Sunday, May 31, 2009

The Pens Need To Take Advantage Of the Last Change In Pittsburgh


It's obvious that the Pens weren't able to generate much offense once they went down 2-1 to Detroit in game 2. The Pens need to try to keep the Crosby line away from the Zetterberg line at even strength, and they need to add more offense to the lineup.

These would be my proposed lines for the Pens.....

Satan-Crosby-Guerin
Fedotenko-Malkin-Sykora
Kunitz-Staal-Kennedy
Cooke-Talbot-Adams

The top line pairs Crosby with 2 past their prime snipers, the 2nd line reunites Malkin and Sykora and adds another scoring option to Malkin's wing, the 3rd is a checking line that can score, and then you have the energy line.

It's rather obvious that Detroit is trying to make players other than Malkin and Crosby beat them, and the Pens don't seem to have the additional puck carriers and playmakers to do that. Crosby's linemates need to get themselves open because Sid despite being blanketed still makes some great passes.

The Pens need to get going offensively, and Fleury needs to give his team a reason to believe that they can win the Cup with him in net. The Pens need him to stand tall while they find themselves offensively. A 2-0 deficit isn't insurmountable, but the Pens need to come out and make a statement in game 3 if they have any hope of spoiling a Wings repeat.

The Pens need to stop making Chris Osgood look like a solid goaltender, and oh yeah, if Zetterberg wants to keep diving on pucks, it's time to get dirty with the stick and "accidentally" clip him in the mouth while trying to jam the puck into the net. And oh yeah, where's Matt Cook? He's been a non factor, he needs to get under the Wings star players skins, he's done no such thing.

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