Pittsburgh Penguins Getting Ready for Playoffs
By Rich Newpol
As the regular season comes to a close, the Pittsburgh Penguins are trying to play the right way again before the playoffs.
It’s almost time – the NHL playoffs are coming up fast. After a glorious Cup summer, this hard-fought regular season has just four games left. The banged-up Pittsburgh Penguins now sit in second place in the Eastern Conference. That means a likely first-round match-up with the strong and speedy Columbus Blue Jackets.
Slumping or Surging to the Playoffs?
With many regulars out of the lineup, the Pens have had a lot of up and down performances. Last year, they ended the season like a buzz-saw, showing a fast-paced style that became a template for success. During the latter part of this season, it’s been a bit harder to know what to expect from this team.
The Pens went on a tear in mid-March, with the “Sid and the Kids” line of Guentzel, Crosby and Sheary setting the ice on fire with lightning play and points by the bagful. However, the Penguins appeared to be running out of gas, with March winding down. Perhaps the injuries and long season were beginning to take a toll. Are the Penguins slumping at the worst time?
Pittsburgh Penguins
Getting Back to Playing the Right Way
The Pens endured a pair of home losses as March wound down. First a deflating 6-2 loss to the Flyers, followed by a sobering 5-1 loss to the Blackhawks. It started to look like this patchwork Pens team was near exhaustion. Then something interesting happened – Head Coach Mike Sullivan started talking consistently about the need to play the right way. This was the mantra when he took over the team in December of last season.
Just like it happened back then, the Penguins have been making noticeable strides. They are starting to play “Penguins Hockey” again – that up-tempo, relentless style that keeps opponents on their heels, and fans on their feet. It might be a bit early to declare “mission accomplished,” but the Pens are starting to look like the Pens again. This after a rousing 4-3 shootout win in New York against the Rangers, and a solid effort at home against Carolina. The Carolina game seemed to favor the Penguins far more than the final 3-2 score did.
Keys to Look For
Over these last few games, here are the things to look for as the Penguins get back into playoff form:
Quick Breakouts – When the Pens are playing right, they win the races to the pucks in defensive zone and make quick first passes to get the breakout started.
High-speed Transition – Look for mad rushes through the Neutral Zone, trying to create 3-on-2 or 2-on-1 chances.
Relentless Forecheck – The one that really gets fans going is holding possession in the attacking zone for long stretches. By winning races to the puck, and getting a speedy cycle game going, the Pens can seemingly attack for hours. In the playoffs, this is Carl Hagelin’s specialty – get well soon Carl!
Team Defense – Penguins Hockey means a fierce back-check, with speedy forwards sometimes picking opponent’s pockets in transition.
Timely Goaltending – The Pens don’t usually need a goalie to win games by himself, but need solid performances from Mark-Andre Fleury and Matt Murray. That means limiting soft goals and big rebounds, and coming up with the timely big save.
Finish in Style
A few more things need to happen, like the return of Kris Letang, Evgeni Malkin, and Trevor Daley (just to name a few). But I am starting to see shadows of the Stanley Cup Champs again. In my next article, I’ll talk about why I think this year’s Pens team is even better than last year’s. That’s a scary thought, but first the Pens need to stick with it as the season winds down and put the finishing touches on a mini-rebuild for the playoffs.
It’s almost time.