Place blame on Penguins' stars
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Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin grimaces after colliding with Canadiens defenseman PK Subban during Thursday's game at the Bell Centre.
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MONTREAL -- Please, don't blame defenseman Kris Letang for the Penguins' 3-2 loss Thursday night to the Montreal Canadiens even though his own-goal in the third period turned out to be the difference at the raucous Bell Centre. Put the blame where it rightly belongs. Put it on center Sidney Crosby, center Evgeni Malkin and goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, the team's three biggest stars who didn't play much like stars on a night when the overmatched, but gritty Canadiens climbed back into what has become a taut second-round playoff series.
Fleury gave up a terrible goal early in the game. Crosby didn't score again and still doesn't have a goal four games into the series, which is now tied, 2-2, heading into Game 5 Saturday night at Mellon Arena. Malkin didn't get a goal for the fifth time in six games and couldn't score on a breakaway with 4 minutes left.
Penguins management is paying big, big money for more than that.
It also just gave Letang a four-year, $14-million extension, but it's hard for me to blame him for this loss. Montreal's Brian Gionta threw a centering pass toward Fleury's crease only to see it clang off Letang's right skate and skip into the Penguins' net for the deciding goal with 16:20 left.
"It happens," Fleury said.
There still was plenty of time for the Penguins to tie the score, maybe even win it. But they couldn't solve Canadiens goaltender Jaroslav Halak, who is doing to them pretty much what he did to the Washington Capitals in the first round. He has put his team in position to steal a second consecutive series from a more powerful, more explosive opponent.
Most egregious from the Penguins' standpoint was Malkin's failed breakaway. Is it unfair to expect him to score there? Wasn't he the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as playoffs MVP last season? Great players live to be in that situation. More often than not, they respond. That's why they are stars.
First Published May 7, 2010 12:00 am
