BUCKLE UP
Entering the season we all knew that Sidney Crosby would not be in the Pens lineup come puck drop on opening night in Vancouver. We were in an area of uncertainty and really had no idea what the Pens fate would be, but five months later we all but certain our road back to the Stanley Cup Finals will go through Philadelphia. The road traveled was long and now that road turns into an uphill marathon where there are no nights off. This is how we got to where we are today.
October
The Penguins started off the month on a Western Canadian road trip that took them through Vancouver, Calgary, and Edmonton of which the Penguins took five of six points, losing their final game of the trip to the Oilers in a shootout. The Pens continued their point streak by winning their home opener for the first time in CONSOL by defeating the Florida Panthers, and taking a point in a comeback against the Washington Capitals in which we saw Arron Asham deliver a knock out blow to Capitals Jay Beagle.
The Penguins suffered their first regulation loss in their sixth game to the Buffalo Sabres. The Pens would finish the month with an 8-3-2 record and in first place in the Eastern Conference with 18 points.
November
In November the Penguins would go a mediocre 6-4-2 in twelve games, but that was not the big news of this month. Our Captain Sidney Crosby was finally able to lace up the skates and he did not fail in impress in his 2011 debut.
Yes, the player who hasn't played in an NHL game in nearly 11 months, came back and delivered a backhand and a subsequent celebration that was more than worthy of such absence.
The Penguins record would have a record of 14-7-4 and still remain on top the Eastern Conference standings with 31 points.
December
In December, Pens fans would again realize their worst fears all over again because Sid would be sidelined again by concussion symptoms. December would not go as well with the Penguins finishing the month with a abysmal 7-6 record, which caused the Penguins to slip to fifth in the Eastern Conference and third in the division with 43 points and a record of 21-13-4. We left the month of December feeling very uncertain about the team, but we still a little more than half a season to play and just hoped things would get better.
January
It was a new year and another chance for the Pens to bounce back and regain their stride, but 2012 was not kind to the club at least at first. The Pens dropped their first four games of the year to the Rangers, Devils, Senators, and the Capitals. Add this to the two final games of December which were both losses, and you had a six game losing streak that not only threw fans into a panic, but the Pens were on the outside looking into the playoff picture as they were sitting in 9th place of the Eastern Conference, which was something very unfamiliar under the Bylsma Administration. That streak can be easily forgotten since the Pens went on a eight game streak to finish the month with a 8-4 record. Heading into February the Pens would hold a 29-17-4 record and sat in 5th place of the Eastern Conference with 62 points.
February
Finally, the Pens were playing like the team we thought they could be and without some key components in their lineup. Their eight game streak would be halted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in a 1-0 shutout. However, February was the month that the Penguins answered the question of whether they can beat the top tier teams in the Eastern Conference. The Penguins would defeat the Boston Bruins, and the Philadelphia Flyers on the road and shutout the Eastern Conference leading New York Rangers at the CONSOL Energy Center. The Penguins would finish the month on a four game win streak by defeating the Rangers, Lightning, Blue Jackets, and Stars to finish the month with an 8-4-1 record. The Pens sat in fourth place of the Eastern Conference with 79 points and a record of 37-21-5, and trailed the Rangers for first place in the division and conference by seven points.
March
The Pens would start off March like they finished February by extending their winning streak to 11 games by winning their first seven against the Avalanche, the Coyotes, Leafs, Panthers, Bruins, Rangers, and Devils. Because of the streak, the Pens would pull within three points of the Eastern Conference leading Rangers, and all of a sudden the Atlantic Division crown and number one seed was on everyone's mind. The Penguins would have their second winning streak over 10 games long halted by the Flyers for the second year in a row, falling 3-2 in the last second of overtime in Philly. The Pens would keep within striking distance until lackluster play dealt them a pair of losses to the New York Islanders. After a win against the Sabres the Pens would finish the month of March with with a record of 11-3-1. The Pens also finish March with a record of 48-24-6, sitting in fourth place of the Eastern Conference with 107 points, and 5 points behind the Rangers for first place.
