Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin have struggled thus far against Montreal.
After rallying from a 3-1 deficit to stun the top-seeded Washington Capitals in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals, the Canadiens are very much in it to win it in their conference semifinal series against defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh.
After dropping the first game in Pittsburgh 6-3, Montreal rallied from an early 1-0 deficit for a 3-1 win to even the series heading back to Montreal.
Then, after a tough 2-0 loss in Game 3, it was comeback time for the Canadiens in last night’s Game 4. Pittsburgh led 2-1 only 5:18 in, but the Penguins would be shut out for the final 54-plus minutes, and two early third-period goals from Maxim Lapierre and Brian Gionta brought Montreal back for a 3-2 win and a 2-all tie in the series.
Is it time for the Penguins to actually worry about whether or not they’re going to win this series?
Pittsburgh hasn’t done well when it comes to clinching series at home, so it might actually be in their favor that it’s 2-2 and not 3-1.
However, as tenuous as things are for the defending champs right now, these are the spots where the Penguins, unlike the Capitals to this point, have excelled during their success over the last few seasons.
Last season, it was rallying from 3-0 down on the road to defeat Philadelphia in the conference quarters, winning Games 5 and 7 in Washington in the conference semis, and after staying alive with a Game 6 win at home, stunning Detroit with a Game 7 win on the road to clinch the franchise’s third title.
Most recently, in the conference quarterfinals against Ottawa, Pittsburgh roared back after losing the first game at home, and then after missing out on a chance to clinch at home in Game 5 and falling behind 3-0 in Game 6, fighting back for a 4-3 overtime win to take the series.
So, you have to expect the Penguins to come out fired up tomorrow night and, instead of letting up as may have been the case in their losses in Game 2 and Game 4, keep that same intensity and focus for the full 60.
It goes without saying that the key players need to step it up another notch from here. After scoring 14 points in six games against Ottawa, Sidney Crosby has only three points against the Canadiens, and he’s failed to find the net after scoring five times against the Senators.
A lot of it comes down to creating opportunities. Crosby had 24 shots against Ottawa, but he has only eight against the Canadiens. However, it is worth noting that, even though he didn’t beat Jaroslav Halak in Game 4, he did take five shots after registering only three in the first three games.
The same goes for Evgeni Malkin, who has only one goal and one assist in the series after scoring eight points against Ottawa.
The better those two perform, the more it opens the way for the likes of Bill Guerin, Maxime Talbot, Pascal Dupuis, and the rest of the supporting cast to be massive difference makers, as Talbot did against the Red Wings in Game 7 last year and Dupuis did against the Senators in the last round.
All that being said, if the Canadiens haven’t gone quietly to this point, they won’t now. They know they can hang with the Penguins, and they know that they have the same chance to win the series that Pittsburgh does, so they won’t go into Mellon Arena intimidated. It also doesn’t hurt when your goalie is playing at a high level like Halak has been.
But, with Mellon Arena’s days numbered, you have to be certain that the Penguins don’t want their or the fans’ last memories of Mellon to be losing ones.
