Woo...I found the part that is messed up, I think. Now have to find the precise word.
The team is not built to win games where they get outscored so substantially at even strength. Which takes me to the second issue – coaching. I really would have liked to see a shift in the Pens approach by game 3/4. They really played right into Montreal's hands (after watching Washington, essentially, do the same thing). The impact of this was magnified by the sloppy puck management throughout the series. I think the team would have been a little taken aback by a drastic change, but that is exactly what they needed. Surely puck management was being preached, but, it wasn't getting the guys to be any less careless. You get everyone concentrating on trapping and they are more thoughtful overall with what they do with the puck.
Its a bit mind boggling that the Pens just kept coming with the same approach. You could tell from post game and between game remarks that the team feels like they can impose their game on anyone. Shame on them for not being willing to see that it wasn't going to happen here. Making it even more inexplicable, they just watched it happen to the Caps. Throw out Game 1 and Montreal basically played the same very effective game for 9 straight games and the Pens made no substantial changes.
I already hit the other big issue €“ puck management. Just like they€™ve been all year, defensemen and forwards alike were inexcusably careless with the puck in their own zone/neutral zone. Credit to Montreal for taking advantage of turnovers at an unbelievable rate.
And, yes, Fleury gets some of the blame. He, quite simply, needs to be better than he was in most games €“ not games three and five (coincidence those were two wins?). Take away the other issues and the Pens get out of this series well before tonight€™s stinker of a game from MAF. The Habs, again (as they did to the Caps), make Fleury look horrible for anyone who checks the box score. His numbers were bad, while Halak looks like he was superhuman. Halak was good, and Fleury wasn€™t great, but neither were as drastic as the numbers suggest. The Habs few shots they did get were often very good chances. Meanwhile, the Pens had many shots that were of the non-challenging variety. They had plenty of tough ones too, and probably would have had a lot more if Halak EVER gave up a rebound, but, they didn€™t generate a ton of high quality chances. Again, Kudos to the Habs defensive game €“ both forwards and D.
Habs played a perfect game against the Pens. Pens players and coaches refused to adjust. Just kept trying to get to their game, their aggressive forecheck, and they struggled to do that. Struggled to generate speed through the neutral zone. But kept giving Fleury little help by not altering their game to give the Habs fewer chances.
I am rambling at this point. The trap is not dead. Congrats, Habs and Habs fans, heck of a series.