I seriously thought the Canes would win Game 3. I seriously thought they had more fight in them. I seriously thought they were a better defensive team than they've shown themselves to be thus far. I seriously though Cam Ward was going to hold up under pressure better than he has.
I was seriously wrong.
I think they're done. I would be tremendously shocked if they win Game 4. I think we win Game 4, then wait for the winner of the Detroit Periods vs. the Chicago Blackhawks. Although, really, I think the Blackhawks are done, too. Detroit just looks too strong and, much like how we did, Detroit took Chicago to the woodshed in Game 4 of their series.
So, this begs the question: Say it's a Periods-Penguins Final... who wins? Still not sure on that. However, I will say this: Heading into the playoffs, the thought of a Periods-Penguins Final scared me more than missing a house payment or the wife telling me she was two weeks late. Now? I'm not scared, but I'm still not sure.
Basically, the Penguins have filled their roster spots with the strategy of, "We have two of the three best players in the world. Let's get the best guys we can afford to fill out the rest of the roster." Well, sadly, we lost out on Hossa, but I think that we ultimately gained.
I think that Crosby and Malkin now understand that the fate of the team rests on them. I think they understand that, if they want to hoist the Stanley Cup at the end of the year, they need to score a lot. Sure, everyone else involved with the Penguins understood this a couple years ago, but you have to understand that these guys -- Ovechkin aside -- need to be forced to be selfish. The idea of team is so ingrained in them that they need to see repeated empirical evidence of the fact that, sometimes, they need to take the game into their own hands. Now, when they have the puck, they think, "Is there a better player to have the puck right now?" And the answer, finally, in their heads, is no.
So, officially, the fate of the Penguins is in their hands. And, really, now that Ovechkin is out of it, is there anyone you'd rather have determining the fate of your team? I know I sure wouldn't.
Even if the other team changes their entire game plan to take away Malkin and Crosby, we still have plenty of other scorers that can pick up the slack. Plus which, now that Malkin is no longer gassed (doesn't look tired this year, now does he?), we essentially have a secret weapon, since the Periods really didn't have to game plan for him last year. It's interesting, but no Hossa in this year's line-up may actually help us. If the opponent spends time and resources taking the two stars out of the game, we don't have any other real stars. The guys on the ice just have to depend on each other. The guys they grew up with. The guys they came into the league with (and Bill Guerrin).
Really, if you look at it, we lucked our way into the Final last year. We faced a wounded Senators team, then a Rangers team that really only had Jagr in a contract year, then a green Flyers team that was just happy to be there and had some injury issues. I'm not saying that we didn't deserve it last year, but we definitely earned it this year.
We've always been a "two superstars (and Jordan Staal)" team, but this year we're embracing it.
Also, I'm not a "get hot at the right time" guy, especially when the NHL playoffs run for six months, but I'm definitely an, "understand your strengths and weaknesses and how to maximize and minimize them" guy. And that's what we're doing now.
I'll put it this way: Weidman's wife asked me yesterday if the Canes were that bad or if the Penguins were that good. The Penguins are that good. They are embracing their identity and running with it.
If they keep running with it, they'll win it all.
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