Penguins saving it for the playoffs?
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Q: Is there any merit to a potential argument that the Penguins are waiting (for lack of a better word) for the playoffs to ramp up their game, that regular-season games don't have as big a sense of urgency after two long postseason runs in consecutive years?
Kevin Jacobsen, Canonsburg
MOLINARI: Anything is possible, of course, but that certainly wouldn't be the most plausible explanation for their inability to elevate their game and keep it there as the regular season winds down. Perhaps it's just a matter of time until they begin to compete with the passion and attention to detail they showed during the stretch drive and playoffs last year, but it's hardly out of the question that they never will.
Fatigue definitely could be a problem -- the coaching staff's concern about that possibility is evidenced by the number of days-off the players have gotten -- when a team is coming off two long playoff runs (and correspondingly short summers), particularly when a handful of its core players also participated in the Olympics. Defenseman Sergei Gonchar, who is 35 and logs a lot of minutes, is one who clearly looks as if he'd benefit from a rest.
Unfortunately for the Penguins, there really is something at stake for them over the next few weeks. Getting the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference would assure them of home ice for the first two rounds of the playoffs, and would eliminate any danger of having to face Washington -- which will be the top seed and probably the favorite to advance to the Stanley Cup final -- until the Eastern final. Because of that, sleepwalking through the rest of the regular season to gird for the playoffs isn't an option, although the Penguins (and most teams) will tell you that they're more concerned with how they're playing when the playoffs arrive than with where they're seeded or who they'll face.
First Published March 25, 2010 12:00 am
