The Penguins breathe a sigh of relief while answering questions

The Pittsburgh Penguins came into Game 2 with a lot of question marks. After 60 minutes, they answered many of them and now breathe easier going into Game 3.

After Game 1 left everyone surrounding the Pittsburgh Penguins in dismay and reeling, Game 2 settled the nerves and calmed the storm. For the most part last night, the Pens controlled the game and played up to or better than there foes, the Montreal Canadiens. In a game of moments, everyone was on edge until the final minute of the 3rd period.

Some of the question marks leading up to the game were; can the Penguins defend better? Can they get a solid outing from their netminder? Will they pass better? Why can’t they get more pressure on the Habs goalie, and steady the ship? However slightly, many of these were answered last night, and for now, we can all collectively breathe a sigh of much-needed relief after that intense matchup from beginning to end.

They certainly defended better, not leaving the Canadiens run wild on them. There indeed were a few times that Matt Murray looked left for dead, but overall, they held there own for 60 minutes. The only slip up came in the dying minutes as Montreal was pressing nonstop trying to get one back.

The Penguins breathe a sigh of relief while answering questions

Call it what you want, Matt Murray showed up to play. You can use the analogy of the broken clock, but the fact is, without him, the Penguins would’ve lost last night, making us all go into panic mode. The remaining questions in play, are still, for the most part, left unanswered.

https://twitter.com/penguins/status/1290473728254631938?s=20

They undoubtedly got more productive pressure on Price, and not entirely from the usual suspects. Beside the usual names of Crosby and Guentzel, the likes of Jason Zucker and Bryan Rust came out to play last night. Players can easily get lost on the ice when watching from afar, but those two were constantly on the lips of the commentators.

Patric Hornqvist made it a point to annoy the Habs defense and Price all night, which was a change from Game 1, but other than that, the Pens struggled to get in his vision lanes for the majority of the night. Then there is the passing, which was still very suspect all night. For the most part, once the mistake was made, many players were able to hustle back and make up for the error, but it was still an eyesore.

In conclusion (not to use the most cliche ending of all time), the Pittsburgh Penguins got better in some areas, if at least for just last night. Continuing to work is always the motto of teams in the playoffs, and that is precisely what needs to happen. However, for now, breathe and get ready for another stressful hockey night tomorrow.