“We were getting out-battled.” – Brooks Orpik

“We weren’t ready to play.  That’s what it comes down to.  We thought we were going to play a team that had laid down, out of the playoffs and we were just going to show up and it didn’t happen.  Clearly, it didn’t happen.  We basically got what we deserved … I don’t think anyone believes we did things right, that we worked hard, that there was effort.  We can all agree there wasn’t.” – Sidney Crosby

“I don’t think it’s lack of knowing or lack of understanding.  We’ve talked about and we’ve made note of focus and preparation and briniging our game and getting to our game and understanding what that is in every situation … we know we need to get better at that … [The team meeting was about] accountability, leadership and the team coming together, understanding what we need to get better at.” – Dan Bylsma

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After today’s 4-3 overtime win by the Penguins at home versus Atlanta:

“We talked a lot in the locker room about bringing our “A” game and doing things right consistently.  Tonight we played better than last game obviously but we still have work to be made, progress to be made but it was a step in the right direction.  We’ve got four games left and we’ll keep going from here.” – Jordan Leopold

“The way we showed up last game wasn’t acceptable … our biggest flaw right now is that we’re getting too down on ourselves, we’re getting too frustrated when teams close it down on us.  I thought tonight we did a lot better job of sticking with it.  They did a great job of playing defence and not giving us much, but we fought through it and came out with the win.” – Jordan Staal

“Win or lose in this game, I was happy with the way our team played for a lot of reasons.  Our response, the physicality with which we played and the fight with which we played … That was a response game, a team game.  We played our style, got to the offensive zone, and we did get the result as well.” – Bylsma

What a difference!  This afternoon, a determined, perseverant and presumably more prepared team of Penguins simply refused to suffer the indignity of another home loss to a non-playoff team, rallying three times to tie the Thrashers before winning 4-3 in overtime.   Their comments post-game reflect a relieved team, relieved at identifying their recent flaws and bad habits and seemingly regaining its confidence and ability to focus – at least for one day.

The game ended when defenceman Jordan Leopold sent a harmless-looking shot on net that trickled through the five-hole of Atlanta goaltender Johan Hedberg for his first goal in black and gold at 2:50 of the extra session.  Leopold’s clincher was made possible by Sidney Crosby’s usual brilliance – three assists, including a helper on the game-winner – but also due to the contributions of two key cogs returning from the sidelines: Evgeni Malkin and Sergei Gonchar.

The two Russian Olympians each recorded one goal and one assist and it was Gonchar’s slap shot with Atlanta’s penalty killers backing off that tied the game at three and rescued the Pens just 74 seconds from the end of regulation time.  Gonchar’s game-tying goal was his 27th power play point this season and incredibly, despite missing 20 games this season, the Sarge is still fourth among all NHL defencemen in PP points.  When Gonchar smoothly guards the blue line on the power play, keeps the puck inside the offensive zone and analyzes the opposing defence for shooting or passing lanes, it is a constant reminder of his value to the Penguins.

As written in my last post, the team’s salary situation and the suspension of contract negotiations between the club and Gonchar until after the season are factors leading me to believe that it is unlikely we will see him suiting up for the Penguins in 2010-11.  However, until Gonchar officially leaves the organization, I will stay positive, be an optimist, and hold out hope that he will sign an extension, and most certainly, continue to appreciate his great contributions over the past five seasons and right through this spring’s post-season.

Indeed, contracts and monetary matters are a distant concern.  The present concerns are the four remaining regular season games, the battle for second seed in the Eastern Conference and the urgency of quickly assuming a playoff-ready form after a desultory 4-4-3 end to March.  I wrote previously at the beginning of January about how too many fans, though sincerely passionate, are incorrectly too quick to call for scorched earth at the slightest losing streak or player slump.  Guillotines are rolled out for the coach’s head; yesterday’s star becomes today’s “bum who should be benched” or is suddenly accused of “not showing up” or “not playing with heart”; demands are made to call up “good young guys” from the minor league club as a magic cure-all.

In most cases, such preposterous overreaction should be dismissed.  However, when players and coaches publicly express concern about their own preparation, effort and consistency, then we as fans, writers and bloggers should be concerned.  This is why it was unsettling when the Pens looked listless on Wednesday against lowly Tampa Bay and disturbing that it came in game #77 of the season.  For one day today, Pittsburgh demonstrated some intangible quality: grit, doggedness, stubborness, desire, call it what you want, but it will need to be branded in their minds, in their bodies for more than one day.  It needs to be there practice to practice, game to game, playoff round to playoff round.

