Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

Penguins In Six

05/22/2016 at 8:36am EDT

from Ron Cook of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette,

Let me explain why the Penguins still will win the series in six games.

Marc-Andre Fleury will play well in goal the rest of the way. It’s not as if rookie Matt Murray played poorly Friday night when he was benched after the second period. His teammates were lousy around him. It’s just time for Mike Sullivan to go back to Fleury — the Penguins’ best player all season — after getting him some action in Game 4 for the first time since Fleury left the lineup with a concussion after the March 31 game against Nashville. The other players love Fleury, easily the most popular player in the room. They will rally around him, just as they did Friday night when they scored three third-period goals but ran out of time.

Olli Maatta, who was benched for the past three games after a series of mistakes earlier in the playoffs, will do a serviceable job filling in for injured Trevor Daley, who went down in Game 4 with what looked to be a serious left leg injury. Daley’s loss can’t be overestimated. It is significant because of his quickness, puck-moving ability and overall defensive skills. But Maatta has too much ability and too much pride not to bounce back. All of the defensemen will play better around Fleury. Letang, for sure, won’t lose his mind again, although Boyle will do everything he can to tempt him.

Kessel will continue to torment Tampa Bay goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy. He scored the Penguins’ first goal in Game 4 and has points — five goals and four assists — in six consecutive games. Kessel is feeling it like never before in his career. You could see it Friday night the way he fired 10 shots at Vasilevskiy, six making it on net. You could see it the way he chirped at Vasilevskiy after his latest goal.

more

Create an Account

In order to leave a comment, please create an account.

About Kukla's Korner Hockey

Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

From breaking news to in-depth stories around the league, KK Hockey is updated with fresh stories all day long and will bring you the latest news as quickly as possible.

Email Paul anytime at [email protected]

Most Recent Posts

Most Recent Comments

Comment by Bill_H in Abel to Yzerman from the entry Wings Are Conducting Exit Interviews Today And Tomorrow - 15 minutes ago
Comment by Paul in Abel to Yzerman from the entry Patrick Kane On His Future - 34 minutes ago
Comment by TreKronor in Abel to Yzerman from the entry Patrick Kane On His Future - 59 minutes ago
Comment by Paul in Abel to Yzerman from the entry Patrick Kane On His Future - 1 hour ago
Comment by RockyGibraltar in Abel to Yzerman from the entry Patrick Kane On His Future - 1 hour ago