April
To start the month off, the Penguins faced the Philadelphia Flyers at home, needing a win not only to assure themselves of home ice, but also to keep their hopes alive for a division and regular season conference title. The Pens would take a two goal lead in the first but the Flyers would score five straight and the Pens would end the day still without a win in their new barn against their bitter in state rivals. The loss hurt the Pens, but as will be explained below, the Pens may have been provided with a necessary injection of emotion and adversity that could propel them to a long playoff run. The Pens will finish off the regular season with a game in Boston against the Bruins, and games at home against the Rangers and the Flyers.
Behind the Scenes
Injuries
What the numbers in the standings don't tell is the story of how this Pittsburgh Penguin team was decimated by injuries all season long, something that us fans have regrettably become akin to. In my 21 years of following this team I have never seen such a string of injuries that we've seen over the past three seasons. A team cannot get this unlucky forever, but in the era of the salary cap, a streak like this could set a franchise back years. However, for the Pittsburgh Penguins it could end up just being merely a bump in the road when we look back in hindsight come mid-June.
The Pens have five members of the ironman crew, who have played all 79 games this season. Only James Neal, Pascal Dupuis, Matt Cooke, and Craig Adams were to remain uninjured enough to lace up the skates for every game this season. Steve Sullivan missed one game, so we might as well add him to the list. Matt Niskanen only missed four games. Malkin missed seven, which is unbelievable given his lead for the Art Ross Trophy. Derek Engelland, Brooks Orpik, and Paul Martin missed 9. Zybnek Michalek missed 20. Tyler Kennedy missed 22. Kris Letang has missed 31 due to concussion symptoms. Sidney Crosby has missed 60. This list is beyond ridiculous.
At one point our top 6 blue liners have missed time, and throw in Ben Lovejoy, we barely had a guy sitting in Mario's box who could lace them up on defense. People were hard on Ray Shero for drafting a flock of defenders, but clearly Shero knew what he was doing. If it wasn't for guys like Simon Despres (18 games), Alexandre Picard (17 Games), Brian Strait (7 games) Robert Bortuzzo (6 games), and Carl Sneep (1 game), the Pens would not have made the playoffs. It's that simple.
This club could have used their injury problem as an excuse for almost the entire season and it would have been perfectly acceptable. They didn't go that route, and played on and put themselves in a situation where they again had a shot a winning the division. You have to give kudos to Ray Shero for building a system full of players who can play at an NHL level every night, and you have to give Coach Bylsma even more credit to have this guys on the same page when they were called up.
The Good
Geno for MVP
Evgeni Malkin worked very hard in the offseason with the goal of getting back to his dominant form, and after a brief setback early in the year, he exceeded all expectations. With his new line mate, James Neal, Malkin has again put his name on top of the "World's Greatest Hockey Player" list.
James Neal
Speaking of James Neal, he is what every rational fan thought he would be. It's a big difference playing with Geno than playing with a third and fourth line center being given top line minutes due to injuries. The haters were proven wrong and Ray Shero locked up a possible 40 goal scorer to a long deal.
Marc-Andre Fleury
When the going gets tough, and the Pens need to stay in games, look no further than the man between the Pipes. While MAF's save percentage and goals against average aren't near the tops of the league, MAF has put up 41 wins, tying him with Tom Barrasso for the franchise record for most wins in the season. All he does is just win. He's kind of the Big Ben of the Penguins. Sometimes it isn't pretty, but he puts numbers in the win column and makes huge saves to keep the Pens ahead or give them a chance to win games.
The Bad
Defense
Personally, I thought that the blue line could have been better at times, especially lately, but given that they have played maybe a quarter of a season with all of them healthy, it's been an ok season. If there is one area of question going into the playoffs its this group of guys, but I think they will rebound and shutdown opposing teams. Paul Martin took a lot of criticism this year, and most of it was rightfully so, but he's been better and no one in our system can replace him right now. The thing about the Penguins defense is that Ray Shero couldn't have done any better from outside sources, and until their young guys get experience, this will still be one of the best blue lines in the league.