As coach Bylsma has said repeatedly this season and as Leopold stated today: “doing things right consistently.”

Jordan Staal and Henrik Zetterberg face off during Game 4 of last spring's classic Stanley Cup Final.

“… They drop it; and it got to the right point.  Here’s Rafalski shooting … never got through.  Loose puck, now to the net!  Save made, rebound.  Oh!  Big save by Fleury … and it ends!!  That’s it!!  The Pittsburgh Penguins have won this hockey game!!  The Penguins have won the Stanley Cup, and Looorrd Stanley, scratch their names on your fabled Cup.  The Pittsburgh Penguins are Stanley Cup Champions, 2009!”

Two hundred eighty-three nights ago during the most recent visit by the Penguins to Detroit, with under seven seconds remaining in regulation time, Hall of Fame Penguins’ radio broadcaster Mike Lange made that call at 10.37 pm Friday, June 12, 2009, to conclude a day that will be forever scratched into the memories of both supporters of the Penguins and Red Wings for, of course, diametrically opposed reasons.  Since that evening, I have taken to simply referring to June 12 as “That Great Night” when the Penguins marched confidently into Detroit, stared down the defending Stanley Cup champion Red Wings and won the seventh and deciding game of the Finals 2-1 to capture the franchise’s third Cup and first in seventeen years.

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Maxime Talbot falling to his knees and pumping his fists after scoring his second goal of the game and Marc-Andre Fleury sprawling sideways to stop Detroit captain Nicklas Lidstrom’s last-second shot are two of the more prominent images scratched into memory from the Penguins’ last visit to Joe Louis Arena.  Previously, Detroit had been a black hole for the Penguins in both the 2008 and 2009 Stanley Cup Finals, a city where they had posted a dismal post-season record of just 1-5.

Ironically, their one victory was earned in Game Five of the 2008 series when Talbot and Fleury both played significant roles.  With the Penguins just thirty-five seconds from elimination and an extra attacker on the ice, Talbot jammed in a loose puck past Detroit goaltender Chris Osgood’s left pad to tie the contest 3-3.  Fleury then turned away all twenty-four Detroit shots after regulation time (making fifty-five saves in total that night) and the Penguins stunned the Wings when Petr Sykora scored a power play goal in triple-overtime.

In contrast to the Mays and Junes of the past two years however, this evening, the Penguins and Red Wings face off as two clubs looking for some consistency in advance of the playoffs.  While the Penguins appear solidly in the mix to finish second, third or fourth in the Eastern Conference, which guarantees home-ice advantage for at least the opening round, Detroit, with eleven games remaining, is barely hanging on to the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference, leading ninth place Calgary by just two points.

The last time Detroit failed to participate in the playoffs was 1990, a season in which goalies Tim Cheveldae and Glen Hanlon shared duties while Jimmy Carson, rugged Joey Kocur and future Hall of Famers Steve Yzerman and Bernie Federko also populated the roster.  Yes, it’s been that long.  Detroit has been beset by injuries this season.  Key forwards Henrik Zetterberg, Johan Franzen, Valteri Filppula and Tomas Holmstrom and defencemen Niklas Kronwall and Jonathan Ericsson have missed significant time this year.  The most important change for Detroit has been in goal, where Osgood has posted a 0.890 SV% in twenty-two games.  That ranks just 46th among netminders who have played the same or more games than Osgood.  In contrast, rookie Jimmy Howard has stepped in admirably, keeping the Wings afloat, posting the top SV% (0.924) among all qualified West goaltenders.

As for the Pens, their solid 6-2-2 post-Olympic record masks some inconsistent play, especially defensively.  As noted previously, head coach Dan Bylsma emphasized after Saturday’s overtime loss, the need for the team to stick to “our game”, that is, the Penguins’ game plan and to play with more consistency game to game.  These sentiments were echoed by Bill Guerin today in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, when he said, “We’ve been a little stubborn at times to get to our game.  We feel at some times that simple is not good enough, but simple is what wins for us as talented as we are …  If you play your system together, you improve your chances.  It’s that simple.  If we have guys going off on their own pages, it only hurts us.  We’ve got to get guys on the same page.”

