Pittsburgh Penguins: Threepeat Challenge Vs. Philadelphia Flyers
The Pittsburgh Penguins start their newest Stanley Cup playoff run against their oldest rival, the Philadelphia Flyers.
Despite some of the bruising tilts of the past years, this series for the Pittsburgh Penguins will probably be decided more with skating than with slashing.
If Only They Played on Paper
There is an age-old adage, “that’s why the play the games” that seems to apply here. During the regular season the Pens were undefeated against the Flyers, and really, the games were not that close. In a Pens season as uneven as this one has been, that’s pretty telling. However, as we all know, Playoff Hockey is not Regular Season hockey, and the Flyers have been, well, flying lately.
My instinct here is that the Pens really are the better team, and the bounces will even out. Hopefully, the Pens remain the dialed-in team we saw over the last couple games of the season – and I think they are. Given that, here are my keys to the series:
Pittsburgh Penguins
Goaltending
This one is kind of a no-brainer, and anyone who follows hockey at all can probably guess the importance here. For the Penguins, and I have said this many times before, the goalie (whomever that is) MUST control rebounds and absorb/freeze pucks at a high rate. Will that be Matt Murray? Who knows. Up until this season, MM has been the very definition of control. Rebound control, emotional control, body (positional) control. This year? Not so much. There have been a host of reasons/excuses (injury, no MAF, poor team D – to name a few), but whomever is between the pipes must absorb pucks to be a positive factor in this one. Casey DeSmith has shown he is very capable, but I am not sure I would want to lean on him for more than a couple games here and there.
The Flyers goaltending can be uneven – sometimes spectacular, mostly a little above average. The Pens star players can sometimes make any goalie have a melt down (here’s looking at you Lundquist). Over the course of a series, this may favor the Flyers if MM doesn’t get back to form. Hopefully team D will improve and MM will regain his form. Until I see it, I have to call this one a wash.
Star Power
Another no-brainer. The Pens have unrivaled star power, and if Crosby, Malkin, and Kessel play the way they can play, it’s an awful lot for any team to handle over a series. In addition, even Kris Letang has been far less susceptible to costly giveaways lately, so hopefully he keeps that up as well. The supporting cast, while not quite as imposing as the last two years, still shows a lot. I love the energy and play lately of Rust, Hagelin, Aston-Reese, and Guentzel. Even Conor Sheary seems to be re-discovering his game. In my opinion, the Flyers don’t have enough players to match the Pens. Big advantage Pittsburgh.
Prediction
So my brilliant analysis says it depends a lot on goaltending, but I give a reasonable advantage to the Penguins. I don’t think the advantage is large enough to sweep, but possibly a win in five. Best chance is Penguins in six games.