Geno is Down
By Bob Smizik, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
What had been the team's best line -- Evgeni Malkin, Ryan Malone and Petr Sykora -- has gone absent. Without the Malkin line performing at or near its highest capability, the Penguins have no skill advantage. After all, what kind of advantage does a supposed skill line give a team when it has scored one goal and three assists in the past three games?
This is the same line that carried the team in the latter stages of the regular season and through the first 10 games of the playoffs.
Seems hard to believe that about a week ago Malkin was being talked about as possibly the best player in the game. He was mentioned frequently as a leading candidate for the Conn Smythe Trophy, which goes to the MVP of the playoffs. While Sidney Crosby struggled to score, Malkin was a goal-scoring machine.
But look what he has done lately. His only point in the past three games was the second assist on Malone's score that gave the Penguins a two-goal lead midway through the third period of Game 3. He has managed only seven shots on goal in those three games, compared to 10 in the final game against the New York Rangers. He has been charged with eight giveaways.
There's no Conn Smythe candidacy in those numbers.
"He hasn't been productive like he was in the past," said coach Michel Therrien in a conference call with the media yesterday. "He's going to have to find a way next game to make sure he's going to be productive like he [was] at the playoffs start."
Malkin had two goals against Ottawa, four against New York and two in the first game against Philadelphia.
It was suggested to Therrien that perhaps Malkin was tired. He wore down in the playoffs last year, failing to score a goal in five games against Ottawa, and now, in the third round, he is involved in an even longer season.
Therrien didn't buy it.
"Yes, it is a long season. He had been through that last year. I think he's got more experience this year to play through the schedule that we're facing in the NHL, plus the playoffs. I could understand fatigue would be a factor if we would have played seven games in every round. I think we've had some quality time for rest. And because of the amount of games that we played in the playoffs, I don't think fatigue is a factor."
To Read the Rest of the Article: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08138/882688-61.stm
MT Admits he Made a Mistake
By Dave Molinari, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
It was, coach Michel Therrien said, a mistake that led to Sidney Crosby being on the ice in the waning seconds of the Penguins' 4-2 loss in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference final at Philadelphia Thursday night.
Not by Therrien for sending him out, but by the referees for passing along faulty information that prompted Therrien to deploy Crosby even after the Flyers had scored an empty-net goal.
Therrien said yesterday that, in the wake of a skirmish between Penguins winger Ryan Malone and Philadelphia defenseman Derian Hatcher at 19:37 of the third period, the officials told him the Penguins were going to have a 5-on-3 power play.
Add an extra skater who would replace goalie Marc-Andre Fleury to a two-man advantage, Therrien said, and he believed the Penguins had an outside chance to force overtime, so Crosby got the call.
"On a five-on-three, you pull your goalie with 30 [sic] seconds left, and you could have a chance to go 6-on-3," he said. "And we're still feeling that, with a good rush, in 10 seconds we could have scored a goal, and you're still hoping.
"When all the players were on the ice [for the resumption of play, a ref] came to the bench and told us [the Flyers] don't have two minors. They've got one minor. All the players were [on the ice] already. So that was a bad communication from the referee to the bench. They changed their mind."
Twelve seconds after the game resumed, Crosby scuffled with Flyers center Mike Richards, and both were assessed minors for slashing and roughing. During a news conference yesterday, Richards explained their run-in this way, according to a transcript provided by the NHL:
"I was just trying to go through with the puck. I think that he was thinking I was trying to slash his ankles, but, whatever [laughing]. ... I don't think you can frustrate Sid too much.
"He's such a skilled player, and he's so used to getting picked on, I guess, [by] people going after him, physically and verbally.
"So you're not going to frustrate him too much."
Link to Article: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08138/882685-61.stm
Video: MT's Mistake
Pens Fans Buy Stanley Cup Tickets in Detroit
By Greg Wyshynski, Sports.Yahoo.com
When tickets to a Stanley Cup Playoff series that may involve their team go on sale, Pittsburgh Penguins fans are going to know about it. Please recall the 2000 postseason, when the threat of a Pens fan invasion in D.C. forced Washington owner Ted Leonsis to implement a plan that prevented them from purchasing tickets online for Capitals' playoff home games.
On Wednesday, the Detroit Red Wings began a presale for Stanley Cup Finals tickets that required a special code. And guess who just happened to discover that code: The good folks of the LetsGoPens.com boards, who began crowing about the quality tickets they were scoring for Finals games in Detroit. Well, at least with all of these Penguins fans filling seats at the Joe, Mitch Albom won't have anything to complain about.
Link to Article: http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/nhl_experts/post/Penguins-fans-snatch-up-Stanley-Cup-Finals-tix-i?urn=nhl,82957
Pittsburgh is a Hockeytown, High TV Ratings
By Barry Horn, The Dallas Morning News
This afternoon's Game 5 of the Dallas Stars-Red Wings series marks the first and last time everyone in Dallas-Fort Worth should have TV access to the Western Conference finals. The 12:30 p.m. start will be available on NBC (Channel 5).
Surely more viewers will tune in to the game than have bothered to find the first four on cable.
Should the Stars, who trail 3-1, manage to extend the best-of-7 series, the Stars and Red Wings return to Versus for the remaining games. For whatever reason, Versus has proved a vast wasteland locally.
The D-FW market has averaged a 1.8 rating for the Red Wings series in the wake of the Stars' march through Anaheim and San Jose. That translates to 43,841 homes. That's worse than awful.
The most positive spin on the ratings is their incremental game-to-game improvement – 1.1, 1.3, 2.3, 2.5.
Now let's compare. In Detroit, where some homes have access to the Canadian broadcasts, the series has averaged a relatively healthy 9.6 rating (184,848 homes) on Versus.
And in the Eastern Conference home markets, Philadelphia is averaging an 8.3 (244,020 homes). In Pittsburgh, which should be known as Hockeytown USA, the Penguins-Flyers series is averaging a 20.2 rating (233,956 homes) on Versus.
Let's translate. In D-FW, 1.8 percent of all homes with televisions have shown interest in the series. In Pittsburgh, it's 20.2 percent.
To Read the Rest of the Article: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/columnists/bhorn/stories/051708dnspohorn.2ef524a.html
Video: Flyers Fans Still Have Hope
*Swear Words in this Video*
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