“We’ll have to deal with it”. I don’t think it’s fair to say, ‘Orpik got three, Letang got one.’ I think they were looking at a variety of different things between the two hits.
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Just a few days ago, most of the hockey world and more specifically the Penguins’ faithful were up in arms over Brookes Orpik’s reckless hit to the head of defenseman Olli Maatta.
Washington Capitals goalie Braden Holtby (70) gets in front of a shot during the second period of Game 4 against the Pittsburgh Penguins in an NHL hockey Stanley Cup Eastern Conference semifinals in Pittsburgh, Wednesday, May 4, 2016. They did not lose two games in a row in regulation all season.
“When our team is at its best, our defense starts 190 feet from our net with our puck pursuit, hanging onto pucks down low in the offensive zone, controlling territory, and using our foot speed to our advantage”, he said.
“We said it in the room”.
“We have to have the mentality shift by shift, period by period, try to turn it around”, said Washington captain Alex Ovechkin, who had seven of his team’s 36 shots but was held without a point.
The Pouliot-Daley pairing barely has a sample size but the small window we have was outrageously good. They just need their defensemen to consistently make smart reads and make accurate, timely passes and stay in position defensively for support of their partners as an extra option.
It’s not that anyone expected the Penguins to take a knee. The Capitals scratched Schultz, C Michael Latta and RW Stanislav Galiev.
Letang said he respected the NHL’s decision to suspend him for one game, but added that he never meant to hurt Johansson, who didn’t practice Tuesday or skate Wednesday morning. So how is it that the Penguins seem to have that steely resolve, that killer instinct, if you will, and the Caps seem to not possess it?
Heading into their second-round series against the Washington Capitals, Sidney Crosby and Co. weren’t considered favorites. “It had nothing to do with them missing some of their players”.
Game 5 is set for Saturday at Verizon Center. After being outplayed in the first two games of the series, the Capitals dominated stretches of Game 3 and outshot the Penguins 49 to 23. The Penguins have the opportunity to take a commanding 3-1 series lead but now, they’ll have to do so without their top defenseman. Capitals coach Barry TORTZ said Johannsson will be re-evaluated on Wednesday and we will see where that is. other than that, I can’t tell you a whole lot more. “It’s always the most challenging one”.
On the season, the Penguins are averaging 2.9 goals per game and ranking 16th in power play with 18.4. We have to play better if we’re going to win next game, and obviously the next game is going to be the hardest to win. Of the 11 PP’s Pittsburgh has received this series 10 have come in the first 2 periods.
What is remarkable is that they’ve been able to win games without getting much from Crosby, Malkin and the power play in general. It’s worth keeping in mind that usual No. 1 goalie Marc-Andre Fleury hadn’t been available until Game 3 of this series, so the Penguins did all of that damage while utilizing Murray and Jeff Zatkoff. They could not close the door and lost Game 7 in overtime at Madison Square Garden. It was a case of bad judgement on Letang’s part considering the attention around this behavior in this series and now, the Penguins have to pay the price.
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It happens. And it might yet happen here.
