Pittsburgh Penguins

Pittsburgh puts up a touchdown in Game 5 beat down
May 22, 2017, 12:01 PM ET [126 Comments]
Ryan Wilson
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Things weren’t looking great after Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Ottawa blew them out of the water to take a 2-1 series lead. Since that game the Penguins have looked more like the team that won it all last year. In Game 5 Pittsburgh returned the favor to Ottawa and ran the Senators out of the building to the tune of a 7-0 victory.

It was such a beating that somebody put together a video with Jim Ross narrating it




This victory now places the Penguins one win away from going back to the Stanley Cup Final for the second consecutive year and for the fourth time in the Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin era.

Carter Rowney was the surprise star of the afternoon after registering three assists in the victory. It is surprising because nothing about his NHL sample pointed to this kind of offensive output





Carter Rowney is just the latest WB/S Penguins to come up to the big club and help contribute. Given the injuries this franchise has had to deal with I don’t think enough credit is given to how the AHL team has been handled.

If Patric Hornqvist is ready to go on Tuesday night don’t expect Rowney to be the odd man out. It will likely be Archibald or perhaps even Sheary again. Speaking of Sheary




I don't believe for a second that Sheary forgot how to play. This is as good of a reason for his poor play as any that I've seen.


What else can you say about the three superstars? Sid, Geno, and Phil keep racking up the points during this playoff run.

source: imgur.com

Both Sidney Crosby and Phil Kessel finished with a goal and an assist each while Geno added three assists. None was prettier than when they combined their forces on the power play.




When Jim Rutherford traded for Phil Kessel this is likely the image he had in his head. It doesn’t get much better than that. Star players doing star things in the Eastern Conference Finals no less.

Sidney Crosby’s goal came on a redirect in front of the Senators goal cage. Both his power play points were a #SidDownLow situation. He’s the cream of the crop, nobody does it better.

Crosby is coming back into form after his brain injury. His shot attempts percentage in the ECF is 55.4% and he has five points in his last three games. Bad news for Ottawa and likely Nashville/Anaheim.



Mark Streit got in the lineup again and he did well, again. He’s a 66% possession player and added a primary assist on the Cullen goal. He now has a point in each game he has played. He fits the mold of what the team needs more than Hainsey. If Justin Schultz is back next game, which is likely, Streit will return to the press box.

Scott Wilson has made the most of his promotion to the Malkin line. He has two points in two games (1G, 1A) and his ability to fit in on that line allows Mike Sullivan to spread the wealth throughout the forwards lines. I view Scott Wilson’s role similarly to the one that Max Talbot played in the 2009 playoffs. I do believe Wilson’s skill set is better suited for a top six role than “The Superstar”, but he isn’t the first guy you think of when you think of a Malkin winger. Wilson has good speed and he’s willing to shoot. Those two things will always mesh well with Geno.

Wilson did get elbowed in the head towards the end of the third period on a gutless play from Tommy Wingels. It remains to be seen what the health ramifications are for Wilson. Today was an optional practice and he was not out there.

Olli Maatta opened the scoring for the Pittsburgh Penguins with yet another short side goal. This one came from distance on a slap shot after tremendous in-zone work by the forwards. Maatta contributing offensively at 5v5 is a great development. This used to be a strength of his and it has gone away for quite a while. I hope that he continues to join the offensive push. When he is assertive offensively, the team is much better for it. The Penguins are at their best when they are attacking and the defenders are usually a key part in how they accomplish that.

There usually isn’t a lot to talk about on the goaltending front in a 7-0 blowout, but it is worth mentioning that Matt Murray didn’t allow a goal and earned the shutout. He has stopped 68 out of the 71 shots (.957) since replacing Fleury. His postseason career to this point has been sparkling. He's a .927 all situations goaltender.

Erik Karlsson left the game early. There really isn't a point in playing Karlsson, who has a broken foot, if the game is out of hand. The injury might be catching up to him at this point. In the first two rounds he was a 56.3% possession player and against the Penguins that number has dropped to 46.4%. Unfortunately, for the Senators that is not a recipe for winning.

If you're Ottawa you have to take the same approach the Penguins did after getting blown out in Game 3. You can only lose a game in the playoffs once. It doesn't matter if it is by one goal or... seven.

Can the Penguins be the first team to make the Stanley Cup Final in back to back years since 2009? The last time it was done was when Pittsburgh and Detroit met for their rematch. We will find out Tuesday.