Penguins Soar in Game 5
Take a moment and look at that picture, study it. What do you see? Three Ottawa Senators chasing Bryan Rust as he screams towards the Ottawa net. That image alone describes the phenomenal display the Pittsburgh Penguins showed during Game 5. The Pittsburgh Penguins were almost a week removed from two disappointing losses to the Ottawa Senators when they won their second game in a row, 7-0, to take the Eastern Conference Finals series lead 3-2.
Sidney Crosby and the rest of the Stanley Cup defending Penguins have experienced a hard road this post season. Injuries, losses, and a Game 7. There has been doubt that this team will not be able to repeat as Champions this year but Head Coach Mike Sullivan simply responded, "Why not us?" I may have not watched Game 5 yesterday but as I was listening to the radio broadcast I could hear the Penguins controlling the puck better than they have this entire series. I could hear the Penguins putting pressure on Craig Anderson with traffic in front of the net and due to a 4-0 lead at the end of the first period Anderson was pulled and replaced by Mike Condon. I was surprised because Guy Boucher, Ottawa Head Coach, sent a message saying he no longer had confidence in the once red-hot net-minder. Guy Boucher said after the game the Penguins got hot, his team was unable to keep pace, and Anderson will start Game 6 in Ottawa on Tuesday night. Even thought the Penguins trounced the Senators this series is far from over.
The playoffs are always filled with hard fought games and rivalry teams taking their frustrations out on one another. The Penguins know this well because they faced the Rangers and Capitals last post season and both series were filled with animosity and physical play. That team thrived in that hard nosed environment. This current Penguins team has overcome players being out due to injury, shoddy officiating, rivalry games, and bad performances. However, this team has been able to rebound after each loss to utterly embarrass its opponent and Game 5 was no different.
Game 6 will be a hard fought battle with plenty of animosity making an appearance these two teams have cultivated through this series. Matt Cullen told Dejan Kovacevic after Game 5 that the Penguins will need to play an even better Game 6.
