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3 Things Penguins Need to Win Game 6; All Pressure on Philly
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- 3 Things Penguins Need to Win Game 6; All Pressure on Philly
Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
PHILADELPHIA —A team facing elimination should not be the freer team, but after the Pittsburgh Penguins fought their way off the mat by winning Games 4 and 5, they have figuratively lifted the pressure from their shoulders and unapologetically dumped it on the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 6 at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
And how each team deals with the change in attitude will determine if we have the same discussion for a Game 7 back at PPG Paints Arena or we write the Penguins’ postmortems.
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Athletes and coaches revel in the word adversity. As if everything in life isn’t a challenge, when a team suffers a few failures and setbacks, they use the word. And now both teams are draped in the adversity flag as the Penguins seek to join a very small club of teams to rally from 3-0 series deficit and the Flyers need to stem the growing wave of momentum against them.
If the Penguins are to lose the series, this will be the game that trips them. They played a wild, if not sloppy game for the first two periods in Game 5, but were rewarded for their effort with a victory via fluky goal rather than punished.
Make no mistake, if the Penguins attempt to play the same unstructured game in Game 6, Flyers mascot Gritty will assault and chuck a Hurricanes mascot over the balcony “in good fun.” And therein lies the potential problem with the Penguins: the freewheeling, unstructured game is deep-seated in their DNA. Like Pavlovian dogs running for the dinner bell, when offered, the Penguins cannot say no.
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Conversely, it is quite conceivable Flyers coach Rick Tocchet seeks to take the pressure off his young, inexperienced team by guiding them back to the rigid defensive structure that stymied the Penguins in the first three games of the series.
The very reason that only 10 of 209 teams in NHL history have forced a Game 7 after trailing 3-0, while 25 fought back only to lose in Game 6, is that winning changes mindsets and habits. It also alleviates some of the pressure that forced corrections in the first place.
In short, there are real reasons why previous teams in the Penguins’ situation are only 10-15 in Game 6.
However, this series is also somewhat unique because the Penguins are the better team. The top line with Sidney Crosby , Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell has no equal in the series.
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While the Flyers would be best served to getting back to their original game and 1-1-3 defensive posture, Penguins coach Dan Muse has continued to make changes and adjustments in the series. Any fears that Tocchet was out coaching Muse should be allayed.
In addition to evolving breakouts, Muse has also shortened his bench. By removing defensemen Connor Clifton from the lineup, Muse turned down the in-game temperature to reduce the never-ending stream of post-whistle scrums. Muse maintaining some toughness by replacing him with tough but quiet Ilya Solovyov , but is only playing Solovyov about six or seven minutes per game.
The result is that Muse is exclusively rolling with his five best defensemen in the third period and when the Penguins need a boost. It’s the same strategy that the 2015 Chicago Blackhawks employed in their Stanley Cup run.
It’s unconventional, but so, too, is trying to come back from a 3-0 deficit.
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For the Flyers, it is about frustrating the Penguins. They need to play with the confidence of a 3-2 series lead by draining the life from the game, then distract the Penguins by hacking and whacking and shoving and punching.
Goaltending will be a point of observation in Game 6, too. Flyers goalie Dan Vladar is not a starting goalie who played extensively in the regular season, nor has he carried teams for long stretches before in his career. He might be nursing an injury, too. Meanwhile, the Penguins have won a pair of games behind Arturs Silovs , who took over for Stuart Skinner to start Game 4. Silovs has made enough saves for the wins, but defensemen must be on guard to clean up meaty rebounds.
The Penguins do not have a laundry list of the things the Penguins need to change for Game 6. Continuing Anthony Mantha ’s and Ben Kindel’s improved offensive push helps. It’s also imperative that they mute the very loud shorthanded chances.
Otherwise, the Penguins’ chances will hinge on their discipline both between the whistles and after. They have shown an ability to shut down the Flyers when they choose, and combining that with a responsible offensive push gives them a better shot than most of the previous 209 teams that have come before them.
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And embrace the unbridled ferocity that will fill Xfinity Mobile Arena.
The post 3 Things Penguins Need to Win Game 6; All Pressure on Philly appeared first on Pittsburgh Hockey Now .
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