Penguins fun to watch again
For the first time in I can’t tell you how long, I actually sat down and watched an entire NHL hockey game on Tuesday night. Not only did I get to see the Penguins eliminate the Capitals (albeit in about the most nerve-wracking way possible), but I was reminded about just how great a spectacle are the Stanley Cup playoffs.
With my overworked wife heading to bed early and my two sons mercifully going down (and staying down) at their appointed bedtime, I was actually able to have a quiet house to myself. Though I occasionally switched back and forth between old reruns of The Simpsons, I stayed pretty much glued to Game 6 from when I tuned in right after Kessel’s game-opening tally to Bonino’s nail-in-the-coffin rebound that sent the “best team in the NHL” back to D.C.
Over the around three hours of viewing, I came away with a few thoughts.
I know I am extremely late to this party, but these Penguins are simply fun to watch. For a very old 34-year-old like me that can watch a 15-inning baseball game that ends in a 2-1 score, this is a rather significant revelation. However, it’s not established names like Crosby and Malkin that held my interest. Rather, it’s the team’s new wave of contributors that may have just brought a former die-hard fan back into the fold for the first time since the great Cup teams of the early 1990s.
With 87 and 71 being mostly absent from stat sheets, guys like Brian Rust, Trevor Daley and Carl Hagelin have been doing a lot of the heavy lifting this postseason. Seeing Phil Kessel, who has to be the oldest looking 29-year-old on the planet, live up to his hype has also been entertaining to watch.
Perhaps the biggest draw for the casual fan (i.e. me) is the always popular rookie phenom angle. That role is being played perfectly by 21-year-old wunderkind goalkeeper Matt Murray. The fact that Murray is barely old enough to consume alcoholic beverages, but could be sipping champagne out of Lord Stanley’s silver chalice in a few weeks is one of the top story lines of the postseason.
Adding a tasty twist to Murray’s rapid ascension is the ongoing drama of what to do with franchise goalkeeper Marc-Andre Fleury. With Murray playing every minute this postseason, including three overtime games, Game 1 of the upcoming conference finals against Tampa Bay just may be the time for the Penguins to not only give the youngster a break, but see just how Fleury looks following his second concussion of the year.
With well over a month’s worth of rust settling on to No. 29, Pittsburgh could go into the game with the Lightning knowing they have Murray ready to jump in at a moment’s notice, should Fleury falter at all. However, if the veteran shines, what does that mean for the remainder of the postseason?
Regardless of what shakes out with the team’s goalie situation, Pittsburgh’s next opponent could provide its biggest challenge.
No team in the NHL playoffs has been on a roll like the Tampa Bay Lightning. The squad has won both of its first two series in five games and is on a four-game winning streak stemming from eliminating the New York Islanders. While those numbers are impressive, the challenge in playing Tampa comes in its similarity to the Black and Gold.
The Lightning rely on their forwards to pressure opposing defenses, much like Pittsburgh. While the New York Rangers and Washington Capitals boasted enough skill to keep the Penguin defense on its collective toes, neither squad could match the pure speed of the Lightning. As if that doesn’t give the Pittsburgh coaching staff enough to think about, Steven Stamkos, who is not only Tampa Bay’s best player by a mile, but one of the elite talents in the league, is rumored to return from an extended injury leave.
Game 1 is scheduled to start on Friday and while I would like to say that I will be back on the couch catching every minute of the action that decision has effectively been out of my hands. I will have to check with my three bosses at home to determine my availability.