Tyler Kennedy
TK signed a deal this offseason and then fell off the map. While he's provided some spark through his quick skating, his scoring has fell off, which is likely because he is playing less minutes. However, TK has had chances, especially with Sidney Crosby as his center, but TK just misses the net constantly. If the Pens are going to go deep, added scoring from TK would be very beneficial.
The Road Ahead
There are three games left in the 2011-2012 regular season and for the past two weeks the Pens have let their foot off the gas just a bit. Whether they are coasting because they know what the road ahead holds for them, or they hit a wall, we will find out very, very soon. They have been very lazy and played with very little passion until it was too late in games. The Pens clearly needed a spark and may have gotten it Sunday afternoon in their loss to the Flyers.
It started when Sidney Crosby received a cross-check from Braden Schenn after the play.
While the Pens didn't immediately retaliate, a message was sent later in the game that this will not be tolerated. Late in the third period a clean hit on Daniel Briere by Joe Vitale sparked a mele on the ice and between the teams' coaches.
After the game, Peter Laviolette called Dan Bylsma "gutless" for putting his fourth line on the ice. Either Laviolette lost points from his IQ from living in Philadelphia or he's plain lost his mind. In a hockey game like the one, and given the situation you are going to put your fourth line out there to keep your star players from being injured during a game that is out of reach. However, the Pens fourth line is not composed of your typical goons. Sure Arron Asham isn't afraid to mix it up, but Craig Adams and Joe Vitale are clean-nosed hockey players. Maybe Mr. Laviolette shouldn't have had Briere on the ice at the time.
The Penguins needed a spark and this was more than enough spark. The Flyers have poked a nearly dormant Pens team, and likely pissed them off. When the Pens play pissed, good things happen, and hopefully this is the case. Maybe they were coasting into the playoffs, which is not good by any means, or maybe they hit a wall. The Pens should be wide awake now, and hungry to dominate a Flyers team that has had the upper hand over the past two years, although the majority of their wins came with out Crosby in the lineup.
The Pens plan to beat the Flyers is simple, they just need to play their game with more edge than they have in the past two weeks. They need to be the ones initiating scrums and luring Flyers into taking penalties. They need to stop the cuteness at the blue line, get pucks deep and outwork the Flyers defenders. They need to back-check and be defensively sound in the neutral zone. These are things the Pens have done throughout the entire season, but now they have to show that they can do it in a heated playoff series against their most hated rivals.
Dan Bylsma will have to make adjustments as well. It seems HCDB is set on having a five forwards on the power play, but this may be a mistake as the Flyers are a threat to score short handed. The line juggling has got to stop, and this team needs to have chemistry because they are healthy and they need to get back into a groove. If this team is rolling all its lines, there isn't a team that can match up against them. You can't defend a team with Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal, and Sidney Crosby down the middle if they are all playing their game. This team has the potential to raise the Cup in June, but a lot of that potential resides on this team having great chemistry. HCDB has three games to get it right, because there are no do-overs come April 11th.
A Note to Pens Fans
DONE BE AFRAID. Back on July 1st you had to see this one coming, you had to want this to happen. When the Flyers signed Jaromir Jagr, and then Max Talbot your blood had to be boiling. That itch to want to end the Flyers season back in July had to be there. Well now this Pens team gets its shot to do exactly that. The Pens are going into the gauntlet early, and this will get that healthy hatred going early in the playoffs. In 2009 the Pens had their backs against the wall in game 6 against the Flyers down 3-0, only to come roaring back and sending the orange and black to the beach earlier that they wanted to be there. Same goes for this year because instead of playing a team where the hatred level isn't as high, the Pens can pick up on that killer instinct early, and the adversity that is surely to come will mold this team into a Stanley Cup Favorite.
Buckle up, explain to the kids that everything they will see during this series doesn't normally happen in hockey, and get the popcorn ready, we are in for something spectacular. This is who we want to play in round 1. There will be injuries, there will be blood and there will be hatred. This is a grown mans game, and the road to the Cup is not supposed to be easy. It's supposed to be a challenge that is embraced by players and fans. Live it up, because this could be one for the ages.
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