The conventional wisdom is that the Canadiens’ only chance to post an upset in this series is for goalie Carey Price to stand on his head and steal a few games — but that’s easier said than done. Price’s supporting cast is young and, as the Canadiens displayed in their 4-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs in Tuesday’s exhibition game, they are prone to mistakes. There’s a mystique surrounding Price, but he’s coming off an inconsistent season and has a losing record in the playoffs (25-31). Tristan Jarry and Matt Murray shared the goaltending workload in Pittsburgh and Jarry had the better numbers. Jarry has also impressed the Penguins coaches and his teammates during training camp, but Murray will probably start Game 1 because he has won two Stanley Cups in the past four seasons.
Edge to Pittsburgh.
Special teams: Neither team posted great numbers on the power play or the penalty-kill during the regular season, but there are two important things to note. The Canadiens had the third-best power play on the road — they ranked dead-last at home — while (as noted above) the Penguins were missing some key players on their power play. This is where you’ll find Crosby and Malkin together, along with Letang, Guentzel and Patric Hornqvist, who can be dangerous in front of the net. The Canadiens have two capable point men in Weber and Petry, but it’s too easy for defences to key on them. The Canadiens have crafted two new power-play units for the postseason and there may not be enough time for them to get up to speed. That was obvious in the exhibition game against Toronto when the Canadiens went 0-for-6 on the power play and allowed two short-handed goals.
Edge to Pittsburgh.
Coaching: The Canadiens’ Claude Julien and the Penguins’ Mike Sullivan have both won Stanley Cups and they’re both fine coaches. Julien has the more difficult task because he won’t get the last line change until Game 3 and Sullivan has a lineup with more skill, more depth and more experience.
Edge to Pittsburgh.
Intangibles: When asked about his team’s chances against the Penguins, Julien is quick to point out the Canadiens fared well against Pittsburgh in the regular season (1-1-1). However, it should be pointed out that Crosby missed the first two games and had three assists in the third one when the Penguins beat the Canadiens 4-1. The Canadiens have a knack for raising their level of play against the NHL’S better teams and they emerged victorious in their only two previous playoff matchups against the Penguins in 1998 and 2010. Edge to Montreal.
Fearless prediction: Penguins in
four games.