The Tampa Bay Lightning have been leaning on their backup goalie in the Eastern Conference Final so far and in Game 4, the Pittsburgh Penguins had to turn to theirs. Kind of.
The Lightning tied the series 2-2 after beating Pittsburgh 4-3 Friday night.
The Penguins fought back valiantly from a four-goal deficit to make it interesting, but more importantly, there were a few potentially huge developments that could have a defining impact on how the rest of this series plays out.
HOW SERIOUS IS TREVOR DALEY’S INJURY?
The Penguins have the forwards and they have the goaltending. The main knock against the team heading into the Stanley Cup Playoffs was its defence. Would the blue line be fast enough? Would it be able to move out of the defensive zone effectively? Did it have the depth to match up against some of the NHL’s best forward units in a seven-game series?
I mean, we know they have Kris Letang, one of the league’s best at his position, but who else?
Trevor Daley, who has averaged 22:59 of ice time and scored six points in 15 games, has had a major impact for the Penguins. He played a huge game when Letang sat out with a suspension during their series against the Washington Capitals, and has been a crucial piece for the Pens. But he left Game 4 with an apparent ankle injury.
It’s not immediately clear what Daley’s status is, but it doesn’t look great at the moment.
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WHO SHOULD THE PENGUINS START IN GAME 5? IS IT EVEN A DEBATE?
Matt Murray has been so good for the Penguins in these playoffs that he and Phil Kessel are the two top Conn Smythe candidates from Pittsburgh so far. He allowed four goals on 30 shots in two periods in Game 4, but was pulled for the third period even though he didn’t play especially bad.
In came Marc-Andre Fleury, who saw his first game action since March 31. He stopped all seven shots he faced as the Penguins mounted a furious comeback that ultimately fell short.
So here we go again with a question we’ve asked of the Blues (a couple of times) and will eventually ask of the Lightning whenever Ben Bishop gets healthy: who should start the next game for the Penguins?
It seems like an obvious choice. Fleury has seen just those seven shots in the past month and a half and he came into a game his team trailed 4-0, so it wasn’t exactly a pressure situation. The Penguins will go with the hot hand who got them here, right?
Coach Mike Sullivan didn’t sound like putting Fleury in for the third period of Game 4 meant he would start him in Game 5.
“It gave Marc a chance, obviously, to get some game action,” Sullivan said about the switch. “We’re down four goals. Sometimes when you make a change like that, it has an impact on your team. You know, I thought the goals that we gave up, they were good goals on their part. You know, Matt made some big saves in there.
“But certainly, sometimes when you make that decision, it can have an influence on your team moving forward, and it gave Marc a chance to get into some game action and get an opportunity to experience that.”
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Of course, we thought the Blues had to turn back to Brian Elliott for Saturday’s Game 4. Turns out, they’re switching to Jake Allen.
NIKITA KUCHEROV DOES MORE THAN SCORE GOALS
No doubt Kucherov excels at putting the puck in the net. After all, he’s tied for the playoff lead in goals with nine and he hit the 30-goal mark this year.
But he’s also an excellent passer.
In taking a look at Phil Kessel’s “clutch” play in the post-season so far, Andrew Berkshire also pointed out the great vision and passing Kucherov has displayed so far. Kessel himself has been getting more attention as a great passer, but Kucherov still noticeably stands out.
Check out how often he’s able to get the puck to the slot, pass off the rush, and make those East-West passes that are so hard on goalies. This is compared to some of the best scorers in the post-season.
He displayed this skill again Friday with a terrific pass to set up Andrej Sustr‘s goal.
While 24-year-old Vladimir Tarasenko is “learning hard lessons” against the Sharks as he has to fight through tough matchups (something Evgeny Kuznetsov had to deal with as well), the 22-year-old Kucherov is just getting better as the playoffs go on.
He’ll make a pretty penny as an RFA this summer, which could play a role in pushing Steven Stamkos out on to the UFA market.
