Matthew O’Haren-USA TODAY Sports
Marc Andre Fleury stared at the ceiling, hunching his shoulders as he exited following Derek Stapan’s power play goal that gave the New York Rangers a 4-1 lead. The Pittsburgh goalie was helpless against the Blueshirts’ barrage. While last year’s playoff series went the distance, the Rangers are built to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins.
This is in large part due to Pittsburgh’s unwillingness to change the way that they play. The Penguins’ philosophy is predicated on its centers’ (Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin) ability to carry the puck into the offensive zone. While mostly successful due to the talents of Crosby and Malkin, the Rangers can counter that method with two pairs of shutdown defenders. The skating ability of the Blueshirts’ blueliners, compounded with Alain Vigneault’s aggressive neutral zone philosophy, enables New York to stand the Penguins up at the blueline. Eddie Olzyck said that the Penguins are, and have historically been, a team that are unwilling to dump and chase. By not dumping the puck, the defenders have no reason to sit back in the defensive zone and can invest all of their energy into holding the blueline. Marc Staal, Dan Girardi, Ryan McDonagh, Kevin Klein and Dan Boyle are simply too skilled and can easily shutdown any one-dimensional offensive attack.
The Penguins’ stubbornness was put on display in front of a national audience. While the performance leaves Rangerstown more than satisfied, Pittsburgh fans can only leave Console Energy Center frustrated. The team has the skill and the ability to dump and retrieve the puck. It is as if they have an arrogance about them and they are out to prove that they can win by carrying the black rubber disc as opposed to incorporating a method that has been proven successful.
Furthermore, the Rangers are a team that can win a game in a variety of ways. Today, they forced Pittsburgh’s hand by taking away at the blueline. When the Penguins refused to dump the puck, the Blueshirts created turnovers, which transitioned into odd-man rushes and quickly silenced the Pittsburgh crowd. Although the 4-1 Rangers’ victory is just a preview for a showdown in late April and early May, everything in the playoffs is magnified. The Penguins’ reluctance is ultimately the reason they are eliminated from Lord Stanley’s Cup.
Adam Feld is a Rangers writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @trublunyblog, like him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
