Well this is kind of a letdown. After watching the Penguins take on long-time rivals Philadelphia and Washington in the first two rounds of the Eastern Conference playoffs, they're now taking on the Carolina Hurricanes in the conference final. It's a match-up that offers nothing in the way of hatred, bitterness or rivalry. Hopefully the Staal brothers pull a Keith and Wayne Primeau and fight sometime in the first two games. You know, just to stir the pot a little bit. Having said that, this is an interesting match-up when it comes to hockey and that, of course, is the most important thing. It should be an exciting series, and who knows, perhaps by the end of it both teams will end up hating each other anyway.
| Pittsburgh Penguins |
Carolina Hurricanes |
|
Sidney Crosby is playing, perhaps, the best hockey of his career, while Evgeni Malkin has 19 points in 13 postseason games despite having an up-and-down series against Washington. Bill Guerin and Ruslan Fedotenko have also been strong for Pittsburgh.
|
Forwards | Eric Staal is as good as it gets (did you know he has a brother in this series?) while Jussi Jokinen has been a surprise scoring leader for the Hurricanes. After scoring just seven goals in the regular season, he already has six in the playoffs. |
| Advantage: Pittsburgh: The Penguins second-leading scorer in the postseason is the guy that won the Art Ross Trophy in the regular season. The Hurricanes second-leading scorer in the postseason is a guy that was claimed on waivers in the regular season. (Eric) Staal is phenominal, while the Hurricanes have some nice players up front with Ray Whitney and Chad LaRose, but the Penguins go four lines deep and are capable of putting points on the board with each line. |
||
|
Sergei Gonchar still isn't 100 percent healthy, but it's likely we'll see him patrolling the blue line for the Penguins. Pittsburgh has received some nice production from Kris Letang, while also getting four goals from Mark Eaton. |
Defense |
The Hurricanes are surrendering over 31 shots per game in the playoffs, while their blue-liners have contributed just two goals (Tim Gleason and Joe Corvo). |
| Advantage: Pittsburgh. Even with Gonchar at less than 100 percent, Pittsburgh's defense still has a strong balance, especially while it's getting offensive contributions from guys like Eaton. |
||
|
Marc-Andre Fleury was dominant for the Penguins in their opening round win against the Philadelphia Flyers, but had some struggles against Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals in the second round. He did, however, come up big for the Penguins in game 7 when they needed him. |
Goalies |
Cam Ward has been remarkable for Carolina, bringing back memories of his run to the Stanley Cup during his rookie season in 2005-06. He's currently sporting a .927 save percentage, which is the best mark of the four remaining goalies. |
| Advantage: Carolina. Ward is the real deal in the postseason, and while both goalies have experience in the Stanley Cup Final, Ward has already won it all and the Conn Smythe Trophy. When he gets hot, he's good enough to carry a team on his back. |
||
|
After struggling for much of the postseason on the power play, the Penguins finally started to cash in late in their series against Washington. |
Special Teams |
Carolina comes in as one of the best penalty killing teams in the postseason, and one of the absolute worst teams on the power play. |
| Advantage: Carolina. Both power plays have been inconsistent in the postseason, while the Hurricanes have converted on just five of their 48 opportunities with the man advantage. Pittsburgh's power play has slowly been improving, while it will be going up against a Carolina team that's surrendered just five power play goals in 14 playoff games. Slight edge for Carolina. |
||
|
Since taking over for Michel Therrien in February, the Penguins have been a different team under Dan Bylsma. His decision to swap Petr Sykora for Miroslav Satan in the lineup has been an underrated good move in the postseason. |
Coaching |
Like Bylsma, Paul Maurice took over a slumping team and helped turn it into one of the hottest teams in the NHL heading into the playoffs. |
| Advantage: Push. Both teams went through coaching changes during the regular season, and while we've been holding Bylsma's lack of experience against him in the postseason, he's seemingly pushed all of the right buttons to get Pittsburgh back into the conference finals. |
||
|
The Penguins overcame a 2-0 deficit in round two, winning a pair of games in a hostile environment in the Verizon Center. |
Intangibles |
Carolina has a proven playoff goalie and the confidence that comes from knocking off two division champions, including the No. 1 seed. |
| Advantage: Push. Both teams are tough to beat at home, while they've both proven they can win big games on the road. |
||
| Final Prediction: Five of our writers picked the Penguins, while one picked the Hurricanes. |
||
