Penguins vs Red Wings: Game 1
In their first trip to the Stanley Cup Finals since 1992, the Pittsburgh Penguins have high expectations for their series against the Detroit Red Wings. The battle of youth against experience started Saturday night, but ended with the Penguins on the losing end of a blowout.
In watching the game I was very surprised at the lack of hustle by the Penguins. It seemed that the Red Wings got to every single 50/50 puck, and were much quicker on defense. Look to the first Detroit goal for an example of this. Even though they were on the end of a long shift, the Penguin defenders allowed the goal without much of an effort to stop it. I do not know how much of this can be attributed to rust, or perhaps the Stanley Cup jitters. What I do know is that the Penguins looked slow on defense and the sloppiness is going to have to change for the next game (and the series).
Another thing that just will not get it done is the way the Penguins handled the power-play. Even with plenty of opportunities in the first period to score up a man, they were unable to grab the momentum. An early goal by Crosby and company would have drastically changed this game. The Penguins needed momentum to steal one in Detroit, and they were basically handed the first goal on a silver platter. They just need to take it next time.
In all fairness, I cannot take anything away from what the Red Wings accomplished. They looked sharp and played a physical game. The speed was unbelievable as well. Looking at tonight’s game, which team seemed to have the youthful advantage? Detroit looked like the young, fearless team that the Penguins were earlier in the playoffs.
However, that was just one game. We all knew from the beginning this series was going at least six, which means the Penguins had to lose one. There were some things to build off tonight though. For one I thought Fleury played a great game in goal. Most people will read that and think of the 4-0 on the scoreboard, but let me clarify. All of the goals were not Fleury’s fault. The Penguins defense was absolutely atrocious and Fleury made a ton of saves during the game. The goals that were scored were because of laziness by defenders, or simply the aforementioned lack of hustle (see: the short-handed goal).
Pittsburgh has plenty to fix for Game 2. Malkin needs to stop trying to do too much. The defense has to step up tremendously. Therrien needs to stop panicking and keep the same lines that got the Penguins here. There was way too much Malkin/Crosby/Hossa tonight, and it reeked of desperation. Relax and play your game.
I am looking forward to the rest of the series, and definitely expecting a better game from the Penguins next time around. Shake off the nervousness and step your game up. This is Pittsburgh’s chance to not only have Detroit pass on the torch, but to boldly snatch it from their hands.
Now that I have gone through all that, what are your thoughts on the first game of the series?
Image from NHL.com
May 25th, 2008 | 2:22 pm
I too was horribly disappointed in the play of the defense. They looked sluggish and lazy to be blunt. Without Fleury’s solid play it would have been 8-0. The Wings are a great team. They obviously studied up on us this week because it seemed like they knew exactly what our next move was.
Also, the Pens need to learn how to finish (Dupuis’ breakaway, Sid’s attempted stuff in, hitting the post, etc.). There were too many chances to either go up in that game or get back in it and we need to figure out how to put the puck in the net. The D needs to work on speed and when to change lines to keep up with the quickness of that team.
I went to the arena last night. Pro’s- 13,589 people. Crazy loud.. great experience. $5 to a good charity. Free Parking. Cons-$5. Almost no parking. Only had 1 gate open for a while. 13,589 people. Too hard to see the Jumbotron.
I have been a loyal outside watcher since we started the Rangers series and I feel as if they should have kept it outside. Don’t mess with what’s working.
In closing I unfortunately went to Philly for game 4 and received death threats from the guy behind me the entire game. Classy..
May 25th, 2008 | 11:13 pm
I’m not sure if I would say that there was a lack of effort, but the Penguins seemed a bit intimidated. I definitely agree that their play was sloppy. Like you said, I don’t understand the need for all of the changes. There isn’t a need for over-coaching.
Well, I hope that they can address these issues for game two; hopefully they’ve got the jitters out of their system.
May 26th, 2008 | 1:16 pm
fleury falling on his way out was not a good omen. i think this could have gotten to his head or at least up’ed his nervousness, it would mine at least. also i do believe the first goal was fleury’s fault, he just did not slide over in time, but yes some of the blame for the other goals has to be place solely on the shoulders of the defense as well as fleury.
as justin pointed out, our powerplay could not finish and that will not win us games. we have an incredible power play of four offensive players and one offensive defenseman. we had about a million chances in one of our powerplays in the first period, but osgood stood on his head and made tons of great saves.
i thought we played equal at the beginning of the game but then after we were down we kind of just gave up and the scoring on slaught began. i think we can win this series but i believe it will be one of the toughest things ever. Detroit is just phenomenal.
May 27th, 2008 | 9:16 am
goal number three was 95% LeTang’s fault and 5% Fleury’s fault. LeTang just stood there and did nothing and filppula just went right by him. LeTang would have been called for a penalty if it didnt go in. and fleury. did he honestly not know that he was going there, everyone else did. where else would he go.