One of the series that has failed to disappoint thus far in the NHL playoffs is the Pittsburgh Penguins vs. the Columbus Blue Jackets. Columbus is giving them all they can handle despite Pittsburgh being up 2-1 in the series.
Either team could be up 3-0 in this series right now since both teams have blown a two-goal lead each night. Here are five key takeaways from the Pittsburgh-Columbus series so far.
Flower Power.
Marc-Andre Fleury has started to prove his critics wrong this series as he has played very well in goal for the Penguins. He has kept the team in every single game this series and was the only reason why Game 2 went to double overtime. He was a little shaky in Game 3 allowing two soft goals at the start of the game, but he started to settle in after coach Dan Bylsma called a timeout to yell at the team and Fleury. If he can keep this up, he can possibly take the Penguins pretty deep into the playoffs.
Bobrovsky is Shaky.
Sergei Bobrovsky has not been good in goal for the Jackets so far through the three games. He stole Game 2, which was one of the keys I mentioned in my preview article of this series. He allowed a couple bad goals in Game 1 and then allowed three goals in two minutes to eventually lose the game. If Columbus is to come back in this series, Bobrovsky is going to have to play a lot better than he did in Game 3. Mental lapses cost him against the potent Pittsburgh attack and a repeat performance won’t cut it at all.
Special Teams have been a factor.
Columbus has done well on special teams this series, which has surprised a ton of people. Pittsburgh was supposed to dominate in this category because of how good their power play and penalty kill is but Columbus has had two shorthanded goals in three games as a result of the Penguins trying to be too cute on the power play. It seems like the Pens are looking for the highlight reels on some of these passes but all you need to do is just be a little extra careful with your passes and you’ll score every time. We’ll see if Pittsburgh penalty kill and power play will get better if the series goes on.
Crosby where are you?!
Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby has been invisible this postseason for the Penguins despite four assists. He has not scored a goal in his last seven playoff games, which is odd considering his proficiency for finding the net. He needs to start getting hot or Pittsburgh could be knocked out early. Brandon Dubinsky’s line has shut down Crosby’s line so far this series. It’s one thing to be shut down by Zdeno Chara and Patrice Bergeron, but when he’s getting shutdown by Dubinsky, that’s just not quite the same.
A 3-1 lead is a never safe.
Every game in this series there has been a 3-1 lead in this series, the team that had the lead lost. Columbus in game one, Pittsburgh in game two, and Columbus in game three. Maybe they should get out to a 3-0 lead and not 3-1. Bottom line is, don’t get out to a 3-1 lead or else you will lose the game, in theory. This series has been too close for comfort for the Penguins so far, and looks to be far from over. We’ll see if Columbus can respond tomorrow night in a must win game four for them. They don’t want to go back to Pittsburgh down 3-1 in the series and face elimination for three straight games.