Thanks For Playing: Pittsburgh Penguins

Each spring 16 NHL teams play for Lord Stanley's Cup. At the end one team is left holding the cup while the other 15 teams can only think of what might have been. 

This is about one of the 15 teams who wasn't so lucky. 

How They Finished: 

51-25-6   108 points  2nd in Atlantic Division  4th in Eastern Conference.

What Went Wrong: 

Where do I start? I guess game one is as good a place as any as Pittsburgh blew a three goal lead and ended up losing in overtime 4-3. From that point on they trailed in the series and were never able to recover.

Game two repeated the same format as the Penguins raced out to an early two goal lead before Philadelphia came back to tie the game, eventually winning it in the 3rd period by scoring four goals.

That left Pittsburgh down two games to none and frustrated as the series moved back to Philly. Those frustrations carried over as the Penguins lost composure in a penalty marred game three which the Flyers ended up winning 8-4.

Pittsburgh did come back to win games four and five before Philadelphia closed out the series yesterday with a 5-1 win.

The biggest reason for the failure of the Penguins was their play on special teams. In six games they gave up twelve power play goals. That's almost unheard of by a team with as much talent as Pittsburgh.

To make matters worst they also gave up three shorthanded goals in the series. If you are counting at home that is fifteen special teams goals given up by the Penguins. It's almost impossible to beat any team when you do that.

Another thing that hurt Pittsburgh was they drew the one team in the NHL that was not going to be intimidated by their talent.

Philadelphia played them six times during the season going 4-2 with two of those victories having overcome a two goal deficit. When Pittsburgh jumped out to an early lead in games one and two the Flyers didn't panic.

Peter Laviolette used his timeout to calm his team down. It worked as they were able to rally and take games one and two in Pittsburgh never looking back in the series. 

Where Do They Go From Here: 

I think the first question every Penguins fan has to ask is "What is the deal with Marc-Andre Fleury?"

Is this the goaltender that played brilliantly in 2009, leading the Penguins to the Stanley Cup or is he the goaltender who looked shaky, giving up soft goals that hurt Pittsburgh in the series?

Fleury finished the playoffs with a GAA of 4.63 and a save percentage of .834, worst of any starting goaltender in the post-season.

It's a fair question as in the last three years since winning the Stanley Cup Fleury and the Penguins have lost in the 2nd round to Montreal and back to back 1st round exits against Tampa Bay and Philadelphia.

That's not an aberration, that's a trend.

Pittsburgh is committed to Fleury for three more years. He is due to make $5 million per season and has a limited no trade clause where he can designate a list of teams he will accept a trade to. 

Needless to say I don't think Fleury is going anywhere.

If that is the case then the Penguins need to take a look at their blueline and see if there is a way to improve that. The only problem with that plan is three of their top four defenseman (Brooks Orpik, Paul Martin, Zybnek Michalek) all have limited no trade clauses. Any deal would require their approval.

The other issue for Pittsburgh is they have about $4.7 million in projected cap space for next year. That should be enough to replace some the depth players on your roster but it doesn't give you a lot of room to maneuver.

One thing they could do is trade Jordan Staal as he is set to become a free agent after next season. With him and Crosby due to hit free agency I have my doubts that Pittsburgh can re-sign both.

The only issue I have with that is Staal was your best player against Philadelphia. Plus Crosby and Malkin have missed time over the last few seasons with injuries.

That reason alone makes Staal a very valuable part of the roster. You could get a good package of players for him but I'm not sure the Penguins would be better if they dealt him.

Looking at this roster I'm not sure Pittsburgh needs to make any big changes. This is still a deep and talented team. What they need to do is build up Fleury's confidence and stay healthy.

This season may have ended in disappointment but there is no reason they shouldn't be in the mix next year.