ECQF Game 5: It could have gone the other way
by John Fontana on Apr 24, 2011 2:52 PM EDT
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Saturday's matinée affair between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Tampa Bay Lightning frightened me. We're talking Paranormal Activity multiplied by Hitchcock-ian tension and flambayed with the gore of the Saw franchise (hello, Oren Koules).
It scared me, and my opinion hasn't changed with the game now in the rearview. I don't feel any more confidence now, in reflection.
Don't look at the final score and crow, thinking this was easy from beginning until the end. It was anything but the cakewalk that an 8-2 final might lead you to believe. This was an ugly game if not for troubles in the crease in Pittsburgh's end. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 10 of 14 shots and then got pulled in the second period, only to be relieved by Brent Johnson, who stopped 7 of 11 shots faced.
25 shots on goal by the Lightning. At the other end of the ice, Dwayne Roloson faced 33.
Go back to that Fleury numbers for a second. 14 shots. After a period and 5+ minutes of play of the second period. The Lightning mustered all of 8 shots on goal in the 1st period, and put up another six in the 2nd before Fleury was yanked.
That doesn't inspire me. That shows me a goalie had a bad game, that likely won't happen again.
The numbers of the netminders doesn't show you the inane image that was the Bolts effort in their own end during the majority of the 1st period, as they let the Penguins pepper Roloson with 13 shots and seemed to own the game. The outcome of the days contest seemed predestined, and it was only a matter of time before the Penguins would light the lamp.
The roof may have caved in for Pittsburgh after allowing two quick Tampa Bay goals to end the 1st period, but weak play by the Lightning in their own zone to start the game (as well as late in the game, when Pittsburgh finally put forth a renewed effort to save face), do not make me confident going into game 6. When Pittsburgh showed up, it was a lop-sided effort in their favor.
While Fleury and Johnson gave the Lightning the gift of goals, it was Dwayne Roloson that prevented the Bolts from being the victims of a drubbing, instead of the culprits that partook in one.
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ECQF Game 5
John, I couldn’t agree more. I was screaming at the TV for most of the 1st period. They looked like the same lightning team that played games 3 and 4. I am not inspired either. If we play the same game, and Fleury is sharp, we’re done.
We were all upset on the game thread through most of the first. The W and the drubbing seems to have conviently made people forget how bad things were. Again, that frightens me.
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by John Fontana on Apr 24, 2011 8:20 PM EDT up reply actions
I still think the series ends Monday night.
Boucher, Brewer, and Stamkos all mentioned the team has a different mentality tonight than they did before game 3. Time will tell, I guess—but I’m not optimistic.
Game 6 scares me.
The ways of Jedi Master Yzerman are not the ways of others.
Raw Charge, an SBN Tampa Bay Lightning community. Follow me on Twitter: @dagmar27.
by Cassie McClellan on Apr 24, 2011 9:29 PM EDT up reply actions
A Different Perspective...
While I agree that the beginning of the first did NOT look good, I think we as fans have a tendency to look at the game purely through the lens of our team- when WE play well, we win, and when WE play poorly, we lose. Let’s face it- the Pens came out in Game 5 like a team that was hungry to advance to the next round. They made good passes and they played their system, one which the Bolts have a tough time slogging through when its hitting. The difference in Game 5, unlike games 3 and 4, for example, was that after that initial barrage, the Bolts actually came through and opened up with scoring of our own. That, to me, was a huge difference, and should scare the Penguins, a lot. Twice, they opened up strong and just kept battering at us until we broke, and they dictated the game from there. Now we showed that we can withstand that initial drumming (inevitable as it seems), and if we do, we can bring some pain to their end of the ice and the scoresheet.
If I’m Marc-Andre Fleury, I’m afraid. I’ve seen 5 games that were more or less determined by my performance, and not much indication that 6 (or 7) will be any different. The Pens, even without Sid and Evgeni, still have pressure to advance. The Bolts are home, they’ve had a remarkable season no matter how tonight ends, and they have a chance to make some magic. They’ve figured out how to crack Fleury, they’ve got special teams down to an art, and they’ve shown that desperation looks kind of good on them.
From a Bolts fan perspective, obviously, there’s been reason to worry since we dropped Game 2 at home. But from the perspective of a Pens fan? I think win or lose, they’ll be having less fun (and more fits) than the fans in Tampa tonight.
by IamIANiLIKEhockey on Apr 25, 2011 12:04 PM EDT reply actions
The Lightning offense certainly busted out this game. But I have to say that while Fleury & Johnson were not spectacular, the problem was more about the guys skating in front of them: there were problems all over the ice and it’s like the Pens basically forgot how to play hockey. After the first 10 minutes or so, anyway. Not to mention that they didn’t adjust their game to deal with the things the Lightning were doing differently.
I’ll also say that the Pens have a habit of making goalies look good. Their game is all about puck possession and shooting the puck, but that doesn’t always mean they are creating good scoring chances. That is not to say that Roloson wasn’t good on Saturday, because he was. But the number of times over the last few seasons that we’ve seen goalies get the first star of the game after playing the Pens … well … they can’t all be that good. It really has to have something to do with the Pens’ system, and the way that they “create” offense.
Anyway, here’s to a great game 6. I’m expecting an interesting battle.
Cooke for Byng. Kunitz for Prime Minister. Orpik for President.
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