Down and Out? Caps Hold Serve, Pens Must Rally

The Capitals and Penguins have played a fairly even series so far. Both Crosby and Ovechkin recorded hat tricks Monday night and both goaltenders have made some incredible saves. The difference so far has basically been timing. The Penguins have taken the early lead in both games but the Capitals are answering quickly before Pittsburgh can extend the lead to get a reasonable chance at protecting it. The Capitals are also getting timely goals as they have taken the lead late in both contests. Timing is key point one, but key point two is Varlamov making the mistake of giving very little in goal. Varlamov has given up a soft goal here and there but has done it at a time when the Caps can battle back, whereas Fleury gave up two soft goals in a row to Ovechkin with under five minutes left to play in regulation. So how does Pittsburgh right the ship? Evgeni Malkin has to step up his game and get himself on the score sheet. Malkin was a difference maker all season long and into the playoffs which is part of what separates Pittsburgh from the rest of the competition. As a Hart trophy finalist, Malkin (along with the other wingers) has to make a discernible impact to take some of the pressure off of Crosby and Fleury. Washington on the other hand simply needs to keep doing what they’re doing: make the Penguins play for every penalty they take, keep Varlamov from getting caught up in the moment of the big stage he’s on, and keep getting timely goals to keep the morale of the Penguins low. Now the series moves back to Pittsburgh where the Penguins need to win both games if they want any chance of advancing. The time to rely on last year’s finals appearance is now, because upstart Washington can taste the Conference Finals.

Isles On the Clock; Coaching Coral Beings

The Stanley Cup Playoffs (previews: EAST, WEST) are off and running and has been quite entertaining thus far. There will be much more on that come this weekend when all of the series have gotten underway. In the meantime there is some news not related to playoff teams to be discussed. First off, the New York Islanders won the NHL’s draft lottery earlier this week officially putting them on the clock. Many think the Isles will take young sensation John Tavares who has had an enormous amount of success at the junior level. I got a chance to see Tavares play in the World Junior Championships in December and if that is any indication of the potential he has the Isles would be foolish to pass him up without some incredible trade offer on the line. Tavares is the type of player who can be the start of the resurrection of a team who is down but has a very strong tradition. Although the Isles made the playoffs just two years ago, that seems like it was decades ago as on ice success has been hard to come by and the future of the team on Long Island is in the balance. Drafting Tavares can give Isles fans hope for a better future, at least giving New York a strong base to build upon for the future. The situation on Long Island is similar to what the Penguins faced in Pittsburgh when they drafted Sidney Crosby. There are indeed a lot of other factors to put the Islanders in a better situation to give them a more viable long term plan; however, drafting a player who can give them hope for a successful on ice future can be a great catapult toward a solid future.

In other news, the Edmonton Oilers have fired long time skipper Craig MacTavish after missing the playoffs again. The Oilers enjoyed a lot of success under MacTavish including a 2006 finals appearance where they ultimately lost t Carolina in seven games. And in related news the Minnesota Wild decided to fire General Manager Doug Risebrough after coach Jacques Lemaire decided not to return to the team following the Wild’s ninth place finish and first playoffless season in three years. These are the first of what will undoubtedly be many offseason moves for teams across the league. The interesting part to make watch here is who each team puts into their vacant positions, what player changes are made (if any) and how long they let the changes stand before making a change if things improvements are not made right away at the commencement of next season. That’s all for now, we’ll see you for playoff talk this weekend. Enjoy the games everybody!

Therrien/Renney Out, Bylsma/Tortorella In. But Will it Matter?

There was only one game Monday night but that didn’t mean the NHL would be lacking in drama after an action packed weekend both on and off the ice.

On the coaching end Pittsburgh’s new head man Dan Bylsma picked up his first two victories as an NHL coach in two 5-4 victories over Montreal and Philadelphia respectively. The Penguins lost to Washington on Sunday but five points out of a possible eight in Bylsma’s first four games is a good start for the new headcoach who is hoping to guide the Penguins back into a playoff spot after a disappointing start to the new year for Pittsburgh.

Staying in the Atlantic Division takes us to New York where the Rangers fired Tom Renney this weekend only to name John Tortorella as his replacement on Monday. Many close to the team believe Tortorella can provide a spark for the Rangers they could not seem to get from Renney. Tortorella has a history of calling out players publically which may inject the Rangers with just the right amount of energy to help save this sinking ship by not only keeping it afloat but guiding them to the playoffs. There is no denying that Renney is a great coach who will ultimately get another job and most likely be successful in that new position. However, Tortorella sweetens the pot by adding his Stanley Cup ring and that demands the utmost respect; something Renney simply couldn’t add to the mix.

