RALIEGH, NC – Brotherly love is a hot topic in the Pittsburgh Penguins-Carolina Hurricanes Eastern Conference Finals series, but the burning question to be answered is how well the Hurricanes can control hockey’s version of Mutt and Jeff.
There is a lot of focus in the upcoming series about the match-up will take place when Pittsburgh’s Jordan Staal goes up against his brother Eric. Eric leads the Carolina Hurricanes in scoring and he has registered at least a goal in seven of the team’s eight wins in the playoffs thus far. But in all likelihood if there is a deliberate match-up to be employed by Penguins coach Dan Bylsma against Staal it will be Penguins defenders Hal Gill and Rob Scuderi who are given bulk of the task, especially on the road. Still brother-on-brother makes for interesting copy and will keep the Staal household on edge.
Jordan Staal. Photo courtesy of the NHL
“We both don’t want to lose and we’re both really competitive,” said Jordan Staal. “So I’m sure the fire could heat up a little bit and things could escalate. That’s part of hockey, and I’m sure we’ll both still be brothers after.”
While the Staal storyline is important to the series and the human interest angle is indeed interesting the real defensive questions in this series is how Carolina can try to limit Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. The duo come into the series ranked first and third, respectively in playoff scoring and have registered 18 of the club’s 45 playoff goals and have combined for 40 points. Obviously if a team is going to have any success against Pittsburgh they are going to have to slow the dangerous pair down and take away the ways they are good at scoring.
“You’ve seen Malkin take it from the other side to the inside where the goaltender’s got a move not on the pass, but the actual puck carrier, and stayed focused on that,” said Carolina head coach Paul Maurice. “So it’s not as much of a timing pass on the cross, this guy drives back to the middle of the ice. Then Crosby’s hands within a foot and a half of the goal crease, he can get it into those holes. So his ability to see a lot and control the puck well at the end of the day. When you look at their offensive numbers, they’re going to get their chances.”
How well the Hurricanes defend against those chances will likely decide this series.
Pittsburgh’s secondary scoring has been delivered by Bill Guerin, Ruslan Fedotenko and the team’s defensive corps which has chipped in ten goals to the cause. Fedotenko has produced four goals and eight points while seeing just over 14 minutes of ice time per game. Chris Kunitz, Jordan Staal and Matt Cooke all receive top six minutes on the forward units for the Penguins. Bylsma definitely has a caste system up front—can you blame him with the top-end talent he has? Tyler Kennedy, Fedotenko and Maxime Talbot see third line time. Bylsma has rotated players in on the fourth line with Craig Adams (he has dressed for all 13 of the Penguins games), Miroslav Satan, Petr Sykora and Pascal Dupuis splitting time on the sideline.
The biggest health question coming into the series is the availability of Penguins defender Sergei Gonchar. Gonchar sees more ice time than anyone on the club and all of the defenders need to take on more responsibility and minutes if the puck-moving defenseman is out.
“Gonchar looked good out there today (Sunday),” said Bylsma. “It’s one of those things that you evaluate again tomorrow (Monday) morning, and we’ll be ready for different scenarios depending on how good he feels and how much he can contribute in terms of minutes and on the ice. So we’ll probably be dressing 12 forwards for the game, and 7 D for warm-ups and make our decision then.”
Even if Gonchar can’t play it won’t be all doom and gloom for the Penguins. Scuderi was an unsung hero in the series against Washington and helped the club keep Alexander Ovechkin from determining the outcome of the series. In addition to Scuderi the club gives full-time roles to Kristopher Letang, Mark Eaton, Brooks Orpik and Gill. Each brings their own skills to the table, Letang can move the puck, Orpik and Gill provide physicality and Eaton is a solid defender who has already scored four goals in the playoffs. If Gonchar cannot go Philippe Boucher or Alex Goligoski will dress.
After a strong series against the Philadelphia Flyers netminder Marc-Andre Fleury’s stats suffered in the offense-first series against Washington. Still the Penguins came out on top due to Fleury doing enough to stop the hard-charging Capitals. A prime example would be the save Fleury made on an Ovechkin breakaway early in Game 7 to keep the Penguins from falling behind early.
