11. Cowher power- Bill Cowher, native of Pittsburgh and former Steelers head coach, has morphed from jutted-jaw coach to local Carolina celebrity. He even sounded the hurricane warning in game six. Does this officially mark him as a traitor to the black and gold, or will he change allegiances to where they properly belong?
10. These guys named Staal- In case you've been living under a rock/ fallout shelter, there's two Staal brothers- Eric and Jordan playing for Carolina and Pittsburgh, respectively. Did I mention their brothers?
9. Miroslav Satan- He's got some big assists and is playing smart hockey for a 4th line guy. Had a few big shots, particularly one against Varlamov in game seven- that he's been robbed on. He's even getting some time with Malkin. He could be a difference maker, particularly with Sykora scratched.
8. Erik Cole- He was a big piece of the Canes's 2006 Cup run. Expect him to play a big part again. Been quiet and doesn't have a goal yet. Look for him to try and change that.
7. Scott Walker- You know, the guy who punched Aaron Ward in the face and one-hit KOed him. Likely a sucker punch, but it was one hell of a right hand. He also scored the winning goal in game 7 in OT. Also, his wife has cervical cancer. I wish his wife the best, and you can bet it's going to motivate this guy to get more goals like that.
6. Cardiac Canes- They sure love their dramatic finishes. Scoring twice in the last 100 seconds of game 7 against NJ. Winning in OT game 7 against Boston. These guys can't be counted out ever.
5. That other Ward- His first name ain't Hines, and he'll be in Pittsburgh. At just 23, he's already got a Conn Smythe Trophy from the 2006 Carolina cup run. He's never lost a playoff series (6-0) and he's rocking solid numbers again (2.22 GAA, .927 sv%). He's carrying this team on his back.
4. The other goalie- Fleury didn't have a dominating performance against Washington (current numbers: 2.72 GAA and .901 sv%). Some of that can be attributed to Washington's ridiculous offensive players such as Ovechkin, Federov, and Backstrom (the rest didn't show up). Even then, there were some seriously soft goals let in. The Cardiac Canes will feast if they get such chances.
3. Special teams- Pens have a decently clicking power play right now. It had at least one goal in each of the four victories against the Capitals, including that nifty skate-to-stick move by Crosby in game 7 for the first goal. Carolina's got the best PK of any team remaining and also has the worst power play, converting at an anemic 10.7%. Pens will need to solve that PK in order to win this series. With Gonchar, Letang, Sid and Geno out there, shouldn't be a problem.
2. Secondary scoring. I was going to make this topic specifically about the blue line, but let's include everybody. Big contributors helped the Pens win. Bill Guerin (5), Mark Eaton (leads D-men with 4 goal? huh?), Ruslan Fedotenko (4) Kris Letang (3), Gonchar (2). Chris Kunitz currently has zero goals. He's had his chances. Look for him to get a break in this series.
1. Sid and Geno. Of course they are #1. Sid has been the dominating player we know he is, #1 in points (21) and goals (12) in the playoffs. Malkin has had a very quiet but productive post-season and is #2 in scoring. After having a rough start and three points in four games to start, he had seven points (1 goal, 6 assists) in the final three games. He had nine points (four goals, five assists) through the Philadelphia series. He's not been the dominator everyone knows he can be, but it's not as if he's invisible out there. A few more goals, and he'll be right back in the conversation. These two are always the difference between the Pens winning and losing.
Prediction: E. Staal will cause the Pens problems, and Ward can steal a game or two, but he's due for his first series loss. Pens in six.
Note: Apologies for the picture cutoffs. I'll resolve this for the next time. Pictures taken from the Puck Daddy blog on Yahoo! Sports and Empty Netters blog by Seth Rorabaugh at www.post-gazette.com
i like #9 - it's good to see miro getting his props after everything his career's been through!
ReplyDeleteAs far as The chin he has said that he has to live in Carolina now so he is not going to change alleginaces.
ReplyDelete2) Kennedy he has been working his rear end off and has been really close to putting one in I expect that eventually one will go in for him.