In the future there will undoubtedly be many coaching changes across the sports landscape—especially in the NHL. In reality, mid-year coaching changes tend to do very little to change the course of a team especially when they are made toward the end of a season. The players normally don’t change—save for a few here and there—while a season is ongoing and so the chances of a different outcome no matter the coach is slim to none. And this year will probably be no different as both the Penguins and Rangers will probably continue on the paths they were on before coaching changes were made because personnel remains basically the same. If there’s one thing the sports world can learn from the Pittsburgh Steelers is that consistency in coaching and upper management yields sustained, long-term success.

Four Important NHL Lessons to Learn

There was a lot of action in the NHL this past weekend as there is every weekend but there are four big things we learned and should keep in mind the rest of the year:

1. The Washington Capitals are for real. They have been on a roll lately but nothing like Saturday when they beat the East leading Boston Bruins 2-1 at Verizon Center. And after defeated the new trap playing penguins (more on that later) and the similar defensive style of the Bruins who supplement that with great goal-scoring the Caps showed they can beat anybody and play any style. Their team speed breaks that trap better than any other team in the East and they can win high scoring AND low scoring games… the rest of the league should be on high alert.

2. The Pittsburgh Penguins have finally figured out that with all their injuries a change in strategy is necessary and the trap is just what the doctor ordered. In casual conversation with a friend on December 12^th I mentioned the Penguins need to run a trap if only temporarily to keep themselves in games until they get some guys healthy and sure enough a month and a day later they run it and win against the Flyers. Now they have won two of three and despite all the injuries are in a playoff position. The Penguins are now a team to worry about again and once they get guys healthy the teams at the top of the standings should worry… just ask the Flyers and Rangers.

3. The San Jose Sharks beat Detroit 6-5 on Saturday. They are not going to fade away… the Western Conference has been warned.

4. The Phoenix Coyotes (yes Phoenix) is a viable team and WILL make the playoffs.

Have a great holiday everybody.

Do Not Sleep On Ovechkin and Capitals

Alexander Ovechkin tallied 5 points (a goal and 4 assists) Wednesday night as the Washington Capitals defeated the Anaheim Ducks 6-4. Many people in the league have talked about: how well the Bruins are playing in front of Tim Thomas, the Penguins are off to their best start since 1995, San Jose rolling, Marian Hossa gelling with another great Detroit Red Wings team, Minnesota’s fantastic defense, and of course year 100 pour Les Canadiens de Montreal—but do not sleep on the Washington Capitals. The defending Southeast Division champions are once again leading a fairly mediocre pack of teams with a quarter of the season gone. Most will focus on Ovechkin but the Capitals have a more complete team surrounding their superstar this year. Alexander Semin is racking up the points thus far and although the defense is nothing to write home about they absolutely do an adequate job in front of the goaltending duel of Brent Johnson and Jose Theodore who have preformed more than admirably through the first 18 games of the season. Washington will be a very scary team come playoff time because they can score enough to beat anyone on any given night, have a great home ice advantage where they have yet to lose a game in regulation, and now have a team with a full tank of playoff experience. Although I think the Caps need more of a physical presence to be a championship contender (sorry but Donald Brashear cannot do it all himself) they can certainly make a lot of noise nonetheless come April.

Penguins Making up for lack of Defense with two Straight Eleventh Hour Victories

The Pittsburgh Penguins have been a fun team to watch through their past two games. In the two contests, the Penguins have put up seven and five goals respectively and both games have been hotly contested and right down to the wire against two rivals.

 

On Tuesday night, November 11^th it was Pittsburgh skating at the home of the team that knocked them out in last year’s Stanley Cup Finals… the Detroit Red Wings in which they overcame a 6-4 deficit with just under five minutes left in the third period. After forcing overtime with the help of center Jordan Staal’s hat trick, it was an assist by Staal to Ruslan Fedotenko that set up the game-winning goal in OT.

 

Then, on Thursday night on the 13^th the Pens overcame yet another late deficit when they were down 4-3 in the waning minutes of the third period at home to divisional opponent, the Philadelphia Flyers. This game would not be settled in overtime however, as the two teams battled it out in a five shot per team shootout, with the lone goal being scored by a defenseman in Alex Goligoski on Pittsburgh’s final attempt.

 

Now with these two momentum charged high-scoring wins, the Penguins have some self-belief that they can weather the storm before their arguably two top defenseman return to the lineup; Sergei Gonchar and Ryan Whitney.

 

However, no team can expect to keep winning games like this so they’ll have to definitely step up their game plan on the defensive side and start taking charge in the earlier parts of games by getting their goals sooner. But with that being said, these are still two solid wins for a still young team to build off of that has suffered many losses through free agency and injury in this past off season.