Posted: 5/22/2009 by Brian LeBlanc
Heading into the series,
some hack commentator said something about the Canes' defense deciding this series. So far, it's true to form: the defense has been terrible, and the Canes are in a 2-0 hole.
Of course, the two-headed offensive attack otherwise known as Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin can make any defense in the NHL look like a club team. The luxury for the Penguins is that by splitting the two of them up and playing them on different lines, they increase the chances that one of them will take advantage of favorable matchups on a fairly regular basis. They've played that to perfection in the first two games.
It's easy to say that the Canes look bad on defense. But to say that minimizes the determination that Crosby and Malkin have played with this series. Tim Gleason was a -3 last night, and was undressed by Malkin many times over the course of the game, but let's be honest: there are maybe five defensemen in the entire league that can guard Malkin when he's playing at the level he was last night.
Where the Canes have struggled is in transition. The Penguins might be the quickest team in the NHL, and that's different from being the fastest. Their split-second decision making is unmatched, and anytime they get a rush going through the neutral zone it seems like they know what they want to do even before the play develops. The Canes haven't been able to keep up with the Penguins, both physically and mentally.
Which leads to an obvious question: are the Canes out of gas?
Sure, they've only played one more game than have the Pens, but think of what those games entailed: three overtime games, including a game 7 that went almost an entire overtime period; a game won by a goal in the last second of the game; another game 7 that saw a lead change in the final two minutes. None of those, except maybe the game 7 in Boston, were all that physically taxing, but you'd better believe the Canes were mentally drained after both of those series.
This is a dangerous position for the Canes to be in. It's a safe bet that they'll get a second wind playing in front of their home fans, and they should parlay that into at least a split of games 3 and 4. However, a split does them no good, because then they'll be heading back to Pittsburgh down 3-1. The Canes might catch the Penguins napping, especially after the cakewalk that game 2 turned into. But if they're going to tie the series by taking both games in Raleigh, they'll need to not only catch the second wind, but maintain that momentum through the next two games.
Otherwise, Tuesday might be the last night there's hockey in Raleigh until early October.