Most fans of the Pittsburgh Penguins have come to a realization this season: this team is very, very unorthodox.
The defending Eastern Conference champions looked more like an expansion team two-thirds of the way through this season. Players seemed dysfunctional on the ice, the defense was softer than angel food cake, they couldn't score goals, and leadership was lacking. The result was a tenth place standing in the Eastern Conference with about five weeks left in the regular season.
Fast forward to nine weeks later. The Pens change coaches (who had ever heard of Dan Blysma?), get Sergei Gonchar back from injury (which made the defense tough again), and aquired seasoned vet Bill Guerin. All of a sudden, the team that once looked dead were sprinting toward home ice for the first round of the playoffs. I thought these moves appeared desperate; they turned out to be brilliant.
The Pens looked unstoppable and ready to finish the Philadelphia Flyers in five games at home, and that's exactly when Pittsburgh went back to resembling their former bumbling selves from January, getting blanked 3-0 and then had to travel to the always hostile Wachovia Center for game 6. When the Flyers took an early 3-0 lead in that sixth game, I was already prepping myself for an early start to a summer of Brett Favre drama, foul and fight infested NBA playoff games, and a steroid-filled baseball season.
But then the Pens reiterated to me the theme of this team in 2008-09: right when you think you know who they are, they throw you an absolute curve ball. Five goals later (and stellar play from Mark-Andre Fleury), the Pens locked up the series and looked ahead to the Washington Capitals.
Once again, the hockey undertakers had to hold off on the Pen's grave in this second round series. Winning three straight games (and overcoming losing Gonchar again to an injury), the Pens seemed primed to close it all out Monday night in Game 6 in Pittsburgh. Heck, the team even had 1-0 and 3-2 leads, but the unorthodox Pens once again let a team off the hook, and will have to travel to their opponent's ice as the consequence.
Maybe this team just likes to make things hard on themselves, I don't know. But one thing I know is that I finally have figured this team out. The Penguins this year do exactly the opposite of what is normal, yet they still come out smelling roses on the other side. Whether it was waiting until the last month of the regular season to show up, or blowing two series-clinching games at home, this Pens team has taken their fans on an unexpected roller coaster ride this season, one that has continued to roll on despite the bumps, twists and turns along the way.
Hopefully Sidney Crosby, Malkin, Bylsma, and the rest of the Pens have a few more tricks left down their sleeve, because this is a roller coaster ride that I and every Penguin fan is not ready to see end.
Point blank, the Pens are not supposed to win Wednesday. Alex Ovechkin has been on another planet the entire series, and it appears that his supporting cast has shown up to help him again. Simeon Varlamov has out-played Fleury, stopping 38 saves Monday night. The Caps are now 4-0 in potential elimination games in these playoffs. But, if you follow the Pittsburgh's odd, off the path script this season, they will win, because they shouldn't.
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