Pens win Stanley Cup!

Ok, so I may be a little sarcastic here.....I LOVED the game played by the Penguins last night in their 5-0 drubbing of the Islanders in Game One of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Penguins chased Evgeni Nabokov, they got physical with John Tavares, their achilles heel, the PK delivered going 4-4, and the power play went 2-4, including a beauty by rookie Beau Bennett.  The world turned upside down, as the Penguins even got a goal from Tanner Glass!  But, yinzers I spoke with everywhere today were convinced that the showing last night likely meant a sweep of the Isles, and a run right to the 4th Cup.  I am more with the Penguins players who correctly enjoyed the moment, then immediately began to put their focus on Game Two Friday night.  10-0 or 2-1, it is only one game of the four necessary to win the series.  Lest you think I am just a hockey Scrooge, in two of the past three first round exits, our flightless Birds handled Montreal 6-3 in game one, chasing Jaroslav Halak in the 2010 first round series, which they ultimately lost in 7 games.  In 2011, the Pens shut out the Lightning 3-0 in Game One, then lost the series, which they led at one point 3-1, in seven games.  I suspect that those experiences, plus the additions of Morrow and Iginla will keep the Pens focused on the task at hand, and I do expect that they will prevail, but calm down folks.  If the Isles storm back and take Game Two, we have a best of five series with both teams even.  Friday night is a big night for Pittsburgh to make a statement about their overall depth and talent being too much for New York.  A New York rebound win, and people, you may have a dog fight to contend with.  After presenting my cautionary tale, let me get back to things that I liked about Pittsburgh last night:

Marc Andre Fleury came out and played a very strong game, hopefully setting up the frame of mind he will need to put recent post season failure behind him;

Pascal Dupuis continues to show the hockey world what kind of player he is, putting home two goals, including the dirty second goal of the game which seemed to deflate the Isles a bit;

Iginla and Jokkinen both continued their hot streaks adding 2 assists each to the scoresheet, while Iggy played a physical game all night long, physical, tough, straight line hockey;

Kris Letang was simply in beast mode, nuff said;

Mark Eaton played a very steady defensive game, and blocked 8 shots;

Crankshaft showed the element missing from the past three playoff disasters by his physicality in front of the net, sending Islanders flying like bowling pins;

Beau Bennett, the "scared" rookie took a Martin to Malkin tip on the boards and roared in on Nabokov and tucked a power play goal in a small space over his shoulder and played tough and smart all night long;

As noted, the Pens won the special team battle with a 4-4 PK effort and a 2-4 PP effort to control the game from the drop of the puck;

Brenden Morrow, though not on the score sheet, played the kind of relentless physical hockey that over the course of the series will take its toll;

Matt Cooke is already under the skin of the NYI, and drawing the early penalty from Brian Strait, put the Pens on the PP which led to the Bennett goal.

Evgeni Malkin to me had a mixed night.  He had two assists, and those cannot be discounted, but he also played some pretty uninspired hockey at times, mixed with rushes where he tried to beat four Islanders and turned the puck over.  You may think I am too hard on Geno, but he earns what Sid earns, wears an A, and after admitting to the fact that he did not deliver in the regular season, turned in an up and down night in my opinion.  Other than the psychological damage it may do to strip it, I can think of several more deserving Penguins in terms of the A.  A step in the right direction, but still not what Geno is capable of.  The other downer are more injuries to both James Neal and Juicy.  With Orpik still day to day and Crosby still out, I would prefer not to keep testing the depth of the team this early in the post season.  I LOVED the game played by Pittsburgh, and love the fact that they quickly deflected the love they were thrown for the win, and turned the attention immediately to Game Two.  Love the focus and physicality, but unlike many others here, I would prefer to take this run game by game.  LETS GO PENS!