Why the Penguins Lost
(2) Marc-Andre Fleury: He was great in Games 3 and 5 (1 goal allowed, .980 S%), but there were five other games in the series. In those, "Flower" allowed a combined 17 goals, and stopped a dismal 85% of Montreal's shots. In his magnum opus, Fleury allowed 4 goals on 13 shots in Game 7 and was pulled halfway through the game for the league's worst backup Brent Johnson. More on this Montreal native in a moment.
(3) The Defense: Yeah, the Penguins greatly outshot the Canadiens in the series, but the quality of those few Habs chances was something I'd rather not see again. Time and again the Penguins failed to clear out the front of the net for Fleury and, worse yet, completely botched odd-man rush assignments. Kris Letang probably led the way in this latter department (more on him in a second), but in Game 7, even the Penguins best looked hopeless. On the second goal of the game, Brooks Orpik was busy cross-checking Maxime Lapierre into the back of the net for no apparent reason, while all-world blueliner Sergei Gonchar let Dominic Moore have the entire slot to do as he pleased. Later, Gonchar bungled a power-play 1-on-2 (yes one forward, two defensemen) so badly, I wondered if he had simply given up trying,
(4) Evgeni Malkin: One goal, two assists. That's all Malkin contributed in the seven game series. He was mediocre against Ottawa in Round 1 (despite pretty gaudy numbers), but the Penguins could handle that because Sidney Crosby was busy conquering the world. But when the Canadiens matched Crosby's line night in and night out with the same defensive crew that had just shut down Alex Ovechkin and Nick Backstrom for 5 out of 7 games, the Pens needed Malkin to shine. But other than a standout Game 5 performance, that didn't happen. No, like his Russian counterpart (more on this in a second) Alex Semin on the Capitals, Malkin instead wilted. No single moment from a hockey game has made me as angry as his botched rebound on the Penguins power play mid-third period of Game 7.
(5) Dan Bylsma: I love Dan Byslma and I think he is a great coach. But he was totally outmatched. Even at home, he could not get Crosby's line away from the watchful eye of Hal Gill, and he certainly did nothing to figure out Fleury's woes (not that anyone could). Malkin's line was flat throughout the series, and Bylsma, ever a juggler of forward groupings, couldn't figure out the answer. His go-to Malkin and Crosby duo failed to cure the Penguins scoring troubles (as it always seems to do), and Bylsma seemed without any second option. Then there are the defensive failings. And I don't even want to discuss how the Penguins opened Game 7. Other than Jordan Staal's third line, none of the Penguins' groupings seemed to be clicking with any consistency.
(6) Traitors and Double-Agents: But really the reason these Penguins lost is because they have allowed themselves to become infested with traitors. Read above; who is most to blame? Well first, two French Canadians, Fleury and Letang. Any coincidence these backbones to the Penguins last two Cup runs suddenly faltered so grandly against Les Habitants? While the Penguins' non-francophones were playing their hearts out, Letang was kicking goals into his own net and Fleury was cutting holes in his pads. The Penguins could maybe withstand a couple of traitors if it weren't for the prominence of a Malkin, whom TBL writer Kevin has long identified as a "double agent." I wasn't so sure before, but I am starting to believe it. Especially considering the Game 7 disappearing act of Malkin's countryman, landlord, and father-figure Sergei Gonchar. I am not sure what Russia's interest in this series may have been exactly, but they probably hate the United States more than Quebec. Throw in the no-shows from Semin and Ovechkin (for five games) in the first round, and we might really be onto something.
What to Do About It
(1) Stuff the other team did: Well that's about the other team, so I don't care. I guess don't play the Canadiens or something. So here I will put my annual plea instead: Ray Shero, please sign a winger who can score the damn puck. (2) Fleury: First, make him see a lot of shots. This is the first series in a long time that the Penguins have so consistently outshot their opponents. And I guess Fleury doesn't like that. He was, after all, at his best in Game 5, when the Pens were outshot 33-25. So, fine, Marc-Andre, if you want 35 shots a game, then that is what you get. Second, get a worthwhile backup. Flower-boy knows his job is safe when it's Brent Johnson waiting in the wings. Maybe he won't be so keen to build his soft-goals reel if he knows he might have to sit on the bench. It's too bad the Penguins will be in a new arena next year, because making him stand in the runway to the dressing room would probably be be even more embarrassing. Third, show him tapes of himsel from March–June 2008 & 2009.
(3) The Defense: Oh, I don't know, sign a damn defensive defenseman worth his salt. Or maybe even play the ones the Penguins have. Jordan Leopold is a fine player, but he's not shutting anyone down. Alex Goligoski certainly isn't either. And that's who the Penguins have turned to with the departures of Hal Gill and Rob Scuderi to free agency. No one thinks much of those two exits, but they more or less decimated the Penguins' defensive zone presence,causing the Pens to rely too heavily on Kris Letang to match opponents' top forwards defensively. We all hope that Letang will fill that role well some day—and he does so at times now—but he isn't consistent enough yet for that to work in the playoffs. With apologies to Notre Dame product Mark Eaton, the Pens only have two defensemen (Gonchar and Brooks Orpik) who are, and Gonchar is a free agent.
The Pens' forwards are remarkably good in their own zone, and the Pens' breakout is among the best in the league. But when it comes to clearing out the front of the net or, heaven forbid, effectively countering a rush, the Pens struggle. With swiss-cheese boy in the back, there is no reason to favor Goligoski's ability to move the puck over Jay McKee's ability to actually defend. But for whatever reason Bylsma does. Hopefully they sign someone Bylsma trusts to fill these unsung roles.
(4) Malkin: Trade him or something. I say that only half-seriously, because I don't trust the Penguins could get fair return on someone as talented as Malkin without having to wait around for some young prospects to develop. Dominant in the regular season, Malkin is completely hit or miss in the playoffs. Yes, he was last year's Conn Smythe winner, but he built that largely on his early-round play. He was good in the finals (and surprisingly emotional) but several Penguins had better a series than him. More concerning, he has a tendency to completely disappear. He did it in the 2008 finals, and he did it this series.
But I know he is too good to trade, so instead put a gritty, emotional player on his line. Not some meathead who can't hack it, but stop pairing him with detached flameouts like Ruslan Fedotenko, Miro Satan, and Alexei Ponikarovsky. I would love for the Penguins to sign an elite winger to play with either Malkin or Crosby and deflect some of the attention from the centers. But I don't see that happening with the cap, so they are going to need to find another way to do it. Having an emotional player in the mold of Chris Kunitz could go a long way to waking Malkin up and possibly even drawing attention away from him on the ice. Remember how good his line was with Ryan Malone on it?
(5) Bylsma: Bylsma's fine. Just fall out of love with the Malkin and Crosby even-strength pairing. And figure out how to replicate whatever he does with the third line every game.
(6) Traitors: Here's the real problem. Fleury and Letang have to stay because they are key parts of the team and, well, the Pens only play Montreal so many times a year. But if the Pens run into the Habs again in the playoffs, these loyalists might need to take a seat. As for Malkin (and potentially Gonchar), I think the threat of double-agency is going to remain until the Russian KHL definitively fails. The Penguins may be in for it so long as there is a Russian counterpart to profit from the ruin of great NHL teams like the Penguins and North American stars like Crosby. Kevin has been monitoring Malkin's situation for TBL for quite some time, so I may have to put him in contact with Ray Shero.
So, yeah, there you go, Pens. It's that simple. Don't ruin my life next year.
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