Pittsburgh will be without the services of Evgeni Malkin tonight as the team’s second-best goal scorer continues to recover from a foot injury.  Without his extraordinary playmaking skills, it will be even more difficult but even more crucial to battle for every puck against the Wings, gain the offensive zone consistently and fire pucks on net, in other words, playing “our game”.  If players inadvisably try to make up for Malkin’s absence by working as individuals and deviate from the team plan against an equally skilled puck-possession team like Detroit, then another loss will be tonight’s likely outcome.

DID YOU KNOW?

2009-10: After 72 games, 42-24-6, GF = 224; GA = 205; differential = +19; Crosby: 45G+43A=88 pts
2008-09: After 72 games, 38-26-8, GF = 228; GA = 218; differential = +10; Crosby: 28G+66A=94 pts

Photo: PenguinsMarch personal collection

Suddenly, the formerly moribund ‘Canes who spent parts of the season dead last in the Eastern Conference, find themselves just six points out of the playoffs with eleven games remaining and three teams to jump over in the standings.  The Penguins wasted a chance to establish some breathing room between themselves and Atlantic Division rival New Jersey, who lost later in the evening, 1-0 to St. Louis.  By picking up a point, Pittsburgh continues to hold the second seed in the East with 90 points (42-24-6), two ahead of the Devils (42-25-4), who have played one fewer game.

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Carolina’s winning shift at the end of overtime was a microcosm of their play during the entire afternoon in which they used speed and quick breakouts to create scoring chances.  They held the Penguins to an uncharacteristic four shots in the opening period and took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission.  With under half a minute remaining in the second period, Jordan Staal scored on the power play to tie the game.  It was Staal’s twentieth goal, marking the third time in four career seasons that he has achieved at least twenty goals.

Despite the loss, the Penguins were encouraged by the play of centre Evgeni Malkin who returned to game action after missing the last two contests of the road trip after injuring his foot in last Sunday’s game at Tampa Bay.  Malkin recorded a game-high seven shots and scored the go-ahead goal midway through the third period on a snap shot from the faceoff dot of the far circle, before Carolina tied the game with exactly four minutes left in regulation on a Joni Pitkanen goal, setting the stage for McBain’s last second winner in overtime.

While Staal’s goal improved the Penguins’ home power play percentage to 20.7%, a respectable ninth-best in the NHL, it was the team’s first man advantage goal in ten chances, dating back to the Tampa Bay game.  Pittsburgh’s poor road power play performance has them sitting twenty-first overall in the PP standings.  The penalty kill continues to shine, turning away another five chances this afternoon including twenty-two seconds of 5-on-3 when Mike Rupp and Staal were in the box early in the third.  The Pens have successfully killed off twenty consecutive shorthanded situations and Pittsburgh has moved up to sixth overall in penalty kill percentage. 

Unfortunately, the Penguins were unable to generate the sustained offensive zone pressure and steady, punishing volley of shots on goal that has become the hallmark of Penguins’ hockey.  For the first time in eleven games, the Penguins were outshot (29-25) and head coach Dan Bylsma was terse in his post-game remarks about what the team’s problem was today.  “I think consistency has been an issue that we’ve talked about.  [The] challengs as a team [is] what you’re good at, what you need to improve on and areas that you can get better at and that is an area that you can.”  He emphasized that the Pens need to be “playing our game, regardless of the time, our opponent, home or road.”

The implication is clear.  With ten games to go before the playoffs begin, the players must urgently drive themselves to be more consistent in all facets of the game.  The sting of last Wednesday’s loss at New Jersey, where the Penguins committed numerous defensive mistakes, costly turnovers and errant passes easily picked off by the Devils, coupled with today’s loss, should fuel the motivation to improve very quickly.  Yes, the Penguins have struggled to a 4-3-3 record in afternoon games but the team cannot afford anything short of consistency regardless of the time and specifically, consistent efforts within the game plan – “our game”, as Bylsma noted.  When the Penguins equal or exceed their opponent’s shots on goal in a game this season, they are 29-13-4 but just 13-11-2 when the opponent outshoots Pittsburgh.  They deviated from that formula today, but will get another chance to apply the “consistency” Bylsma demands, and should expect from his squad, against three playoff contending teams next week.