Carolina boasts Cam Ward in goal and the young goaltender is the epitome of clutch. He won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP when the Hurricanes won the 2006 Stanley Cup. Ward has never lost a playoff series and is 4-0 all-time in Game 7’s. Like Fleury, Ward has had his detractors—but when it counts all he does is win games.
Carolina coach Paul Maurice rides his top players. The Hurricanes play their top three lines and top four defensemen as much as possible. This could be a factor should they go the distance in this series like they have in the two previous ones.
Joni Pitkanen is Maurice’s defender of choice as he averages over 26 minutes per game during these playoffs. Joe Corvo is not too far behind as he averages 25 over minutes per game. The Bruins tried to hammer the Hurricanes defensemen into submission, but they were just as strong in Game 7 as they were to start the series. The second pairing is Dennis Seidenberg and Trent Gleason with Niclas Wallin and either Anton Babchuk or Frantisek Kaberle as the third pairing. Wallin is also used by Maurice on the penalty kill. Carolina’s defenders provided many goals to the club during the regular season, but they have been relatively quiet in the playoffs, combining for only two goals as a unit.
Eric Staal. Photo courtesy of the NHL
Staal is the busiest of all the forwards on the Carolina roster and centers a line which currently features Scott Walker and Ray Whitney. Walker was moved up on the first line to provide the unit with some grit and he responded with the series-winning goal against Boston in overtime. The second line is comprised of Erik Cole, Matt Cullen and Chad LaRose, Cole has yet to score in the playoffs and he, along with his line mates need to produce in this round. The third line is a mix-and-match one depending on how the game is going. Sergei Samsonov, Tuomo Ruutu, Rod Brind’Amour and Jussi Jokinen all see time on that line and on special teams units. Samsonov potted four goals in the Boston series and Jokinen has been one of the playoff’s best stories with his clutch scoring. Ryan Bayda and Patrick Eaves round out the forward lines with Tim Conboy usually the top reserve. Conboy might find himself in uniform if a serious cut above Brind’Amour’s right eye keeps him off the ice early in the series.
Based on their regular season records whichever team wins this series will have to open the Stanley Cup Finals on the road due to the fact both the Chicago Blackhawks and the Detroit Red Wings had more points than either club. When you account for Carolina and Pittsburgh’s respective records at the start of the New Year when both teams were struggling it is impressive both teams have made it this far.
Carolina’s season was nearly sunk when they lost to Atlanta on February 28th and were only five games over .500, but the team went 13-1-2 after that loss to claim a spot in the postseason.
“Everybody feels great now,” said Maurice. “But you remember what it was like after the Atlanta loss. That was a pretty serious time for us. So we learned how to deal with that adversity and that pressure.”
“Now we get to the playoffs, and it wasn’t a matter of just being happy to be in the playoffs,” continued Maurice. “Certainly the road’s not that big a deal. In relative terms to losing to Atlanta, and the dog fight and having to win so many games in a row just to make it. Starting on the road and some of the adversity that we face because we play good teams it just doesn’t seem like it’s that big a deal.”
Pittsburgh nearly sank to .500 as late as mid-January after a loss in Washington had given them 8 defeats in 10 games. But a two-game winning streak that started against Anaheim led to a 25-9-5 mark for the team and their fourth place berth.
Thanks to their new coaches and excellent records down the stretch the teams are playing for an achievement only two clubs will accomplish this season. With their recent history of winning, the series is too close to call, which would fit right into the theme of these playoffs where almost every series needs to go the limit, something everyone still playing understands.
“I mean, today’s NHL, things are so close. I mean, there is not too big of a difference between teams,” said Hurricanes forward Tuomo Ruutu. “Like I said, the only teams that didn’t go the 7 games was the Chicago series. So that just tells you teams are so close.”
Almost close enough to be brothers.
Contact toml.schettino@prohockeynews.com
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