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As Crosby flows,Malkin ebbs

DAVID SHOALTS

From Monday's Globe and Mail

Latest comment posted at 4:51 PM EDT 26/05/08

Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are travelling in different directions in the NHL playoffs ...Read the full article

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  1. Ricky for a Centrist Canada from Canada writes:
    The great thing about the Pens' Cup years was that Lemieux, Jagr, Stevens, and Francis all hit the scoresheet regularly. Lemieux absolutely owned that 1991 series against Minny, but shared the spotlight with Jagr in 1992 against Chicago.

    We'll see if this run goes down as Lemieux/Jagr II, or Islanders/Oilers '83. Let's see if Malkin's ready for greatness now, or if this is part of his development. If Crosby has to go it alone, they won't win a game.

    The Pens get Roberts back, but the Wings get Franzen - a bigger upgrade for the Wings, methinks.
  2. Alain Chicoine from Halifax, Canada writes: Shoalts writes: "And hard-nosed veteran Gary Roberts, 42, was put back into the lineup to replace Georges Laraque on the fourth line. The latter move could be seen coming by the second period of the first game when the Red Wings dominated the Pens physically."

    Who would have thought that taking Georges Laraque out of the lineup to add a physical presence could be seen coming? Amazing, David Shoalts. Amazing. This makes no sense to me.
  3. Arch Stanton from Ottawa, Canada writes: Most media people are acting as if the Wings won because the Penguins did not play well enough. My observations since the end of game 1 are that: 1. The Wings played will enough through the end of the game, but it wasn't a complete game by them - nothing like we saw in some of the Dallas and Colorado series. Basically the Wings most likely will be better in game 2. 2. If Malkin is talkin' about hittin' as opposed to scoring, I think that suits the Wings fine. It sounds like he is off his game. 3. What was really exposed in game 1 was the Penguins defense. Orpik, Scuderi, Gill, even Gonchar had some serious issues down low with the speedy and very physical forwards on Detroit. I think it came as a shock to them that guys like Hudler, Helm, Filppula and Datsyuk were engaging them physically and taking the puck from them. 4. I think the Wings welcome a dump and chase strategy from their opponents. That work out well for Dallas and Colorado didn't it? Osgood is excellent at positioning pucks for his D. The Defensemen themselves move the pucks very quickly and are excellent skaters - even the last pair features a guy in Lebda that led several rushes up the ice and is extremely hard to hit. 5. Datsyuk and Zetterberg played well. However, they have a lot more to give than they gave on Saturday.
  4. Jeffrey Biggs from Canada writes: I can understand the focus on Malkin from Shoalts - he's the only chance for victory in this series for Pittsburgh. The first lines here are a saw-off, and there's not much to choose between the third and fourth lines. Detroit's defense corps is so vastly superior to Pittsburgh's (Detroit had a better defensemen sitting out in Chris Chelios than all but one of Pittsburgh's defenders) that Malkin's line needs to put a big distance between themselves and the (soon-to-be) Franzen line. In my mind, it's too big of a distance for Malkin to make up.
  5. Ziad Fazel from Calgary, Canada writes: Watching Crosby get mugged by Jason Smith in the Flyers series over and over, and not take retaliation penalties, impressed me. Of course he whined: elbow and stick penalties were deserved but not called. The Kid showed he could pay his dues and come back to burn the Flyers with his offence.

    It is not easy, but every top forward who plays Detroit has to contend with having Draper and a defenseman (Kronwell this year) make his life miserable, every shift. Iginla had to do it, and others in previous playoff years. Maybe that will be Malkin's rite of passage.
  6. George E. Porgie from Have not province...Ontario, Canada writes: Game one should not really have surprised hockey watchers. Detroit has home ice, their D is superior and they have the ability to dictate the play.

    I suspect that this series will be over in 5 games max in favour of the Wings.

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